Watercolor: Experiments in Learning

First, as you can see, I am experimenting with the appearance of this blog again in the hope that eventually, I'll find the perfect combination.  Possibly this one appeals to me because of our current weather.  If that's so, you may see another version when the weather changes. 

 

Today I spent most of my time playing with paints.  First, I played with colors because watercolor paints are not the same as oils even when they have the same name as the oil paints.  For example, Terre Verte is a wonderful earthy green as its name implies.  It is the same color and the same slightly gritty consistency (as though some dirt had been added) as the oil paint of that name.  However, the watercolor paint is not the same when it's reacting to water as its fluid addition as opposed to oil.  It doesn't seem to cover as well, the pigment doesn't stay with the water.  I still haven't quite figured out if the watercolor version is less mixable or if I simply am not adding enough pigment. 

 

Then there are paints that go by different names.  Here's an example - Diopside Genuine.  Well, I'm very glad it's genuine, but that still wouldn't tell me what color it is if I didn't look at the color band on the tube of paint.  It might help if I had taken chemistry (and retained any of it if I had), but I didn't.  Anyway, after playing with it a bit, I think it may be rather like the oil paint called Permanent Green.

Here's how I played with my greens.

 

I made a color chart to see how these paints look when added to other colors.   Across the top are the names of the greens, and down the left side are the names of the added colors.  Each green is shown as almost dry pigment (very little water used) and then as a "wash" (more water used).  I did the same thing when I added the colors so each box under a particular green shows how it would look almost dry and also as a wash. 

 

My teacher would call this avoiding the painting. She's right in one way, of course, but while I made that chart, I did learn about the consistency of the paints and their colors.  Not a bad thing to know if I'm going to use these paints.  And, I did go on to use some of those mixtures of these greens in a painting. 

 

Okay, you can see the greens behind the bluebirds.  Indeed, how could you not see them?  The background is dreadful; it's just too bold and distracting.  I was warned to leave the background very subtle, but after seeing what happened when I used carbon paper to transfer my drawing, I knew this would not be a keeper and decided to experiment with the color and background.  If you look carefully, you can see the lines of my drawing.  Lesson learned, apply very little pressure when using carbon paper to transfer a drawing.

 

Here you can see the mother bluebird feeding her teetering baby without the garish background.  Of course, you can also see those lines more clearly, too!

 

I haven't nailed the fluttering going on with the baby bird, either.  Wings and tail going like mad while mama is absolutely still.  

 

Well, we'll see what happens with the next attempt!