Watercolor Painting; Bird On Aquabord

                                                                                Hello Everyone;
Today, I thought I would try something different with the aquabord I am working with.  I have done a couple of landscape paintings so I thought I would try a bird painting.  The colors do stand out well with this support.  My bird itself is by no means perfect, but it does stand out well.  The more I work with this aquabord, the more I like it.  The whole idea that my customers do not have to spend extra money on framing behind glass or framing at all appeals to me.  Another great advantage with the aquabord is the durability.  The masonite panel the clay adheres to is very solid.  Ampersand says these panels are archival as well.  I still have a ways to go before I am comfortable with this support, but on today's painting, I was able to layer without lifting the underlying colors.  On paper, that is not that difficult, on these panels, it gets a bit tricky.  I will continue to keep you posted on my progress with this support and share anything I learn.  In the mean time, have a great weekend.

Watercolor Painting; More Aquabord Practice

Hello Everyone;
Here is another new painting on aquabord by Ampersand.  No, your not seeing things, this composition is very similar to the other one.  When I am trying out something new, I find it beneficial to paint a very similar scene to gauge the progress or regression in the quality of work.  When you have something close to compare different paintings to, it seems to be more obvious of triumphs and failures.  Trust me when I say, failures are just as important and possibly more important then triumphs when learning something new.  Take your mistakes and learn from them and you will progress much quicker then ignoring them.  In my experiences with painting, I have met a lot of people expecting too much in the beginning of their learning process.  They seem to think that they can become experts in a few days and therefore, each mistake they make they look at as a set back and failure instead of a learning experience.  So many end up quitting art for that reason among others.  Always look at mistakes and failed paintings as an opportunity to progress in your journey of becoming an artist.  It is not a cop out or rationalization to make you feel better.  Over the years, my mistakes have been the reason I can sell my work.  My mistakes are the reason I can keep making that next step forward.  My mistakes are the reason I will, one day, be the artist I have always dreamed of being.  Embrace your mistakes and failures and become the artist you have always dreamed of being.  It will happen, just put everything you have into it.

Watercolor Painting; New Landscape Painting

Hello Everyone;
I hope everyone had a safe and joyous Holiday season.  As for me, it was wonderful.  Time with family and pretty decent weather considering I live in the western burbs of Chicago.  Even though the winter thus far has been pretty tolerable, once Christmas is over, I look to the spring time.  Warm temperatures and green grass.  Today, I put in a Jimmy Buffet cd and painted this spring time scene.  I used the Ampersand Aquabord I mentioned in my last post.  As I stated before, it is considered a cold press surface, but the paint reacts completely different then with paper.  I do love the way the colors pop out as opposed to paper.  Remember, when painting in watercolors on paper, the paint will lighten up approx 50% when it dries.  With the aquabord, that does not happen.  One difference in applying your paint is to use more paint then water.  I realize that goes against using watercolors to begin with, but the paint lifts very easily on this surface.  If you are used to layering colors, be very careful you don't disturb the underneath layers.

Right now, I am seriously considering using the aquabord exclusively for my paintings going forward.  I really like the results, but I need to still work out a few kinks.  My plan is to use the 1 1/2" cradle the aquabord comes in.  When a customer buys a painting on the aquabord with that cradle, they can hang it up as is.  No need for a frame, glass or matting.  The cradle would really save my customers a decent amount of money and best yet, it is a clean look on the wall.  Like I said, I still need to work some things out before I make the switch, but that is most definitely the plan.  If you have never tried this support, give it a whirl.  Blick has a 3 pack of 5" X 7" 1/8" panels for under $7.00.  Practice on it, use a wet rag to remove the paint and start over again.  You can almost go to complete white again so your investment will go a long way.  Let me know how you like it.