Monday, January 21, 2013

Inktense Pencils and Hydrus Watercolors


Low Lake Level in the Cove, inktense pencils on clayboard, 5x7
Like everyone else, I hate finishing and framing.  Two of my paintings--The Blue Man and Caution--were finished some time ago and just sitting on my easels.  I've read that watercolors on Ampersand aquaboard can be varnished and framed without glass, but what about inktense pencils or hydrus watercolors on aquaboard?  I decided to test with this small drawing of maybe a willow tree behind my neighbor's house (sometimes it's in the water--sometimes not).  This is from a photo I took as Willie and I checked out the cove; I liked the colors--the orange and yellow parts are usually filled with blue water.
A Walk IN the Cove January 2013, photo
Two weeks ago we actually walked IN the cove behind my house (though I do have a fear of quicksand); it was 70 degrees that afternoon and not much water--my dock was on dirt.  I looked for arrowheads and found a couple of smooth round rocks.  I considered taking my metal detector down but it rained the following day--and for several more days.  The Lake's back--and it's a 50,000-acre one.  I can see the water from my upstairs window and I don't need to walk down; the weather has turned cold.
Hot Feet, hydrus watercolor on clayboard, 6x6
Just a sketch to test the varnish.  I suppose I could have just painted squares or lines but what fun would that have been? 
Okay, today I gave everything several coats of varnish.  I set up a varnishing station in the workshop bathroom--covered the toilet with large pieces of cardboard and turned on the exhaust fan--ran in and sprayed; ran to the porch door and breathed.  Nothing disappeared and it passed my Q tip test--dipped it into water, then rubbed the painting--no color came off and no lines were smeared.  I used Golden archival satin varnish.  
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15 comments:

  1. ooooo I love your landscape...it is great that your work got varnished! Hooray! I varnish outside, but occasionally that goes awry. You know, wind, bugs, etc. Your Cove is so beautiful and looking for arrowheads reminds me of where I grew up...(in Illinois) there were arrowheads everywhere! There were so many, my brother and I thought of them almost as regular rocks. Good to know inktense pencils work so nicely on clayboard. I just love it (and Hot Feet "for varnish practice" too)

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    1. Thanks, Celeste. The varnish worked better on the larger paintings that were done on aquaboard than on these little smooth clayboard pieces. I'll try to remember that (I didn't have any small aquaboards). I've never found an arrowhead--no surprise--I always won the prize for finding the fewest Easter eggs!

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  2. I've used varnish on the aquaboard and it works beautifully, I think. I do think the inktense works much better than the tube watercolors though. I really like the nicely saturated colors you achieved and the landscape is phenomenal, Hallie!

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    1. Hi Crimson Leaves. I like the inktense, probably because I'm very comfortable with pencils. Recently I used my big box of Crayola crayons and loved it. I may be going backwards!

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  3. Hi Hallie
    Beautiful palette and all the negative shapes created by the brances are wonderful!
    Glad your varnish worked out for you.
    Steven

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  4. Hi Steven. I know you like trees. This one's on a little piece of land that juts out; it catches all the wind coming up the cove but it hangs on. First time I've seen it in January; I'm glad I had my camera. I won't be taking Willie along next time--he picked up so many burrs I had to cut off chunks of his hair ( and he wasn't happy).

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  5. Love all the colors you put in the cove. Do you actually have quicksand there ?

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    1. Thank you Jane. We don't have quicksand but, as a child, I had nightmares about quicksand and earthquakes ( we don't usually have those, either).

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  6. Now that the varnish is set, what about the frames? Those warm colors - yellow-orange are my favorite these days. Not sure what inktense pencils are (or hydrus watercolor for that matter) but the colors especially the purple in the foreground of the landscape is so rich. You should do a larger version.

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  7. Hi Robin. I have frames already for the Blue Man and Caution, and I found a nice small oak one that can be used for the Cove drawing. I liked the colors--what I was seeing on the other side of the cove were sand and our natural red clay soil. I like the purple squiggly lines, too--there's a freedom when you think the drawing might just disappear or melt during the next step. I might make a larger painting of this. Thank you.

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  8. I love your landscape and the blue man walking is wonderful on his hot background.
    Your use of color always grabs me.
    I'm so glad your varnish worked well for you.

    Amazing how the weather can change so quickly. You have beautiful scenery around you! And a wonderful fur friend to share it with.

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  9. Hi PAMO. Yes, Hot Feet is really colorful; for some reason, I think it looks like Australia!

    Weather is amazing, it was 70 degrees when I took the photos on Jan. 7 and lake level was 292 feet. Today it's 30 degrees and lake level is 305--guess I won't be walking in the cove for quite a while. The Corps of Engineers owns the shore line around the lake so it has to remain natural--I like that; can't mess with the trees. It reminds me of being a kid and spending time alone in the woods.

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  10. Really cool landscape, and I love the Blue man on the Red Field. Let's hear it for RED, right?

    I am so nervous about varnish. I have never varnished a painting. I am going to try on an old acrylic that I don't care about. I am not sure how to apply it, and gloss vs. semi-gloss vs. matte? Oy vey.

    I also want to try clayboard. I have been intrigued by the idea of it even before your post.

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    1. Hi Dan. Varnish makes me very nervous, too. On acrylic paintings, I use an isolation coat first, then varnish.

      You might want to check out aquaboard if you'll be using watercolors (which, I think, was previously known as textured clayboard). These two small ones were done on smooth clayboard and I didn't really like it--it seemed a bit slippery.

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  11. Hallie,

    Willie looks thirsty.

    My Q tip test involve my ears.

    Keep up the good work.

    Everette

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