Experimenting With Paper and Paint.
Greetings! Strada Easel challenge day 18 studies are about experimenting. For my first piece, I decided to try Daniel Smith‘s “Moonglow”, a lovely blend of pigments that make a nice neutral grayish tint. The experiment? Getting a feel for how the blend of pigments handles.
This first study was done in a Moleskine Watercolor Notebook.
Using Horse Models.
My model horses are good for experiments. That is to say, they’re fun to draw and I never get tired of them.
Stillman & Birn Nova Series.
Then, an idea struck! I was recently gifted a sample pack of Stillman & Birn’s new Nova series of toned papers. And, in the sample pack is black paper that I had yet to try.
Black Paper; Opaque Paint.
Hmmm. Time to experiment with black paper! I drew a different model horse “from life” using white colored pencil first. Then, I used Winsor & Newton gouache and watercolor. It was great fun! You see, I am a “newbie” working with gouache and I am still getting a feel for how the paint works.
I decided to leave the horse shape the black of the paper. In which case, I needed to do “negative” painting. That is to say, I painted around the horse shape. I added a little bit of blue watercolor and opaque Naples yellow watercolor because I’m experimenting, naturally!
Positive and Negative.
So, one horse was painted “positively” – that is I painted the horse and left the background the “color” of the paper. The other horse, I painted the background and left the horse shape the paper’s color. Sort of a positive and negative experiment!
Strada Easel Challenge Days 8, 10 & 11.
I’d like to share with you some of the earlier studies for the Strada Easel Challenge. As stated before, I like experimenting with my horse models. The possibilities seem endless. Plus, I have a seemingly life long affection for horses.
Note, the first version of the particular horse model is day 7 of the #stradaeasel challenge.
Please enjoy! And, now, on to day 19!