REFRESHING MY MEMORY

JANUARY 20, 2017

 I am excited to be teaching a workshop about working on YUPO for the Pleasanton Art League in October.  I decided to refresh my techniques and explore more ideas to share.  This is an example I just finished using India Ink on YUPO.  You cover the paper with ink and then remove the lighter values to get the final result.  Every day for a week I recovered the page with ink at the end of the session because I wasn't satisfied with the result.   That is one of the best things about YUPO.  You can keep reworking, removing, reapplying, lifting, etc. without damaging the paper.  I love that the paper doesn't buckle and I was surprised to discover that you can even use a dryer (carefully!) to speed things along.  

I am also developing a second Variations workshop, still based on creating a series utilizing one image but changing it up based on a different set of conditions.    I will be sharing these ideas in Tampa July 16 through the 19th 2018 at Watercolor Escape.  I love developing these workshops.  I hope some of you will be able to join me!

MIXING IT UP!!

HAASTRECHT, NETHERLANDS

I am usually not inspired to paint landscapes except when I travel.  This was a scene  from our boat trip on the waterways from Amsterdam to Brugge earlier this summer.  Nice that the camera records where you are when you take the shot,  otherwise I wouldn't know this was from the village of Haastecht, which is very near Gouda.  The long, narrow canvas was a challenge.  I had to create a more simplified and interesting foreground than in the photo.   I also enjoyed the challenge of mixing various greens.   Mixing it up by using a different canvas proportion, different perspective and unexpected greens created a personal vision for a landscape.

There are at least two other paintings underneath this one.  I lose track sometimes as to what lies beneath!  Nice to finally feel satisfied and I can move on.  Eventually they all find a satisfying finished painting, but lots and lots of false starts.  The build up does make for an interesting surface.  This one has a coat of gesso that I used a sponge roller over the top.  When it dried, it had a very rough finish.  Paint scumbles beautifully on this surface but it chews up brushes so don't use good sable on this type of surface.

With every painting, I try to learn something new.   I explored surface and color mixing and think I have added to my ongoing attempt to master painting in acrylic. How boring it would be to know it all.    Fortunately, there is always something new to learn.