textures - watercolour + gravel + sand

© JANE MINTER

texture swatch - watercolour + gravel + sand

texture swatch 

canson montval

© JANE MINTER

watercolour + gravel + sand

detail of the above watercolour wash /texture swatch showing textures created with gravel and sand

....this swatch / experiment was inspired by Nita Engles chapter WORKING WITH UNUSUAL MATERIALS .. Using Gravel and Sand.... HOW TO MAKE COLOUR  PAINT ITSELF 

textures - watercolour + alcohol + salt

© JANE MINTER 

texture swatch -  watercolour + alcohol + salt

initial watercolour wash  with alcohol and salt

canson fontenay cold press 300g/m2

.....alcohol was squirted in areas and also applied with cotton wool bud... salt was then sprinkled in areas .... the paper became translucent where the alcohol was applied .............when the paper was bone dry after a few days I was able to float another wash on top the initial wash.

carrots

© JANE MINTER 

"carrots" 

initial watercolour study 

32 x 41cm

canson fontenay

still life - painted from life no pencil WIP 

iPad sketch - #2

© JANE MINTER

"water bottle"

iPad sketch #2 

 finger paint sketch app 

shading tools sketchy + chrome

sketching from life 

posting another quick iPad sketch .... when i was sketching this I just assumed I could continue scrolling down the page to finish the sketch  and that the paper size was larger than the screen size ..wrong !  ... the pro version might be different . There is no erase tool in the free version but you can adjust the colour to erase . I like  the shading tools of the app  here I used sketchy and chrome.

iPad sketch

© JANE MINTER 
"watercolour brushes "

iPad sketch 

finger sketch paint app - sketchy 

drawing from life 

I wanted to share one of my first i-pad sketches ... sketching from life with just my finger using a free app of finger sketch paint  - sketchy setting . For the last couple of weeks I've been enjoying sketching quickly everything and anything from life to explore this app ...it's really exciting to draw with....lots to learn and other apps to experiment with ..the options are endless...I'm suprised by the degree of precision / detail you can achieve by drawing with an index finger and fascinated how the images are generated ...I'd like to try drawing with a pen or painting with a brush for the i-pad.

wild iris

© JANE MINTER
"wild iris" 

initial watercolour study

32 x41cm 

painted from life 


.......one of my favorite wild flowers at this time of year are the beautiful purple blue wild irises ....here is an initial study /watercolour wash  of a single flower head . 

asparagus - asparagi

© JANE MINTER

"asparagus"
asparagi

green asparagus 

watercolour study WIP

32 x 41 cm 

painted from life no pencil

....it's the season for asparagus here ...posting a  quick study WIP I painted of a  bunch  asparagus before cooking  aspargus risotto  and aspargus with boiled eggs  ...... might add some shadows at the bottom ... will have to paint some traditional  white aspargus from Bassano - asparagi bianchi del Bassano - next  . 

pear - pera

© JANE MINTER

"pear"
pera 

small watercolour sketch 

canson montval 

painted from life no pencil

textures - watercolour + corrugated cardboard

© JANE MINTER

"corrugated cardboard" 

watercolour and corrugated cardboard (old cardboard box)

stamping /imprinting with watercolour
texture swatch

fabrinano 300g/m2

blue + red + yellow - watercolour wash

© JANE MINTER

"blue + red + yellow" 

small watercolour wash / colour swatch

blue - watercolour wash

© JANE MINTER

"blue"

watercolour wash 

20 x56 cm

wisteria - view of entrance to Archaeological museum in Aquileia

© JANE MINTER

"old wisteria" 

 view of entrance to Archaeological museum in Aquileia

Aquileia , Italy

watercolour wash

 32 x 41 cm

textures - watercolour + gauze

© JANE MINTER

watercolour + gauze"

texture swatch 

I laid strips of  cotton gauze  in various ways on a blue wash  ... wet on dry ,wet in wet , wet gauze , painted gauze,wet gauze.... to see different textures and effects that could be made  .... I'd like to try this with a finer and larger pieces of  gauze ...the gauze dries relatively quickly . 
....a few years ago we visited Zentrum Paul Klee  museum in Bern Switzerland ..the collection was incredible... ...Paul Klee employed  watercolour on gauze and paper in his painting " Ab ovo."
You can also see how John Squire incoporates material in his watercolour  on his video which i posted last year here : http://janeminterssketchbook.blogspot.it/2011/02/inspiration-watercolour-at-tate-britain.html 

textures - watercolour + hessian

© JANE MINTER
"hessian and watercolour" 

texture swatch 

another texture swatch ,which a friend suggested to try ,  this time with hessian using an old potatoe sack... you can still see the fibres on the painting .

....here I wet the paper in some areas leaving it dry in other areas to see the diferences when I laid down the painted hessian ... as the hessian absorbs so much water and pigment  I decided to pour the remaining  pigment on top of the hessian on the lhs when the paper was flat  ..the result is a bit of a mess but it's interesting how it dried .

.... although  the weave is much larger and coarser than gauze  the resulting patterns / imprint  are  similiar to the gauze above
...thanks again Jean for your suggestion.

colour theory - transparency + opacity - lifting + staining characteristics of watercolours

"red + purples"

testing for transparency + opacity  -  testing for lifting + staining properties 
watercolour pigments 

"yellows + blues"

testing for transparency + opacity  -  testing for lifting + staining properties
"watercolour pigments" 

testing for transparency + opacity  -  testing for lifting + staining properties
"watercolour pigments" 

....following Maggie Latham's 5th post on Exploring Colour  I'm posting one of the exercises suggested this month by Maggie   looking at properties and characteristics of watercolour pigments ... a simple exercise to see if colours are transparent (semi transparent) or opaque (semi opaque) to read more see Maggie's excercise 3 .....it seemed a good opportunity to also test lifting and staining properties at the same time on the same sheet  ....inspired by some basic exercises  in  Linda Kemp's  Watercolour Painting Outside the Lines .... at the end I spent some time cross referencing with W&N colour charts and making additional notes of the characteristics of the pigments on the colour swatches ... ... the exercises will make valuable personal references  ..
The excercises are time consuming  but it's interesting to see  which transparent pigments are staining  or non-staining  and which pigments are opaque , semi opaque and or sedimentary .... alot of knowledge is already gained from painting and your own experience but actually making the time to make the tests and charts is invaluable.

...adding a note to my post as I've just finished reading Zoltan Szabo's chapter on Qualities of Transparent Watercolour pigments  "Watercolour Tips and Tricks " ... he explains the properties with great clarity and there are some excellent excercises to follow.

red + yellow tulips

© JANE MINTER

"red + yellow tulips"

watercolour study

tulip sketch

© JANE MINTER

"tulip sketch"

watercolour 

32 x 41 cm 

painted from life 

THE CA' D' ORO - Crenellations

© JANE MINTER

"THE CA' D' ORO" 

CRENELLATIONS - façade 

Gothic  Venetian Architecture  C15th 

Venice , Italy 

watercolour 56 x 38 cm  

Canson Fontenay 300 g/m2 

textures - watercolour + string # 2

© JANE MINTER 

"watercolour on string rolled on wet paper and then placed on wet wash again "

© JANE MINTER 

" watercolour on string rolled  uniformly on dry paper"

© JANE MINTER 

"watercolour string dragged vertically on wet paper" 

© JANE MINTER 

"painted string dragged vertically on wet in wet wash"

...posting  a few more watercolour washes with string used for creating texture this time rolling and dragging the string  on wet and dry paper...the patterns are all quite geometric with circular and horizotal /vertical motions ..will post a few more washes later that are more organic.

textures - string + watercolour

© JANE MINTER 

"wet on wet + painted string/twine" 

© JANE MINTER 

"initial wash painted string wet on dry + second wash  wet on wet painted string"

© JANE MINTER 

"wet on wet wash + painted string"

© JANE MINTER 

"wet on dry wash + wet string "

© JANE MINTER 

"painted string + circles "

....above are a few initial swatches showing textures created with string / twine + watercolour using circular motions...I was asked if  I'd ever tried using string when I posted "aluminium foil + watercolour washes"  ..thankyou Jean for your suggestion.