Ode to Spring - 30/30 Challenge 2016

Ode to Spring,

 Watercolor on Arches #140 Cold Press Paper, 8"h x 8"w, 2016 #10

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My most recent obsession is to have combine the portrait of a single flower -- not the glamorous rose or peony, but those often only seen in clusters, such as tulip or cosmos, and a large, abstract background, playing with amorphous shapes and textures contrasting the sharply defined focal point... I think there would be a few more to come in this series as I am working on several of them at the same time. These take a lot of staring and only gradually come into being after many layering and being putting away for a while, as the imagery come largely from my head, instead of from a defined reference photo. It is a new diversion for me, and I like how it prompt me to react to what's happening on the paper while wet colors are dropped in. I am listening to watercolor more now, instead of always trying to cajole it into what I have initially planned it to be. I guess it's all part of coming into peace with this challenging medium...

Eclectic II - 30/30 Challenge 2016

Eclectic II, Watercolor on Arches #140 Cold Press Paper, 8"h x 8"w, 2016 #7

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This is my second take on yesterday's subject - a good thing that often comes from the daily-painting challenge. Often, you don't get to obsess over a project because of the time limit, but the "what-if"s that spring from it can germinate the next day, or the day after into a creature of its own. I wanted to play with the abstract background a bit more and make color and paint application (granulation, wet-in-wet shapes, etc.) the dominant factor instead of strong value patterns that dominates in yesterday's version. Instead of changing the last painting and trying to realize this goal, I just took another go of it. The result is today's painting -- less electric, more dreamy in its atmosphere. It is fun to look at the two pieces side-by-side and think how much a variation painting can take from its source material. Often painting from my own painting brings a great sense of freedom, as well as springboards my imagination. Staring at the shapes gradually emerging from the interaction of paint, water and paper surface often leads to such unexpected directions. All I need is to listen, instead of trying to beat the painting into the mold I had in my head before putting brush on paper...

Eclectic - 30/30 Challenge 2016

Eclectic, Watercolor on Arches #140 Cold Press Paper, 6"h x 6"w, 2016 #6

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After painting something bright and colorful with warm reds and magentas, I wanted to explore the cool side of the palette and paint something dark and moody, like the neon lights in the night city street. Up till this point my florals are all pretty much natural-colored, and I want to see if I can pull off something with a very artificial-lighting-inspired color scheme and dream-like atmosphere. I am currently doing a second variation of of this painting, which is less value-contrast-dominated and a bit more colorful. It would be fun to compare the achieved effects...

April's Promise - 30/30 Challenge 2016

April's Promise, 

Watercolor on Fabriano Artistico #140 Cold Press Paper, 6"h x 6"w, 2016 #5

Sold!

April's Promise - Day Twenty-Five of the 30/30 Challenge

April's Promise, 
Watercolor on Fabriano Artistico #140 Cold Press Paper, 6"h x 6"w, 2015 #27

Sold!

Day Twenty- Five of the challenge -- another one I have labored on for ages. When I first started this painting I had absolutely no idea that Fabriano Cold Press paper is very very different from Arches Cold Press paper -- in absolutely every aspect. Arches is hard-surfaced, holds pigments applied onto its surface relatively well, because the pigments do sink into its paper fibers quite a bit -- and because of this the colors do seem to get a little bit duller as the applied washes dry and sink in, also it is difficult to lift colors from this paper, especially if you are using some of the staining ones such as Thalo or Alizarin Crimson. Fabriano Artistico paper, on the other hand, only keeps pigment on its very soft surface, which makes lifting easy -- even lifting back to the paper white is possible without actually damaging the paper surface, but wet-in-wet glazing difficult as the underlying colors have a tendency to lift off if you wet the paper again! Also, soft-surfaced paper dry at a speed much faster than hard-surfaced paper, as the latter has a lot of surface sizing and prevent drying by absorption to a certain degree. I have since learned my lesson -- the painful way, as I labored my way through this little piece, throwing my brush onto the ground numerous times as the applied wash simply refuse to do what I want it to. Luckily, I was taking some classes with the amazing watercolor artist, Jeannie Vooden when I started this painting. And I have learned the patient blending of very thin, watery washes wet-on-dry in her class. I modified this method by trial and error to use on the Fabriano paper, learning complete different painting techniques and procedures that would suit the temperament of this delicate paper... I have learned so much through the process!

Looking back at this finished piece, I am amazed at how much my method of paint application has changed through the struggle of this little painting. It has literally taught me so much about watercolor, and about myself as a painter. I am grateful for all the struggles it put me through, and feel very proud that I have stuck with it till the end.