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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

"A Quiet Moment" watercolor landscape

Finished!  I think I learned a thing or two.  This paper, as I mentioned, is tricky.  I stuck with it though, and tried to get it to work for me.  It took longer, and the effect is not what I intended.  But I'm satisfied I did the best I could.

For those of you who do watercolor, this paper is Fabriano Artistico, 300 lb and I think it is hot press.  It has a jel layer on the surface.  So, watercolor doesn't soak in the paper.  So I don't recommend it for washes and loose work.  The paint sits on top.  One of the aggravating things about it was:  I did a light wash, on dry paper, below the rocks to depict the shadow of the rock on the water.  It looked OK while wet.  When I came back to it when it was dry, there was a dark outline.  The paint migrates to the edge of the wash and leaves a very hard edge.  Arches does not do that in such a noticible way.  So then you have to go back in with a damp brush and soften a lot of edges.  In the area of the willows where the dark evergreens are behind, I found it very hard to soften the edges, because then you lose too much color.  I imagine that if I loved this paper and worked with it exclusively, that I would learn to use it.  But after this project, I'm ready to go back to Arches.  I think this painting took twice or three times longer to do than it probably would have on Arches. 

4 comments:

ti-igra said...

Carolyn! Material: paper, canvas, really very affect on work! We always choose something with what we like to work. We get the result that we imagined.
I am still in search of watercolor paper that would fit me. Sometimes I use torchon paper, but sometimes it is not suitable for graphics work. It is very nice to wash colors. Carolyn, have you used torchon paper?

I think you could do the work that you imagined! I like this composition, as a drop of water stretching from us to a trees.
I think that with this paper to draw reflection in the water you could not easily! But I love them! :-)Hey-ho!

Carolyn Jean Thompson said...

Thank you Ti-igra, you are very encouraging. No, I have never tried Torchon paper. I actually have never heard of it. I'll have to look into it. Thanks for the tip!

ti-igra said...

:-) Carolyn, I think you know about this Torchon paper. I like to work with it like this. First, wet the entire leaf. Then moisture is in the paper dries a bit La-la-la! And you can make Blur such wonderful and very soft!
Here page about it. http://www.greatart.co.uk/CANSONMONTVALTORCHONWATERCOLOURPAPER-water-colour-sheets-rolls.htm

Carolyn Jean Thompson said...

Hey, thanks Ti-igra!