Guest Blogger

My camera battery is totally drained and needs to be re-charged, so I can't unload any pictures from Tucson at the moment. Instead, I thought I'd allow my fellow classmate Annette to guest author this blog posting, as she was kind enough to take photos for me last week during the Creative Art Journals class that I missed while I was away in Tucson and she also wrote a description of the techniques for me. I thought I'd share this with you almost verbatim, with just a few gentle edits by yours truly, so most of the words are Annette's accompanied by photos she took of the pictures created by our teacher, Toni.

"The class was an introduction to different techniques using watercolour paints.

Watercolour is a beautiful art medium; however, just as it can bring you great joy, it is also the least forgiving...but don't let that scare you off. With the different techniques outlined here, you can create many different pieces of artwork.

Your tools are key to helping you create beautiful pieces. When choosing your paper, paints and watercolor brushes, try to purchase the best quality in your price range.

The techniques learned involved the use of: plastic wrap, wax candle/crayon, watercolor pencils, masking/painters tape, toothbrush, a straw and rock salt.

The first picture is one that Toni created with plastic wrap. She painted her paper with a wet technique (the paper was wet) and then she applied her colours working quickly in order for the colour to be wet when she put on the plastic wrap. She took a nice sized piece of plastic wrap and then delicately scrunched it in a size that would fit the paper and then gently pressed the plastic wrap on top of the painting and set aside to dry. The second picture is the final version.

The next technique was candle/crayon. Toni took the base of a candle and then just marked up her page with a pattern, then painted over it with the blue paint. Where the candle had been marked on, the paper stayed white and created an interesting picture.

The third technique involved using painters tape to create a pattern on the page and then painting over top and around it. When the paint dries, you remove the tape and you are left with the white image within the paint. I found this technique creates a beautiful picture but I was discouraged when trying to remove the tape. It is a tricky business, because the process also removed some of my picture.

The fourth technique was done using rock salt. This can give an amazing effect. You paint your paper and while it is still wet, you sprinkle course salt on the paper and then the salt seems to melt and make little explosions on the paper - you can get firework type effects.

The last technique was a combination of toothbrush and straw. The toothbrush creates a splattering effect. You dip your brush in the wet paint color and then splatter the paint onto the page. With the straw you blow onto wet paint and blow the paint into directions to create running lines.

The thing with watercolor is being willing to experiment and take a chance that what you are doing will create something wonderful."

Thanks very much for sharing, Annette!