Wax Resist on Yupo Paper

I want to share with you a really fun technique for watercolor painting on Yupo paper using a wax resist.  See those wonderful white lines in this painting of a ukulele?  That is from wax!  How did I get them?  It's really very easy!  Here is what you need:

• Yupo paper
• wax paper for baking
• fine ball-point pen
• a drawing or printed copy of a photograph that you want to paint, at the size you want your painting to be.

The process is simple:

1. Lay down your drawing (or printed copy of a photograph) on top of your Yupo paper.
2. Tape the drawing to the Yupo paper, hinge-style, on the top or one side.  You don't want the drawing to slip!
3. Slip in a piece of the wax paper (wax side down, if one-sided) between the drawing and the Yupo paper.
4. Use the fine point ballpoint pen to draw over the lines of your drawing, thereby transferring wax onto the Yupo paper.
5. Remove the drawing and the wax paper and paint!

It might be difficult to see your drawing, except for the dents the pressure of your ballpoint pen put into the Yupo paper, but part of the fun of this method is to see the drawing revealed as you brush on your paint.  Try it, it's fun!

Oh, and how did I get that texture in the washes?  That is easy too!  Just fill a little spray bottle with rubbing alcohol and lightly spritz onto your wash while it is still wet.  It creates such cool textures!

[Edited 1.23.2015 to add:]

That red ukulele painting was so fun to do, I did a series of them!

Painting Animal Portraits from Photographs

In one of the Facebook artist groups I belong to they asked anyone who is experienced in drawing and painting live creatures to write an article about their process.  As I have some experience photographing and painting pet portraits, I answered the call with this article:  Painting Animal Portraits from Photographs.pdf.  I hope you find it useful!

Portrait of Georgia

I wanted to gift a pet portrait to a new friend who is moving away soon.  I know she has a horse so I went looking in her Facebook page for any good reference photos of her horse.  As I went through her photos, I encountered an adorable photo of her dog, Georgia.  The sad part is that it was posted because Georgia had just died.  As I went deeper in her timeline, I saw that she and Georgia had been partners for some time, and it must have indeed been very sad to lose her.  I know what it's like to love and lose dogs, I've experienced that with several dog-friends myself.  At the risk of touching on the sadness and grief, I decided to go ahead and paint a portrait of Georgia.  She has received it now and has expressed to me that she is very touched by this.

"No Excuses" Sketch Kit

I came across Laure Ferlita's blog which led me to her demonstration video on the "No Excuses Sketch Kit". This kit is so small, so compact, that there is absolutely no excuse why someone who wants to sketch on-the-go could complain of lack of materials on hand. Your watercolor palette is simply patches of pigment scribbled in from watercolor pencils onto a folded piece of watercolor paper. To use the pigment, simply apply the tip of a waterbrush to the patch and get some color and paint!

Years ago I found a Derwent 36-color watercolor pencil set for a good price ($20 I think) at Costco and picked it up--and consequently hardly ever used it. Now Laure has inspired me to make a good use of it! So I gave it a try, and did a little ACEO-sized painting (on Yupo paper) with it:

Now this is a kit I can actually put into my small purse! Thanks, Laure!

Back in the Saddle Again

I was amazed to discover I actually took one full year off from watercolor painting! It was a busy year, with lots of trips (including a month-long trip to Europe!) and painting just kinda got away from me. It happens. I returned to it because I wanted to paint a wedding card for some friends-I wanted something personal and not standard from a card shop. So I got out my Yupo paper and painted this from a photo from their engagement shoot. I love Yupo paper to paint on, how it's taught me to loose up my strokes, how the white of the paper really allows the color of the paint to come through, and the splotchy effects you can get by spritzing a bit of alcohol onto the wet paint. The card was a hit, and they really expressed their appreciation for this painting!

So with that bit of succes

s I felt motivated to get back into a regular painting practice. One of my "hangups" about painting is the issue to where to put all the paintings I do. I dislike having stacks and stacks of paintings laying around. I came up with a solution, though: practice painting in a small sketchbook! So while in Flagstaff recently I bought a Pentalic Nature Sketch book, and for my first painting in it I did a (sorta) plein air of the San Francisco Peaks (as seen from the window of my mother-in-law's hospital room). I first sketched the outlines in pencil, drew over them with a Pigma Micron pen, and added washes of color using the paints from my little Altoid palette (containing French Ultramarine, Hansa Yellow, Red Rose Deep, Carbazole Violet, Sap Green, Quinacridone Burnt Orange). I since have done a few more practice paintings in this sketchbook, mostly from photo references.

With my painting juices flowing, I did a couple more paintings on "real" paper:

The horse silhouette is a 5x7" on Arches 140 lb paper from a friend's photo taken of his wife working her horse with the last bit of light left in the day. I loved the color in the sky gradient and just had to paint it. I sent the painting off to them in the mail as a surprise. The second is a 5x7" on Yupo of a friends puppy mastiff, taken just after he graduated from obedience school. I will be giving this away as well when I see these friends next. Giving paintings away is another good way to keep the stack of old paintings from growing in the closet!