Watercolor Gift

I had never used masking fluid or frisket until yesterday. Everywhere I would read though, artists would talk about using it to save the whites and to create these wonderful highlights using it instead of opaque white watercolor paint. Watching Susan Scheewe using it in her DVD last Sunday made it look quite easy to use and wonderful for so many project ideas. I bought some Wednesday at lunch from the local Hobby Lobby store close to my office. I took it back to my desk so it would not be sitting in the car getting over-heated.

I used an older brush without soaping it (that is how I’ve seen many artists & the advertisements recommend using it - Susan Scheewe is the one who recommended soaping your brush first so you can use good brushes to get good lines not the worn out brush coverage types) - it was a brush that I wouldn’t mind if I had to throw it away - most artists generally have one or two (sometimes more) of those laying around in their art supplies.

I let it dry on my 140 lb watercolor paper. I painted over it with a few different colors. I let those dry. I used an eraser to pull the dried masking fluid off the paper. Yes there were bright paper white areas.

First … the masking fluid dried on the brush it seemed before I could even get it down on the paper almost. I did not like that at all. I did throw the brush away after trying to clean it because all the masking fluid did not come off the brush - it is always nice for me to know what actually happens instead of just taking some one else’s word for it - I trust them that they are right but I cannot talk intelligently about something I have not tried). If you are going to use this stuff - soap the brush first - I haven’t tried that yet … maybe tomorrow …. but my guess is that it will at least keep it from drying into rubbery clumps on your brush at least. The rubbery clumps came off on my paper too - perhaps I needed to be using a brush with longer bristles so I would not have gotten those - I have more “okay to pitch after masking fluid use” brushes - those old brushes are finally going to come in handy that I just had not thrown out yet.

Second … I generally do not draw the design on the paper first … I have a plan in my head and work around that … that way of working and using masking fluid DID NOT work well together for me. The masking fluid dried too quickly - I needed to know where to put it right away - it gave me no time to think about where to place it as I applied it. If you are going to use masking fluid - put a drawing on the paper first and know where you want to put the masking fluid BEFORE starting.

Thirdly, I did not like the hard edges that I got from using the masking fluid. It will be awesome in some paintings and really not good at all for others. I am not expecting to be able to create soft or lost edges using masking fluid - perhaps I am wrong … only a lot more testing will let me know for sure if I will ever be able to use it for lost edges. My best guess so far is that it will be best used in a painting to mask places where I want hard edges.

This was an experimental painting that I was fully prepared to throw away if it did not work well for me … yes … I definitely threw it away … but I learned a lot from trying it and I will keep experimenting with the masking fluid to see if I can create paintings that I like and will want to keep … maybe I can and maybe I cannot .. only time and trial & error will tell me for sure.

I saw watercolor crayons by Staedtler awhile back - at the time, I only saw the 12 color set - this week, I saw a set of 24 so I bought them to try. I love their watercolor pencils - I have the set of 60 - I love using them to create watercolor paintings.

I’ve finished two watercolor paintings this week for an event - I did not take pictures of them for my Fine Art Print Gallery deliberately … They are to be given away in a drawing by my son-in-law at a business event on Friday and I wanted to give unique originals - no fine art prints available or in process - just the originals exist - the closest to having anything digital of them is the beginning background of Tree Fountain - I used it to illustrate a Seascape Artist post - you can read it at Planning for a Specific Frame Size & Mat Size and see the background (teaser - much of the background is hidden behind the tree and it changed from the beginning blocking in of the background as most paintings generally do.

The one I completed last night is quite lovely - I just dropped it off at my daughter’s house tonite - she already has the other one and the business cards and a few business card magnets to go with the paintings - my daughter and my son-in-law liked it very much and think it is even much prettier than the first one - lots of gorgeous blues - my daughter told me it looked like I had painted a turtle … I agree - the first thing I thought of when looking at the completed painting was that the object in the middle ground looks like a submerged turtle - perhaps it is … with my paintings, I just paint them … it is up to others to decide what is actually there in the hidden depths I may not have noticed.

Tree Fountain is a matted 16″ x 20″ and Turtle Rock is an unmatted 18″ x 24″ - I used a bit of the watercolor crayons on Turtle Rock last night but I think I will find out if I like them and if they are useful to me when I use them to create an entire painting with them. I may not get to use them before the coming week-end. I found 18″ x 24″ Clip-it Frames at Aaron Brothers - I was VERY excited - I had only ever seen 16″ x 20″ or smaller - I bought 5 of them - I have the two Palm Tree Ballet series paintings that I want to frame - I am hoping to work more on this watercolor series in the coming week-end - I have a plan of how I want to use the new watercolor crayons in the next Palm Tree Ballet painting - I may need a frame for it - we’ll see once I paint it.

I’m looking forward to #3 - as you can see by looking at them - each so far are very different from each other - I am doing a lot of experimentation with the Palm Tree Ballet series - on the first - I used new metallic watercolor paint (tubes) I found - it is quite lovely and makes a difference in the final painting effect. In the second, I was sponging - watercolor sponging is much different than oil paint sponging - I like the effect of the background quite well - it would not be right for every painting but this one turned out well. Next will be #3 using the new watercolor crayons - my daughter might even like those - she likes to color with my grandson so perhaps I can have a family dinner with watercolor crayons being the entertainment after I move - my grandson hasn’t found out about them yet since I just got them - we’ll see if he likes them too or not next time he comes over … IF I can get him away from the video games long enough to paint with me.

If you feel as if you are in a rut in your paintings … try new tools … try a drive in the country … try visiting a museum and looking at other’s art … being out & about in the world works wonders sometimes - it can take you away from your comfort zone where you might feel a bit stagnant and spur you into creating masterpieces. Tonite, as I drove home from my daughter’s subdivision … I saw a lovely palm tree that I had never noticed before - the shape was lovely - I was driving so I couldn’t sketch it - but I remember where the tree is at so I can go look at it again

Palm Tree Ballet #1 by Barbara Burns

Art featured regularly, courtesy of the artists at ImageKind.

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Palm Tree Ballet #2 by Barbara Burns

Art featured regularly, courtesy of the artists at ImageKind.

Tags: Barbara Burns, Palm Tree Ballet #1, Palm Tree Ballet #2,ImageKind