Today was a two Woo Hoo day for me!!
First I got an email advising me that my painting, "The Prodigal", had been selected for the 48th Annual Membership Exhibit of the Southwestern Watercolor Society. Woo Hoo!!! Alex Powers juried this year's show.
The Second Woo Hoo is for completing (well, almost... still have a little tweaking to do yet) the commission portrait I have been working on. I am close enough to give a shout out anyway!! Woo Hoo!!
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| Commission Portrait near completion |
Have you had any Woo Hoo days lately? If so, give a shout out yourself!!
Before I started work on this commission I had ordered a new product from
Daniel Smith. It is called Watercolor Ground. It looks a lot like gesso and it brushes on like gesso. It is supposed to make any surface paintable with watercolor. I couldn't wait to try it out so periodically when I was on break from the commission portrait I worked on a canvas that I had brushed with the watercolor ground.
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| Painting in beginning stages |
This is a 12 X 12 gallery wrapped canvas that I am in the process of painting with watercolor! It has been a lot of fun because it is a different feel and the watercolor handles differently on it than it does regular paper. To me it seems to be like a cross between gessoed paper and Aquabord. It is very easy to rub out areas. I noticed it can be difficult to get a hard line (see close-up of the eye) and also, you can see the texture from brushing on the ground. Sometimes it just makes a neat texture on its own. (see close up of hair)
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| Notice how the brown of the iris ran at the top? |
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| At the top of the hair you can see fine cracks created by the ground. |
Have you tried any new products or colors lately? If so, what and how did it work for you? There is still lots of exploring to do with this new ground, but it promises to be much fun... and soon I will have more time to play. I wonder if it can make my heart skip a beat or flutter with excitement just a little.
Be Still My Art,
Kay
