"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friday, January 15, 2010

Pouring Demonstration in Troy

I was fortunate to be asked to demonstrate my pouring technique to the intermediate watercolor class taught by my old friend, Donna Pierce Clark, in Troy, Ohio, at the Hayner Cultural Center on Tuesday, January 12th. It was so great connecting with her again after 35 years. We were young art teachers together here in the county in the early 1970's. These pictures were taken by Donna during the demo. Thank you for sharing the pics, Donna!
Start at the bottom of this post and work your way here to the top to be in correct sequence:
My next step will be to complete the detailing and the negative painting around the flowers and then I will remove the mask and soften any edges that need it. I will post the finished painting here on the blog when it is complete.
This is a close-up of some of the detailing from the inside of the flower.

In this picture, I have done some negative painting around some of the petals, and am adding some of the detailing inside the flower.

In this photograph I am pouring my greens on the very wet paper. I used a large medicine eye-dropper to suck up some of the excess paint at this time

In this stage I am adding the second color, which is a warm red-violet. I allow it to run and mingle with the violet already on the surface


The first color I am dropping into the wet painting is violet. I attempt to keep it inside the petal shapes, but will not be upset if some of it flows into the background.


The drawing is complete and mask has been added to protect the whites around the outide of each petal in the flowers. I am using a wide watercolor wash brush to wet the paper. I want the entire surface to be wet, but not in puddles because I will be adding much wet paint to the surface. I will be using liquid acrylic inks mixed with water for the pouring stage because once the ink is dry, it will not be lifted by my brushes when I am doing the detailing and negative painting with watercolors.

14 comments:

Robin said...

....alll I can say is WoooooW..Love this....gorgeous..!

Barb Sailor said...

Thanks, Robin!

Sandy Maudlin said...

Looks like a really good demo, and I'm sure they gained lots of knowledge and inspiration. Say a "HI' to Donna for me, please. Happy pouring.

Watercolors by Susan Roper said...

Thank you so much, and your friend for taking the photos of your great process in these pours. This is going to be a wonderful painting and I look forward to seeing it completed. Wow, those colors are great...

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Christiane Kingsley said...

Barbara, this is a great demo. I found it interesting that your pouring is done with acrylic inks rather than watercolor - it makes sense! Can you tell us what paper you used in this demo?
Thank you so much for sharing - you make painting a great work look so easy.

Barb Sailor said...

Sandy, Thanks for your comments and I will say "hi" to Donna for you.

Barb Sailor said...

Christiane...I use the acrylic inks because it is easier to paint over them - they don't lift when doing the negative painting and detailing.
I used 140 lb. Canson Tientes cold-pressed watercolor paper.
Thanks for commenting.

Mary Paquet said...

Ooh La La -- beautiful. I've never tried pouring, and it sure looks like a lot of fun. One of these days....

RH Carpenter said...

You control your pours more than most, Barb, and it was fun seeing this come together. Donna gave a demo for our watercolor group in 2009 :) I'm sure it was a good demo and the viewers came away wanting to give this a try :) Maybe I could hook you up with our watercolor society to do a demo/talk sometime?

Barb Sailor said...

Rhonda, Yes, I am controlled in my pouring – you know me – Miss Obsessive Control- :)- I am still working on the painting I poured at Donna’s class. It takes hours for me to finish one of these large pours…it is good that I am not dependent on painting for my living, eh? Even though I am controlled, I feel that the pouring is important because it gives the painting a certain free spontaneous quality I can’t get with a wet-in-wet wash (even though it is tightened up later).
If you think I would have anything to offer, I would be honored to do a demo/talk on my pouring technique.

Barb Sailor said...

Mary - thank you so much for your kind comment and yes - pouring is a lot of fun!

Kathi said...

This looks like so much fun! It would be difficult for me to just let the paint flow... I need to learn how to relax!
I sure wish I could attend your classes! Sadly I am far, far away in the depths of the South.
I am so happy to have found your blog!

Barb Sailor said...

Hi Kathi, it is fun! I am happy you are here, and too bad we are far apart.