Several people have remarked that some of the paintings I do have a batik look to them. This appearance is owing to a technique that I stumbled upon years ago, by accident. Many of the best things that people discover are by accident. Watercolor is the easiest vehicle for encouraging accidents to happen, but of course gaining some control over these things is another matter.
The technique is one I've used in many variations of the painting I'll do here - a koi fish. I'm familiar with it, and it will only be a half-sheet, so it will go quickly. I'll use as my model a fish that has more than done his duty; I first photographed him at Winterthur (in the koi pond, naturally), and the subsequent drawings I made have served as the basis for about 30 paintings. They have been good sellers for me - this guy is in more homes than cable TV.
To spice it up a bit, I thought I'd give away the painting to a WC member. I wasn't sure how to go about this, until my wife suggested I make the thread a raffle. Actually, a sort of raffle-in-reverse. Instead of putting your money where your mouth is, you put your mouth where the money would go. (somehow that sounds not quite right....) So, the person who makes the __th post will receive this (if they want it), but they will have to mat and frame it. (I sent the number to a neutral third party to guard against lottery fraud!)
The drawing, as usual, is un-photographable, so I will simply show the original pencil drawing I have used many times. Very simple. The background I have invented several versions of, some including other fish. For this I'll use a background of plants that has worked well. The paper is 156 lb. hot press Arches, and I did not gesso it. For this technique, the paint can be straight watercolor or acrylic watercolor - it doesn't matter.
I start out by painting in the background lightly, around the fish and plants. I kept the value light, because there will be another layer on top. Lots of watercolorists would mask everything, but the effect I'm going for works better without it, I think. I'm not striving for any special continuity with the colors - something that would be a natural by-product of doing a wash over masking fluid. Instead, the variations in each "pane" of color seem to add to the final effect. After I paint each section, I drop some clear water in to create some effects. "Blooms" or "crawlbacks" are something people often try to avoid, but I like them because they scream "watercolor!" - especially good when painting water subjects.
, that was very impressive posting! Nice to see you back in the neighborhood, and thank you for kicking everything up a notch. Checked out the dictionary. On second thought, "raffle" might not be quite right. The definition of that seems to require the player buy a token or ticket, etc. A "lottery," besides the obvious, can evidently be something decided by fate. So...lottery it is.
Linear Mode
