ABOUT THIS PICTURE
9″x 6″, watercolor and ink on paper. This is my first real attempt in the realm of watercolor. I’d been keeping away from it, as I was intimidated by its fluidity and transparency, but it is actually a lot of fun to work with! You do have to modify you working methods, as opposed to working with oils or acrylics. Watercolor has a bit of a life of its own, but if you keep in mind a few simple guidelines, you can take advantage of its great instant-color properties. I’ve heard watercolor artists use the phrase “drop in color”, and that’s exactly what it is like. Dot your brush over an area, and out runs color directly onto the surface, no brushstrokes required. Starting with a drawing based on waterproof ink really helped me keep my color flow together, but a big part of the magic of watercolor is overlapping color, bleeding into each other to create dynamic new colors. I’ll likely be experimenting with watercolors more as they travel and clean up easily, and pair well with sketching.