I seem to have developed an intolerance to wine :( No joke here, I had just two glasses with supper yesterday and felt really yuk this morning, and this seems to be happening every time I have more than just one small glass. So skiing was abandoned today and I stayed at home. As it happened I had two articles to get done and plenty of stuff to catch up on so it didn't hurt I guess. So, Spring is at last finished and hanging on the wall! I am fairly pleased with her, although in truth I'm not as in love with her as some of my other paintings. Actually to be fair, I love her... it's still the overall thing that's bugging me, but no matter what I try it's just not doing it for me. However, I figure perhaps I am just being over critical and if I keep fiddling with it I could spoil it beyond repair! So here she is... Spring
Then I set about trying to catch up with the M3 project. What can I say? As mentioned before I did the background and was thoroughly disappointed. I just couldn't seem to get it right. The watercolor paper I bought just doesn't behave well at all. It seems to dry out real quick so you can't blend/spread the color and yet if you add more water it simply buckles and looks like something you may have produced in primary school. Acrylic doesn't help at all and won't blend nicely like it did on canvas. I'm not sure whether it's because I'm just not used to working on paper or whether the Canson 85lb paper is the wrong stuff for this. Anyhow suffice to say I didn't find the painting a joy to do and there were times when I just wanted to throw yet another piece in the bin and do it on canvas! But I persevered simply because I thought what is the point of doing these courses if you're gonna ditch something half way thru and go back to the way you always do stuff? It's about experimenting and trying stuff, stretching your comfort zones and all that. It is however, quite frustrating when you have in your mind how it should look and it just doesn't cut the mustard in reality! So here is my background!
Rona, she is beautiful, I love the sweet expression on her face. Here is my 2 cents: Canson is not my favorite paper, but it is okay. It has also been my experience that anything less than 140 lb. paper does not behave well. Also are you taping the paper edges down to a water resistant surface before you paint? Hope this insight will be helpful to you.
ReplyDeleteI should have said anything less than 140 lb watercolor paper for watercolors, 85 lb is good for sketching, color pencils etc.
ReplyDeletehi rona! spring with the extra clouds looks lovely to me! (did you see my suggestions on this one for you over in the m3 group btw?).
ReplyDeleteregarding the watercolour paper, i echo what darlene is saying, the paper I use is 140 lb, which makes a huge difference as it take water a lot better, doesn't buckle so quickly and doesn't dry out. are you able to get your hands on some?
i love your background nonetheless btw! xoxo hugs x