Is it just me or does this look vaguely gynaecological in an upside down kind of way? Maybe it's just me...
Painting 'muscles' are now firmly back in action and performing at max warp. As I have a deadline for this set of work, I don't have the luxury of not being able to do it; I knew the first piece would be a struggle, but now I'm firmly on a progression of ideas, and as usual after a break, I've developed a few new themes and ideas. After the last post about Bunchy, I was able to complete her within two days - the colour laid down, and pencil work begun on the nearside ear.
Caroline mentioned Potters Pink, which I remember buying when it first came out a few years ago - in fact, I posted about it when this blog was only a few weeks old, back in 2005, when I was using it on a large painting (in my old, tiny studio, where I could barely move). I remember not being terribly impressed with it's wash abilities; it had a curious mix of chalkiness and stickiness from (presumably) too much gum arabic. Which is why I used my own pink mix for Bunchy; it had enough white in it for the dullness I was after, but a bigger proportion of normal watercolours for it to spread well.
A few hours of pencil work - (just normal H type ones; as a rule I only use coloured pencil on my commercial work, to bumpy the colour up, as is required). One more artwork down...
And another one on the way. As my washes take a while to dry naturally, I'm needle felting inbetween to save time - which seems to use different bits of the brain; sculpting and flat painting feel different inside my head when I do them and it takes about five minutes to settle back into whichever technique. But I've decided not to let my painting slip this time, so I'd better get used to it.
All four paintings are in exactly the same sized frame and circular mount - I've really pushed the limit on the composition here; when I was fitting the mount, I thought for a few horrid seconds that she was going to spill out of the aperture...but she just squeezes in nicely. Another fraction and it would have been like me trying to get into last year's trousers.
I'm often asked how I get certain painting effects...and sometimes I have an answer. Often I don't. As with my cooking, I tend to rely on experience, instinct and luck, in varying quantities. For this rabbit, I knew she had to be a grubby pink - remember when rubber plasters used to be a salmon pink colour? And after a few days of wearing it and playing in the dirt, they would go a dull, dirty pink colour? Exactly what I wanted for 'Bunchy'. I knew just how I was going to get it; I still haven't cleaned my paint bowls from the book job. Not because I'm a complete slattern, but I like the way paint changes as it ages and dries. So I added a splosh of water to this mongrel mix of leftovers and gave it a good mashing.
And there it is, a muddy pink which is just right for a saggy old stuffed rabbit, who's been dumped on a shelf and forgotten about.
One of the so-called golden rules is not to mix different types of paint such as gouache and watercolour, because they separate. They do indeed, and this is just why I like bunging them together - it makes for a slightly unpredictable wash, and depending on how well you mix it when using it, you can vary the tones from a uniform colour to a more patchy effect. And it often gives a lovely granulated finish too.
Watercolour paint dries to a different colour, and using this kind of wash, it's always interesting to see how things dry out, with some of the pigments isolating themselves.
The other thing I keep a constant eye on is how it is drying. I usually let things dry naturally, to keep the soft granulation. I prop things under the board, partly to counteract the slope of the studio, partly to manipulate the wash - here it is puddled in the bottom of the ear, and there is so much water there, it just has to be left for a couple of hours to quietly settle into a smooth finish, without any blotching or tidelines.
And here we are as of now. Hopefully she will be finished by tomorrow night. I am gradually getting back into the swing of it a; Satsuma was too bright and fussy for my liking - I didn't enjoy painting him, and to me at least, it shows. Bunchy is more where I like to be at. A bit plain and dull, but with bags of personality. Hmmm.
