I am new to watercolor and find myself wanting to wander into other mediums. Perhaps another medium might feel more natural?
A year ago I had a conversation with my artist friend Sara, who is a phenomenal watercolor artist. She was telling me how she loves water, everything about water. Swimming, bathing, painting, the movement, the freedom etc. At the time I was trying to transition out of chalk and into watercolor. I remember telling her that I don't like water. I do not like to swim or shower. (I do shower though.) I don't like the movement, and it doesn't feel like freedom. It feels uncertain.
I love chalk. I love dirt. I love stability and thickness. I don't want to give up on watercolor, but I keep dreaming about think paint. Acrylic? Gouache? Oil? The possibilities are overwhelming! The nice thing about watercolor is that it is neat and tidy, and my paintings fit in a scanner.
This is an experimental watercolor. I tried rough coldpress paper instead of my normal smooth hotpress. I used gouache around the edges of the buildings just to see what it felt like to paint with (its gray though it looks greenish on the scan.) I was going to paint the entire background with the gouache, but stopped here, not sure what I should do.
I like the white background. Gives the impression of a bright sunny day. The only thing I can think of is to maybe add another building or two on the right side of the skinny tower. My eye sticks in that gap a bit.
ReplyDeleteThe blotchiness of the roofs gives the painting a gret texture.
Looks great!
Jess
Thanks Jess! You are right. How is your fabulous painting coming along?
DeleteI think it looks pretty nice. You should not stop yourself from trying new techniques. You may never know what will turn out to be your next favourite one :)
ReplyDeleteI would suggest, if you have time for that, to dedicate 2 weeks or a month for each new technique, try to learn how to use it well so you can be sure that meh, you don't like it. (Easier said than done - I'm pretty sure that I hate using soft pastels because they are so... so everywhere and not where I want them to be, but I have never given them a long enough chance to prove me that I'm wrong :P)
Oh, and a true story - I HATED using all kinds of paints when I was younger because it was too uncontrollable for my liking. But now people say that I'm THE watercolour artist. I guess some things just need time.
Good luck with finding your favourite medium :)