Watercolour II

On the left, you will see my recently repainted "Stained-glass Irises." I found the experience of using hot pressed paper for this painting to be measurably more pleasant than cold pressed paper I had used the first time. I do not know for sure how much the manufacturer of the paper influenced that feeling, so I shall have to try and procure some cold-pressed and hot-pressed from the same manufacturer to experiment with. I am much happier with the colours I mixed and I am also happier with how my colour gradients (from yellow to green on leaves) turned out. I found that in order to best create the gradient, it is important to understand the relative tinting strengths of the 2 colours I am trying to blend, ...and the only way I know how to discover this is to try it a few times on a scrap of paper. I was not quite so careful with keeping a good bead when blocking in the colours, and you can see a few spots of ballooning as a result. Once again I have seen the need for patience with art. Also, I often found that I had too much paint on the brush, and this led to what I feel is quite poor drafting of the soldered joints. Eventually I realised that I was dipping the whole brush into the paint, and all that was needed to properly fill the brush was to dip the tip in the paint, and let the brush draw up what it needs.

I read that watercolour brushes should have a sharp point, and I found that my brushes were not so well pointed that I had the degree of control I would have liked. I will perhaps look arond for some better brushes. All in all, after 4 hours of painting and despite the errors, I am much happier with this second attempt. I am looking forward to moving on to the second project in my book.

(230 x 305, Fabriano Acquarello 300 gsm hot pressed watercolour paper, Winsor Newton Artist's Watercolour, 4.10.07)