Stand Square. Line up to the broom. Bend down and grab the Rock.
Move back. Then Push off, Glide, Release. . .
That's it!!. . .
What happens to your curling rock now, is in the hands of your sweepers and the skip. Skip calls the line and the sweepers call the weight. All you can do is watch and wait. . . .
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| JUNCO: ALERT AND READY - 6 x 6 watercolour mounted on wood cradle $115 |
Curling is fun, exciting, stressful, disappointing, rewarding, confusing. . . I could go on. But I think you know what I mean. One minute you feel like a million bucks because you executed the shot of a lifetime. The next, you are in the dumps because with a bang and boom your rock is gone.
Sounds a little like your life with a painting, eh?
Certainly it is your life when you are glazing.
Glazing is adding a thin layer of colour over an area you have already painted. (You can learn more on the ins and outs of glazing with watercolour starting here. )
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| JUNCO: PERCHED - watercolour mounted on 6 x 6 wood cradle $115 |
When you look at "Junco: Perched" there are several examples of where colour was glazed over colour. The purpose, as you can see was to let the underlying colour show through while putting something else on top. Within the context of the bird those areas start with a hard edge and often finish with a soft one. I used the blended edge described in the last post.
However, sometimes you want to glaze over an area and you need to have soft edges all around.
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| WIP - Note the orange to the left of the birds head and compare it to the finished one at the top |
Doesn't work that way. You paint over that an area and you will leave some pretty hard edges. Just fine if it's in the foreground. But sharp detailed edges like that in your background wont work. You need soft edges.
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| BEFORE THE GLAZE: Note the area inside the box |
There is a secret weapon - Your spray bottle
Spray the area lightly that you want to glaze over. Make it larger than the area you want to cover. That's the easy part. The Set Up. Just like throwing that rock in curling. (Using a sprayer means you are painting wet into wet without brushing on that layer of water. This means you are not disturbing the dry layer already there.)
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| Bubbles down, time for glazing. Note the water has not fully soaked into the paper. Once it does the colour underneath will loosen very easily. You don't want that. |
Now take your wet brush with your paint and paint the area you want to cover. The beads of water on the paper should make it wet enough for your brush to slid over the area. One Stroke. Just like throwing the curling rock. One slide out and release.
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| Putting on the glaze, don't work it. Lay on the paint and get out. Note how thin it is. I want my underlying colours to shine through. That big puddles forming on the lower right side, I will dry up with a dry brush. |
If you fiddle with your brush. If you wait for the beads of water to sink into your picture before you start. If you stroke several times - All of these things cause you to loosen the paint below and mix it with your glazing colour. You will loose that transparent look and you may also turn everything to a variation of muddy gray.
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| It's Dry - note how thin it is but still it did bump up my orange area, leave the blue untouched underneath and even though there are a few edge lines from it, they are very light. Not something that is going to draw the eye to the background. |
Yes, it is stressful. . . There is nothing you can do now but wait . . .and watch. Just as I watch my rock, curl down the ice. The skipper will call the sweep, to keep it in line, to speed it up or leave it alone, to glide to its spot. I can only Watch. and Hope. You can only watch and hope too. Once you put down that glaze you need to wait and see the results.
When the rock stops, the team evaluates. Was it too heavy? Too light? Did it curl more or less than expected? Does something need to change for next time? What to do now.
You do the same.
When the glaze dries - Evaluate. Was it dark enough? Do you like the new colour formed? (Don't forget colours change when they are put on top of another colour.) Does it need another layer? Make a plan and move forward. Repeat the steps if needed. Make changes if needed. It is easier to add another layer than take one off. So make those layers thin and don't worry if you do them more than once. I often do 3 or 4 or more. 1 seldom does the trick.
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| JUNCO: READY TO FLY - The third Junco in my group - 6 x 6, watercolour on wood cradle |
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Coming Up Quickly
March 8-10 - The West Fine Art Show - Spring Edition
Friday, March 8, 7-9pm, Saturday March 9, 11-7pm, Sunday March 10, 11-5pm
Yorkson Creek Middle School,
20686 84 Ave, Langley www.westart.ca
In support of the Langley School District Youth Homelessness Initiatives
It is very exciting to be part of this show, an awesome collection of some of the fine artists in Western Canada. Our art focuses on life on the west coast but . . . oh so many different ways of seeing it. Of course, you know I will be there with my birds and animals. Lots of new things to share with you. See you there.
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Have a great Artful Day,
Wendy
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