I went to bed last night sure that I'd lost this painting -- poured washes hadn't worked the way I expected and . . . well, let's just say "mistakes were made." I hate that feeling.
But I don't have time to start over on this, so I decided to proceed with the next pour this morning and make the best of it. This pour happily covered the problems I'd created for myself yesterday and has added some funky "special effects" -- I'm back on track!! I may do another wash over parts of the painting before I remove the masking, but I no longer have that sinking feeling that I've wasted all my efforts so far.
What you see is a tiny section of the painting, with a fair amount of residual paint on the masked areas. I'll clean that off a bit before I remove the masking, but because I used Incredible White Mask on most of the larger areas, I should be able to pull it off in sheets once I get a corner started. That largely eliminates the problem of rubbing paint off the masking and onto the open paper.
As you can see, I masked over a poured first layer of paint, rather than preserving white paper, and I will be enhancing and modifying the color as needed after I remove the masking. Stay tuned!!
I'm also planning to do another post in the next few days on variations in masking techniques. Be sure to stop by for the continuing tutorial.
This will be a beauty! Do you use Linda Baker's pour techniques or have you devised your own?
ReplyDeleteHi Kathy,
ReplyDeleteI read Roland Roycroft's books and then attended a Jean Grastorf demo a number of years ago and, although I got a lot of inspiration from both, I've got my own technique. I love Linda Baker's work but I've never seen her at work, so I don't know how our approaches compare.
Love the sneak peek, Chris - can't wait to see the finished piece. And although I'm not a watercolorist ("pours?") I'm finding your information about masking really interesting.
ReplyDeleteChris, thanks again for sharing. Its always so interesting to learn how everyone approachs things, some the same some uniquely, either way- always an opportunity to glean something. Looking forward to seeing finished piece.
ReplyDeleteI can hardly wait to see more of this image! BTW the word verification today is "taboo"
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chris. I was wondering. I haven't studied this technique with anyone, and probably should. The results are wonderful!
ReplyDeleteTerry, this is what I love about watercolor -- no need to push the paint around!! The brief time I painted in acrylic, I couldn't believe how hard it was to apply paint -- it was WORK!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Julie. We'll keep our fingers crossed for the final painting!!
Guy, I love the verification word!! I need to keep that in mind when I decide to "improve" on a wash!! ;-D
Thanks, Kathy -- I do love what pouring can do -- and it's good exercise in letting go for a control freak!! ;-D