Creativity and fun suspended in water
“Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye”
– Dorothy Parker
There are so many secrets in watercolor paintings. It isn’t about how much water is on your brush; it’s about the evaporation speed of the water on your paper. There are many ways of applying paint. I prefer to start painting large areas. I love to watch as paint runs when coming into contact with the wet sheet. It gives the artist a lot of options and surprises. Then I interspersed throughout the areas; in other words, while waiting for the paint to dry, I continue painting other areas of the canvas. When it is dry, I highlight some details I want to bring out. I usually use less water in the finishing process.
I recently acquired a block of Fabriano Artistico Watercolour Paper, the Italian brand that competes with the French Arches quality. When I saw the hot pressed paper, I thought it looked just like the Bristol paper I used to create my ink drawings. But it does not have the Arches texture; it’s smoother. To my surprise, this paper dries well and manage the colors fairly easy. I enjoyed the experience and will use this brand again along with Arches.
| Fabriano | Arches® | Sennelier |
| Fabriano’s Artistico watercolour papers are mould-made of 100% cotton and are acid-free/pH neutral and chlorine-free. | Made of long 100% cotton fibres, this watercolour paper can absorb a lot of water without warping or causing the colours to bleed. | Paper slightly abrasive made from a thin layer of finely ground vegetable fibres. As good as Arches, without the smell. |
As I mentioned in Aquarelle, the Unforgivable Medium, I bought the Sennelier set because of their astounding variety of colors and excellent quality. And in Connected Attraction, I showed you a sample of my watercolor process. Don’t worry when color doesn’t land on the right spot or outside of the line because watercolors is a medium that creates a fun and natural effect every time you paint.
Aura is a painting made with Sennelier Watercolor on Arches 100% cotton Hot Pressed paper by Pablo Montes.
What do you think about this artwork? Can you tell I used lots of lines to create textures? Does it look like a hybrid between a painting and a drawing?
Watercolor is indeed a paint medium with lots of personalities!
Click here for a free subscription to my newsletter. And enjoy my paintings, drawings and articles.
-Pablo Montes