What’s happening here at Green Cottage Studios this summer? Great question, I would love to tell you. (HT to Elyse Meyers , who makes funny videos)
I am experimenting! Trying different mediums, substrates and going where the creative flow takes me.
Finding inspo from Dar James’ Creative Summer Camp (HT to artist Dar James), I have tried to push further into new areas.
One area of experimentation is watercolor. Watercolor paints, either in a tube or little cakes in a pan, are mixed with water and the resulting painting on paper is translucent and “watery.”
It’s a medium which I had not really used since long ago in art classes. I recall that I always found it difficult to work with and a bit fussy. As a lover of layered colors — one over the other, sometimes transparent or sometimes opaque — acrylics have been my mainstay.
However, I got out some old watercolors, bought some new ones (two types) and dove in. Experimented!! The issue that watercolors remain “reactive” meaning that once dry, if one adds more paint or water, the paint is activated again, resulting in bleeding and mixing. This can be good if you intend that and can control your result, it can be bad if you end up with a hot mess.
One cool thing that I tried just this summer is seal the first layer of watercolor, either with spray sealer or with some gloss medium (clear sealer that is spread on) and let it dry, one can paint with watercolor again. Watercolor on its own has a matte finish, once sealed you can create any finish you like. In the gallery below, the squares of watercolor paper with the botantical images, are ones that were sealed. I also started layering with acrylic paints, metallic paints, Posca pens and small amounts of collage. These started to be really fun. I may find a way to frame them up.
Papers – There are a variety of watercolor papers, different weights and different finishes made by multiple companies. Here’s a blog post if you want to dive into the differences. I did several experiments and I believe I like the smooth finish of the hot pressed type.
Another experiment of the summer is gouache! Gouache a method of painting using opaque pigments ground in water and thickened with a gluelike substance. It produces a matte finish. I had a set of acryl gouache and a different set in the pans. I have started working with those and really like the intensity of the colors and the matte finish. Again, it is water soluble after it dries, so I will have to work with that.
Stay tuned and I will share how these experiments proceed !
