Poured watercolour of a clematis. I just had to call this painting Social Climber as there are so many blossoms growing over top of one another. So many rich shades of blues, pinks and purples.
When to say when
There are times when I am unsure to call a painting complete or not. I find this challenges me more with poured watercolours than traditional painting styles. The paint stains the paper quite heavily when you pour, often creating sharper edges than you can tell during the process. It is harder to edit the painting while balancing the tone and maintaining transparency of colour.
When I remove the masking compound, I think the underpainting looks washed out as the mask holds pigment on top. When you take off the mask this layer of pigment is also removed. Was never intended to stay, but it is usually quite bold. You sure miss it when it has been removed.
I use my reserved paint from the pouring process to go back in and enhance the underpainting. This one is a bit different in that I did not pour green just applied a bit with my brush.
Step away from the painting
FIrst is knowing when to say when. Put the brushes down. Step away from the painting. And, really poured watercolours need to be viewed from across the room. You see the illusion better and not each individual mask or paint application. All kidding aside, the further back you are the more dimensional the work appears to be! Pretty cool actually.
A few steps of my painting process in slideshow below
Click to scroll through
This clematis grows in my sister-in-law Teri’s magical garden in PEI.
It is so hard to relive that the finished painting came from the start you had. This is super Helen!
Thanks Val, this technique is always full of surprises as it is often unpredictable. Especially sometimes I mask lights that should be dark areas ha ha