Playing with Watercolors on Yupo

I have not been feeling very creative for the past couple of months.  I brought a huge box of art supplies, my sewing machine, several quilt projects and a bag of fabrics.  Since we have been in Florida, I have only made one altered print birthday card and a few Bible journal pages.  No sewing.

But yesterday I dragged the big Rubbermaid box of supplies to our dining room table, and pulled out a small pad of Yupo paper and my Quiller watercolor palette.  I have had the Yupo pad and also some larger Yupo sheets for months, but never experimented with it before.

Yupo has a smooth, shiny finish that reminds me of photo printing paper, freezer paper, and finger-painting paper.  Most watercolor paper has some texture that absorbs the paint.  Not Yupo.  The paint slips and slides all over.  This automatically adds an element of abstraction and looseness to your painting.

Here is the description of the product:

Yupo Synthetic Paper is 100% recyclable, waterproof and tree-free. It is incredibly durable and stain-resistant. This extraordinary surface also resists tearing and buckling and it remains perfectly flat.

Yupo provides visual artists with an amazingly beautiful canvas offering smooth, bright white opaques and wonderful translucents.

Yupo gives a unique alternative to traditional watercolor papers. Because it's waterproof, using watercolors on Yupo gives a watercolorist the opportunity to lay down and pick up color, creating layers of interest for the viewer. Generally speaking use more color and less water.

When finished, spray fix your watercolor painting. Your painting may be framed without glass, making it lightweight, easy to ship and hang.

Pads are tape bound on the short side.

Here are my first efforts- (not necessarily completed yet!)

I brought along one of my Jean Haines painting books, since she uses a loose, atmospheric painting style, and tried my hand at some of her examples.

Pink Posies

Grape Hyacinths

The paint takes a long time to dry on this surface.  I'm talking hours for a big blob of paint like the green area on the hyacinths!

I tried just letting some colors run on the paper.   Then I thought I could see a big grasshopper, so I added some legs and antennae!  Kind of scary, but lots of fun to play.

Mutant Grasshopper 

I also tried a normal watercolor landscape of a beach scene, but don't like it.  It makes a difference when you do not paint on a regular basis.  I think I'll keep the box of art supplies under the dining room table and try to do a little something every day.