Blog

Day 13

Paper: Moleskin Watercolor Journal, Cold Press

Paints: Windsor Newton 12 half pan set plus half pan of cerulean blue

One of sayings at the end of a day of teaching is " What did you learn today?" " You either learned something to do, or something not to do, both are equally important."  Today I learned a few things not to do and hopefully I will not repeat them again.

First thing this morning I attempted a sky painting with the moleskin watercolor book.  The wash needed for the softness of the clouds was more than the paper could take and it began to buckle severely.  Then I attempted to drop color into the wash but the paper was drying too quickly and I just got blobs of color.  I decided to take the book and the half pan set for a field trip and drove to my favorite farm scene not far from my house.  The day was sunny and cold but I stayed in the car and was very happy with the small amount of space the supplies took up.  My mantra for this session was to let the watercolor do the work.  No going in and fussing.  That worked well on the sky and parts of the barn but the yellow ocher was more saturated than I thought it would be and I did have to go in and knock it down with a violet here and there.  I resisted modifying it too much knowing that I could make a real mess.  Next time I will know not to use the yellow ocher so highly concentrated.

What I learned (not to do)

A moleskin book does not like a lot of water !

The magic of watercolor comes from allowing the colors to blend and flow on their own - keep your fingers out of it!

Test the pigments before you use them if you do not know their tinting strength.  Testing on the side or a scrap piece of paper would have helped me make better decisions in the beginning.

Now I am heading to work on a pastel- where I know (somewhat) what I am doing!