A new substrate

I did an interesting lesson with Deanna Strachan-Wilson of LFI2022 (a preview bonus session) today. I thought I knew most of the permutations of working with watercolor, but Deanna introduced me to a new idea—using some form of partial "resist" to slow down and loosen up the application.

We used toned mixed-media paper, and put a thinned-out coat of gesso on it. Yes, gesso, as the base for a watercolor. Considering the frustrations I have had with gesso as an undercoating for acrylic inks, I would have said no thanks, but her watercolors are soft and hazy, a little smeary, and completely appealing, and I wanted to learn, so I went along.

This is an example of Deanna's.
(She's also doing some kind of
thing with masking tape, but
we didn't do that part.)

The effect of the gesso is to make the watercolor at least partially bead up on the surface and be slow to dry. So you can blob it on all over the place, and still go back with a damp, clean brush to push it around, remove some, smooth it out into the creases of the gesso, and finally let it dry while sitting on the surface, and thus get all kinds of soft, fun effects.

You do have to have patience to let each layer dry, once you get it where you want it, before trying to apply the next; with normal watercolor paper, the color is going to sink in and be immovable pretty quickly, but with the gesso running interference, it's a gradual and kind of random process. But once you start layering it up, you get some beautiful soft shadows using just a few colors; Deanna encouraged us to also be vague about such outlines and structures as hair and clothing, and indicate rather than define.

The other thing that makes her faces pop is going back in with the gesso after to brighten up all the whites, which stand out beautifully on the toned paper and vague background. And you can sort of push the gesso into the color and blend them.

I don't think I would choose this as my preferred method; I enjoy too many other techniques to be exclusive. But I will certain try this again and see what I can do with it!

I picked my own reference photo from which to work, so it wouldn't be a duplicate of everyone else's. This is...

"Dani"—gesso, pencil, and watercolor on Strathmore toned gray 184-lb. mixed media paper, 9x12 inches.

Canvas

I finally got up my nerve to start a canvas this week; up to now, I've been painting all these acrylics on watercolor paper. But this one is a sort of commission; I was intrigued by the project and told the person whose reference photo it is that I would attempt to do it in the style we both admired and, if she likes it, she can buy it from me. If not, hopefully someone else will want it. Or, it will have simply been a good experiment.

The subjects are 3/4 figures of a man and woman standing outdoors in front of foliage. But the objective is not a realistic portrait—the photo is black and white and the contrasts (light and shadow) in it are extreme. We agreed that I would try to paint it sort of in the style of artist Michael Carson. This means the background will be color blocks that suggest rather than specifically convey the atmosphere, and a figure (or two in this case) made up of contrasts, with likeness not being as important as mood.

I got a bit literal with my color blocks on this, since I wanted to have both a light and a dark green and a khaki color for the foliage, some blue for the sky, some orange/yellow for sunlight, etc., and they are way too discrete and solid. But I have taken the initial step of going over them with a thinned-out mix of Naples yellow/green (a sort of green-tinted pale cream color) mixed with a little Cobalt blue and thinned out with Acrylic medium. I did one coat and let it dry, and will probably go back in with more, and then add some dry-brush paint for a "scumbled" effect in certain areas.

Also, once the two figures are in, they will cover up about 85 percent of the background, and then I can play around with whatever remains around the edges, until it is "edgier," ha ha.

Anyway, here are a couple of shots of my prep work so far:

The raw background squares...

The glaze...

And with the first layer of the "knock-back" color applied...

More to come as this progresses...

Challenges

The thing I enjoy most is finding a reference photo that challenges me—an odd perspective or angle, extremes in light and shadow, quirky expression, or whatever. I picked this one because of the hands, the mouth, and the task of making it look like somebody was home behind those sunglasses. I've been contemplating it for a couple of days, and finally decided to jump in.

I can't say I'm completely satisfied—the hands were difficult, the way they are bunched up, and look distorted to my eyes. They are especially interesting because on one hand she is sticking out her pinky finger like she's holding a cup of tea, while on the other she is sticking out her index finger instead, so they are opposite but it was hard to make them look that way. I think I got the pinky too large/long and the index finger too short/small, and it doesn't help that I started drawing about two inches farther to the left than I should have if I were going to include that entire right hand, so there's that. I'm still not the best at placement!

I feel I did better on both the eyes and the mouth; but what I'm really happy with on this is the use of the background colors to determine a lot of the foreground colors, without having them blend into one another too much. I introduced a few random colors that didn't appear in the background, such as a light olive green in some of her skintones and the pale raw sienna that I combined with other colors for some shadows; it got a little muddy, but mostly I think it worked. I'm also happy with the hair color—I love a redhead!

I introduced some outlining with a black Stabilo All to selected areas, not outlining everything but using it to emphasize certain things; and then I went back in with a damp brush and activated some of it so that it would make parts (like the sunglasses) pop.

Despite the placement error that put the hand partly out of frame, I do enjoy painting portraits in which the person seems to be looking in from another room, rather than being the central focus.

"Glamour Glasses"—pencil, acrylic paints, and Stabilo All on Fluid 140-lb. coldpress watercolor paper, 16x12 inches.