Exploring some squiggly lines in 12×12 inch watercolor paintings.

Mixed media on watercolor
12″ x 12″
© 2013 Marilyn Fenn


Abstract Paintings and Musings on Art
Exploring some squiggly lines in 12×12 inch watercolor paintings.
Woo-hoo! I know these are going to look fabulous matted and framed and hanging together (if that is in fact what happens to them). 😀
Thank you so much to my new collector in Maryland!
I thought I’d try out the Sennelier watercolor block I discovered the other day buried in my studio. Watercolor is a medium I’m not terribly familiar with. I did maybe 10-12 large watercolor still lifes back in the late ’80s, but otherwise, I have mostly avoided it — except for small watercolor pencil drawings (paintings?) over the last few years — until just a few weeks ago.
This time, I soaked the paper pretty thoroughly, taped it down, and started to paint. Hours later, the paper was still mostly wet, and the colors were still bleeding. So, this is messier than I’m completely comfortable with, but there it is, FWIW.
From earlier this month — I almost had to throw this one away, but I think I more or less saved this watercolor with the judicious addition of a bit of gouache…and more stuff!
FWIW
The problem with working in watercolor is if you get the colors wrong, there’s not a lot you can do to fix it. Initially, I got the colors wrong on this one. I had painted the webby type stuff in the background twice, ending up with a kind of burnt sienna (red-brown) color on the third layer of webbery. Not only did it clash with the more jewel like colors of the foreground imagery, but it made the whole piece very busy, and you couldn’t really distinguish foreground from background.
Sooooo, I tried lifting the color with water (didn’t work well), then lightly with a sponge (nope), then with a bit of light and careful scrubbing with a sponge (better), and finally, I gave up all hope of making this piece work and washed it under running water.
Yes, I washed a watercolor painting. It’s on paper, you know. This is why I love the heavy Raffine “sketch” paper I’m using; it’s tough! And has a lovely texture. 🙂
I took care not to pill the paper as I lightly helped some of the paint off of it, let it dry, and then had to repaint most of the foreground “characters,” while adding a third. And now I rather like it.
Hope I don’t get myself into this predicament again, but if I do, I know what to do now.
After the crazy looseness and unpredictability of the Fraccidental series, my fingers itched for a bit of tightness, and this is what happened. Named after the earworm running through my head during the entire creation of this piece.