Lately, I've Been Doing Nothing But Watercolor

When I started participating in the Sketch Fest back in January of this year, I started painting with watercolor again after not touching this particular medium in a really long time after discovering the joy of digital art-making (Let's face it, the ease of 'undo' and 'erase' makes experimentation much cheaper, which makes me take more risks, which further leads me to be more creative in many instances.).  Around the same time, I also discovered the tiny pictures called ACEOs.  At first, I found the 2.5" x 3.5" size terribly claustrophobic and limiting, but being a person who was already into fine details, I soon figured out that it wasn't nearly as bad as it seemed at first. I painted a LOT of original ACEOs during the first half of the year.  First ones were in colored pencil, then I gradually shifted to include watercolor, then ink and watercolor, which I find myself to be most at home with.

When I first "invested" in the cheap "penny sleeves", little plastic bags to slip your ACEOs into, which I learned was a standard procedure, a bag of 100 seemed like something I would never be able to go though.  I honestly thought, "Gosh, these are going to last me a lifetime.  Even if I did a lot, it'll probably last 2 years."  Boy, was I wrong!  I'm already in the second stash of 100.  I've lost track of all the originals I've painted and sold, not to mention the prints made in that same size for collectors that I offer through my Etsy shop.

In July, an inspiration struck and I started a series of Flower Sprites ACEOs.  These are tiny little whimsical creatures inspired by flowers.  They are relatively simple and easy to do a series of without being torturous or anything.



In fact, these babies are quick to sketch out, quick to ink, and quick to paint and finish.  And more often than not, they're pretty easy to sell.  Originals usually get snatched up by collectors quickly when I post them on my facebook art page.

Painting these babies in quick succession definitely got me inspired to try different approaches to my art.  I'm once again, pretty comfortable with watercolor (after not playing with it for decades lol).  I've also switched to sepia/brown ink for my pen in recent month as part of the experiment.

"Himalayan Blue" (5" x 7" on vellum) was painted incorporating the approaches I was using with my Flower Sprites ACEOs.  I'm really liking the new ink & watercolor style. I finally feel like I've found what I like. ^_^

"White Poppy" (5" x 7" on vellum) followed quickly after the blue poppies.  I'd like to do red and lavender as well, and maybe some orange/yellow, too, to complete the poppies.  Poppies, though, are one of my recurring themes from early on.

"White Lady" (11" x 8.5" on vellum) is my most recent one that I just finished.  This is larger than the previous two, mainly because I wanted to work on this quickly because it's for an auction event and you never know how these things go -- sometimes it goes well and other time it's a total disaster. ^^;  So yeah, I didn't want to commit too much of my time and effort.  Things at this size is like a nice stroll in the park whereas a smaller piece can make me feel like I'm walking on a tight rope at times.

Although I'm still not happy with the extra post-processing original pieces require (before I can turn something into prints, that is), I do enjoy the organic feel of working with water, salt, alcohol, and paint.  It's been wonderful to get to know the medium which was my best friend through my elementary school and middle school days (and that's a long, LONG time ago!).  

Comments

  1. Everything you create is beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Everything you create is beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hallo,
    ich bin total begeistert,so möchte ich auch mal malen können,
    liebe grüße ulrike

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh... that is so beautiful!! I've been suddenly hit with the European watercolor bug, too, but in entirely different directions... *laughs* But I LOVE what you're doing! Gorgeous and so beautifully intricate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I meant to check out your recent works in watercolor since you mentioned it in your e-mail a while back. XD
      Anyhow, for the illustration for the mermaid story, I've been thinking more and more about doing it in ink & watercolor. Thank you so much for your support!! :D

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts