Watercolor of Waterlilies Stage 1

New Waterlily Watercolor stage 1 ©L Watry

I have begun working on my new waterlily painting, finally! The link to one of the source photos is here. I took this picture at the Denver Botanic Gardens. I have added 3 waterlilies and a bud to the scene and adjusted the layout so that it is a better composition. I carefully drew the scene at about 8"x11" size and then enlarged it to 21x29 (basically a full sheet of watercolor paper). I am using Arches cold press, 140 lb. paper. I stretched my paper onto a gator board and applied masking to the waterlilies, waterlily pads, and some of the reflections in the water. The masking will protect these areas from paint, so that I can remove it later and paint in those areas or leave them white. As you can see from these images I have started at the top of the paper and the background water in the scene. There is a very unusual creamy, peach reflection in the water with some gray texture over that. I used quinacridone gold and a touch of permanent rose and cobalt blue for the cream color. I wet the paper in sections and applied the cream color on the wet area. Then while this was still wet, I used a damp sea sponge to apply a purply/gray mixture over the cream for the texture.

As I work on this painting, I will be posting updates to the progress and I may post a video, too, so please check back.

Have You Ever...a look into the everyday life of an artist

Have You Ever...purchased a new tool or paint and thought or hoped it would change you into an overnight artistic sensation?

Watercolor Videos on You Tube

I have a new page for my watercolor videos on You Tube. The first video walks through 7 of 21 watercolor techniques. I will be adding videos for part two and three soon.  I also plan on adding videos of painting demos, so check back. 

To watch Watercolor Techniques for Beginners Part 1 of 3 go to Video tab at top or Click Here.

Watercolor on Yupo Paper - finish

Giant Waterlilies ©L Watry

I finished up the demo painting of waterlilies on Yupo. The water remained loose and wet/washy looking, while the lily pads were painted with more control. It is a busy, colorful scene, but you can see that you can paint realistically on Yupo. If you don't know what Yupo is, here is a link to my early post: Watercolor on Yupo Paper.
The surface of the lily pads were painted in one pass. The edges of the lily pads have two or three glazes on them and some detail of veining or texture.
To finish this piece I will spray it with 4 coats of an archival acrylic sealer and then mat and frame it.

Have You Ever...a look into the everyday life of an artist

Denver Botanic Gardens ©L Watry

Niece Kiera ©L Watry

My Sister Barb ©L Watry

Have You Ever...failed to backup your photos? Always backup your photos!  I went to the Denver Botanic Gardens with my sister today and I was playing around with my digital SLR camera to try and find a particular setting. While I was doing this I didn't stop to think and pushed the buttons that reformat my picture card.  I lost a ton of images. Some from my sons 15th birthday and a vacation that we took at spring break!  Wow, that will teach me, not to backup my photos onto the computer! 

Have You Ever...a look into the everyday life of an artist

Please join me in this fun new list. I plan to update with a new art related "Have You Ever..." every Friday. So, don't miss out, comment on my posts or come up with your own art related "Have You Ever..."

Have You Ever...repeatedly checked the mail box looking for the envelope that is addressed to you, in your own handwriting, and before you open the envelope, you feel it to see if it still contains the same number of slides that you sent to be juried? If there are fewer, you know even before opening the envelope that your painting was accepted into the show!

Now, with the advent of most shows changing to digital images and online entries, you can't get that little thrill before opening the envelope.

Watercolor on Yupo Paper

I am trying to finish up the demo paintings I started while teaching my last series of watercolor classes. But, I had to take a break from painting during our Spring Break trip and then I have also tried to catch up on all the paperwork for running a freelance art business - like Quickbooks and sales tax. (Not good to get behind.)

Anyway, this painting is on a paper called Yupo. Yupo is a totally synthetic paper, basically it is a plastic. I think it was originally used in the printing industry. Probably about 5 to 6 years ago some watercolor artists started experimenting and painting with watercolor on Yupo. You might think that being plastic, the Yupo would not work with watercolor, but there is just enough of a matte surface to the Yupo that allows the paint to adhere.

Four things I really like about painting on Yupo:
1. The paint doesn't sink into the paper at all, it sits on the surface of the paper and therefor looses none of its brilliance!
2. I am a very detailed, realistic painter, and I have to be more direct on Yupo. What I mean by this is, that it is not as easy to layer on Yupo so it works better to put down the value of the passage the first time.
3. If I don't like what I am working on I can literally put it under the faucet and wash it all off. Except for some of the staining colors, you can get the surface back to the pure white and start again.

4. Normally, I stretch my paper because I use 140lb. Arches cold press paper and this keeps it from buckling while I am painting. Yupo does not need to be stretched. All weights of Yupo will not buckle when wet.

Here are two close ups of my painting in process.
As you can see, the background water is very loose and wet-n-wet looking. In fact with Yupo, even when dry the paint can look wet. I have also started to add detail and more realistic areas by starting to paint in the waterlilies and waterlily pads. When I am painting more realistically, I use less water and more paint. Because the paint does not sink into the paper, it is very easy to lift. Sometimes that is a benefit and other times it is a curse.

If you are looking for a new surface to try, Yupo is a lot of fun once you get used to how you need to work on it. NOTE: when you are done with your watercolor painting on Yupo, it needs to be sealed with an archival, acrylic sealer of about 4 coats so that there is no chance of water or moisture in the air ruining your piece.

You can check out the Yupo Paper site here: www.yupousa.com
and purchase a sample pack of Yupo paper from Legion Paper here: http://legionpaper.com
Yupo is also available at online art supply stores like CheapJoes.com and ASWexpress.com

If you have questions about working with Yupo please let me know.
* My painting of the fuschia pink zinnia "Zesty Zinnia" in the slide show to the right is also on Yupo.

 

Have You Ever...a look into the everyday life of an artist

Please join me in this fun new list. I plan to update with a new art related "Have You Ever..." every Friday. So, don't miss out, comment on my posts or come up with your own art related "Have You Ever..."

Have You Ever...been half-way through a watercolor and felt like nothing was working, but you keep going and end up with a piece you like? It is encouraging to me to know that this happens with watercolor, no matter what level you have achieved. Fortunately, it doesn't happen with every painting, some just seem to paint themselves!


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Have You Ever...a look into the everyday life of an artist

Things to ponder, laugh at, and delight in. Please join me in this fun new list. I plan to update with a new art related "Have You Ever..." every Friday. So, be sure to check back, comment on my posts or come up with your own art related "Have You Ever..."

Have You Ever...dipped your brush into your drink instead of the water cup?

Have You Ever...been a passenger driving somewhere and yelled at the driver to "STOP THE CAR",  so that you could get out and take pictures of the light glancing off the water, a sunset glowing through the trees, or a field of wildflowers?

Have You Ever...had someone ask you how long it took to do that painting? The best response to this that I have heard is that it took 20 years + 15 hours (the years you struggled to learn the medium and find your individual "voice" plus the 15 hours to paint the painting and make it all look so easy).

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