BATIK vs BATIK LOOK

For whatever reason, I like to paint the same picture several times using different techniques while expressing my feelings about the beauty I see. Our grandma used a sewing machine like this, but the reference for these pictures was taken in Sauder's Village in NW Ohio.

The first painting was created using torn masking tape to save areas before I painted layers of random colors over the whole paper. The second painting, also posted earlier in this blog, is a wax batik on watercolor paper, using watercolors instead of dyes, and it's three times as big as the first painting.

Both processes allow me to imagine from beginning to end just what the painting will look like. Since the paint's covered over gradaully, layer after layer, with either wax or tape, it's a mystery how it'll turn out until all the tape or wax is removed. It's like putting a puzzle together without seeing how it looks until it's all done.

I love good surprises, and maybe that's why I like these processes. Of course, there have been a few 'bad' surprises, too, using these techniques . . . goes with the territory of making art. Parts of the bad surprises can help make a good collage later maybe.

It's neat to see the different moods in each painting, even though they are of the same subject. I'll be painting this again soon.

Both are done with Transparent Watercolor and are in art collections.