Painting #19 of 52/52 Painting Challenge + Bonus Beetle!
"Orchid Bee" Watercolor on Vellum; MLighthipe ©2012
This painting was finished last week and I was already to scan it when…… I couldn't find it!
Vellum is made from animal skin and it it tends to buckle and ripple when it gets moist. When I was done with the painting I put it inside a heavy thick book to keep it flat. Then I put the book down some where and then I couldn't remember which book I put it in. I hate when this happens. It is a signal to me that it is time do some cleaning and putting things away. Too much clutter is not efficient and I really get angry with myself when I spend too much time looking for things rather than painting.
Maybe I lost the painting because I didn't like that way it came out. I had been happy with painting on vellum until I did this piece.The orchid bee I chose to paint was a spectacular metallic blue and emerald. The calf skin that I was painting on was mottled and earth toned. The vellum color really subdued the brilliant color on the paper. I tried to get it to "zing" but it wouldn't. The more I fussed the darker and heavier it became. I realized that the transparent nature of watercolor was allowing the natural color to shine through. The other paintings I did on vellum were beetles in neutral colors. The subject and the color on the past paintings were a match made in heaven. Not so with this piece. Overall the painting is not a bad one, but it wasn't what I was looking for. I decided to do another test painting on a small scrap of pure white vellum to see if I could get vibrant, brilliant color. Here is the little beetle I did. It is a wood boring metallic beetle. The painting is only 2.5 " x 4". I found it much more successful to paint on the lighter color vellum.
So an important thing I have learned is that watercolor really is transparent (what was I thinking??) and that when choosing a bright subject that you want to depict in true technicolor you should plan accordingly. It actually goes nicely in the series but I am looking forward to playing around with lighter pieces of vellum.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day start of the summer weekend. I am amost done with my next painting so I will post this week again. I didn't want you to think that I forgot….. even if I can't find it…… I am still painting!
I can see that the tone of the vellum would affect the colors of the bee, but to my eye, it looks great. I guess that underlying tone would work better for something else–I'm anxious to see more.
I love your work. I am learning a lot.
Thank you
Dear Yvonne,
Thank you so much for visiting my blog. I appreciate your comments. It is important to me that people are learning useful things that they can apply to their own art work. If you have any specific questions please contact me and I will do my best to answer them.
Cheers,
Mindy
Watercolor really IS transparent… I’ve learned that one too many times. I don’t have too much experience with gouache, though… Just how opaque is gouache? Would using a different colored paper/background affect the final piece’s colors?
Hi Pearl,
Gouache can be very opaque especially if it comes straight out of the tube and is not watered down. I use it full strength when I want to cover up the paper completely and add water to it when I want it to be semi-opaque to transparent. The more water = more transparent. If you are working on a colored paper the color will definitely have an impact on the color of the paints. the best thing to do is to experiment on several different papers with different ratios of water to paint. This way you can decide for yourself what effect you like.
Also, what would you say are the differences in working with white gouache versus white watercolor?
Hi again Pearl!
I do not believe there is any difference between white gouache and white watercolor. Usually white watercolor is called Chinese White and white gouache is Titanium White. The end result is that they are both very opaque. Since watercolor and gouache use gum arabic as a binder they are interchangeable. I use them together in paintings all the time. Turner gouache has a Mixing White which is more semi-opaque and creates nice pastels without looking too chalky. I hope this helps. Any other questions please fell free to contact me!
Happy painting,
Mindy