Saturday, August 18, 2007


Kate Johnson's Watercolor 2 Class - Lesson 1b
Now THIS was fun!!! It's done on Yupo, which I haven't worked with in MONTHS and it was just a delight. Same reference photo and same DS paints as the one done on Canson--what a difference that Yupo made. For those of you not familiar with this strange watercolor "paper," it is not paper at all, but plastic. The paint obviously cannot soak into the plastic and so it just kind of floats and flows basically wherever it wants--I DID control some of it by tipping the sheet. I'd never tried salt on Yupo, so this was a first. I did the water first and loved the salt on it so much, I repeated that technique on the greenery of the mountains. The other technique I used is a bit of spatter on the mountain on the left. I used DS Buff Titanium for the misty clouds and dropped some pigment down on the mountain tops after they had dried completely. Since Yupo is plastic, it's a bit tricky to add layers because as soon as you put a wet brush on the dry area, the existing paint rewets and wants to run all over again. I did this tricky "layering" on the water also. I love the darker areas on the mountains and those were created simply by letting the paint flow and settle -- just a little coaxing on my part by tipping the paper. This affect is purely a Yupo kind of thing, which is why I really delight every time I use it. It certainly makes me loosen up any "control issues" I have with my painting. LOL!!

4 comments:

Tami said...
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Tami said...

Brenda, I like the first one but I LOVE this one!!! The salt on the water is a perfect effect! Looking at the rocks at first glance I thought you were doing and under water scene then realized it was water and mist on them. Absolutely wonderful! Thank you for your supportive comments on my blog, I always appreciate the encouragement...

Sue Seibert said...

Very interesting. I have never tried it, but it sounds like fun!

Teri said...

Brenda I have to comment on all your latest posts (this d-- dialup of mine.

I love your freedom to go ahead and try new things-they are all wonderful! That yupo paper sounds so interesting.