Blog

Day 6

Paper: Aquaboard (Ampersand)

Colors: Ultramarine Blue, Quinacridone Red, Burnt Sienna (Utrecth) New Gamboge, Cobalt, Hookers Green (Windsor Newton) Opera (Holbein)

Today’s lesson was about working on a new surface.  I bought some Aquaboards several years back after seeing another artist paint gorgeous watercolors on it.  She recommended them since they are literally boards that can take layers of paint and will allow an artist to move the paint around to correct mistakes.  For subject matter I set up a row of pears in my studio.  When I am trying out new materials I like to keep the composition simple.  The boards feel like they have a clay ground and I found that the first initial washes were soaked up so quickly that I was not able to “charge” them with other colors.  Instead I had to keep layering to get the value I wanted.  I gave up saving any areas of white paper and began to add a lot of paint.  The more I layered the softer the edges became and the look of the painting changed to appear more like an oil.  I’m not sure I like working on these but maybe as I learn more I can approach them differently. 

What I learned:

How quickly the surface soaks up water is important to know.

I need to learn to make VERY large puddle of color to make good washes.