Layering

When I started learning to use watercolor as a medium, I was totally intimidated by facing a blank white page.  I quickly realized that I needed to be able to "draw" before I could "paint".

Looking back at my early paintings, I saw that my perspective was off, my colors were muddy, and while some of my efforts were OK, many should be thrown into the trash.  (Which I did!)

But I love using watercolor.  So what to do?

First, I realized I am an abstract artist, not a realist artist.  That relieved me of having to master drawing before painting.  What I loved about watercolor was the mixing of paints and the intuitive application of color.

But then, there was that blank white paper to deal with.

To solve that problem, I began using pre-printed card stock as my substrate.  It didn't matter the design since I would be altering the surface with my own hand and the original design would never be shown.

Here are several small works of art made this way.  And I love them.  They were fun to make because there was no pressure.  So I encourage all of you to spend a couple of hours creating this way to see what you can make.

Here's how I did this:  I found some pre-printed card stock and cut it into the shape and size I wanted.  I randomly applied gesso to the surface, not covering everything, and let it dry.  Then I painted over the whole surface with water color.  I added some gold watercolor just because.

More importantly, I had a wonderful creative day!