Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Plaza Nocturne in Batik

Switching gears today, I am working with the watercolor batik method.  Though I prefer the super thin rice paper, I am learning to really enjoy the heavier masa rice paper.  It has a slick side and a papery side, and I always use the papery side.  It accepts the ink and watercolor much better than the slick side.  Experimenting today, I  wrinkled my paper before painting as is often done with masa, but not normally with the batik until after waxing.  I liked it.  The creases that "broke" the sizing took on more paint than the rest, bumping up that batik effect when I later added the sienna paint to the creases and edges.  I've been sketching quite a bit of architecture lately, so I've chosen one of my favorite places - the Country Club Plaza for my composition.  This place is beautiful all times of the year, but especially when the streets are wet!   The coolest part of this technique is that no two paintings will ever be alike.  The way the watercolor reacts to the rice paper and hot wax is unpredictable, taking on a mind of it's own.  And what is more fun than a painting doing it's own thing?  This painting makes 1491 in 1491 days :)

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