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.

Botanical Paintings From Loose Washes

I am becoming prolific at producing small watercolor paintings---just by creating three washes a day and then creating a painting out of one a day.  See my previous posts about learning from artist Jean Haines.  Here are some botanicals:

I just got three new tubes of Daniel Smith watercolors to try out some new washes:  Cascade Green, Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Genuine, and Quinacridone Coral.  Can't wait to try them out!

And while I was playing with watercolors, I did another Bible journaling page to open the Book of Psalms.

Watercolor Washes

Today I continued with several more quick watercolor washes, and worked on  one of yesterday's.

Here is a little painting developed from yesterday's spring palette wash.

Spring Wildflowers

red and turquoise wash

yellow-orange and green wash

Pastel color wash

I also did a wash in my watercolor journal using shades of blue and added salt.

Blue wash with salt added

So far, I have turned it upside down and made an angel by painting the negative space around the wings.  I may add some scripture to this one.

Angel from blue and white wash

These paintings are loose, fast and fun.  

Atmospheric Watercolor Practice

In my last post I wrote about discovering Jean Haines work through her book, Atmospheric Watercolors.  I finished several of yesterday's practice projects.

Two washes became some new friends I am calling "Shorty" and "Lefty."

Shorty

Lefty

I also finished a practice page of anemones using Jean's guidelines from the book.

One of Jean's recommendations is to start each day painting three loose and juicy washes in different color palettes.  You can come back to these later and make finished paintings.

So, today I did a spring, summer, and autumn wash on small pieces of Arches 140-lb. paper.

Spring Wash- with cellophane and salt

Summer wash with cellophane

Autumn Wash with cellophane manipulation

And for those anxious for more pictures of the new grand baby...here are Charlotte and her new sister, Layla!

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Atmospheric Watercolors

I am in love with  a new art instruction book that I bought for myself .  Jean Haines' Atmospheric Watercolors is a delight to view and read, and had me reaching for my brushes and paints to try some of her techniques.

She encourages beautiful, loose washes of color for starting paintings.  She paints loosely, leaving much detail to the viewer's imagination.  In the book she shares tips and practice exercises.
Here is what I have done so far.

elephant work-in-progress

Another elephant work-in-progress

Sunlit daffodils-I think this one is done!

Venetian door-I'm going to repeat this exercise to try to improve it.

Colorful wash-might become a seated figure or an angel

Painting in this loose, juicy style is so much fun!  There is no sketching ahead of time, just applying paint to paper and utilizing the unique characteristics of watercolor paint, like the way it flows, forms blossoms, and blends.  

Jean Haines has several other books available, which are being added to my wish list!