2/15/10

DEMO

Wednesday morning's class asked for a demo on pouring miskit and pouring paint to create a background for a painting. Steve Blackburn introduced this technique, winning major awards with his paintings. He also teaches workshops to help artists discover how to create this unique look.

First, a small blop of miskit was placed on the paper, and immediately the edges of that miskit blop were lightly spritzed with water to make the miskit trail out into those spritzes. The paper was turned and tilted to encourage a random miskit pattern. Eventually, the white paper had miskit trailings crawling over much of the surface. (See Steve's website for better instructions.)

When the miskit had dried, watercolor paint was poured over the paper and allowed to mingle with other colors which were added while still wet. For this one, warm colors were poured first over most of the paper first. Then when they were completely dry, cool colors were poured in chosen areas, with soft edges created with a sprayer. The whole paper was covered with paint, leaving no pure white areas anywhere. When all the paint was dry, the miskit was removed to reveal intricate patterns of whites which would play an important role in the painting.

The drawing was done next, as well as a small value study in black and white. Once the painting began, the idea was to preserve as much as the original poured areas as possible and to include some of the white patterns within the focal area. Negative shapes behind the subject must be painted in, as well as darker areas within the subject - like the shapes on the giraffes, the eyes, etc.

Check out another master at this process. Kathy Wirth has adapted this technique to her own style of painting and creates breathtaking and unique florals, pouring miskit and paint first before 'pulling' out the flowers almost magically from the poured surface.

It's a lot more difficult than it looks to create beautiful art this way. The challenge always seems to be to NOT PAINT what you are painting. That's sure confusing, but it's true. To let the beauty of those original pours be the highlight of the painting, they should remain untouched in the focal area as well as in other parts of the painting. This process is a great way to shift an artist's thinking from painting things like flowers or giraffes, into painting shapes of lights and darks.

These giraffes were finished last week during a snow storm, and today we're getting a lot more snow again. It'll be a great day to paint on YUPO and watch the birds.

"TWO FOR LUNCH" Transparent Watercolor on Hot Pressed Crescent Premium Watercolor Board, 20 x 30"

13 comments:

Kathy Wirth said...

Thanks for the link to my blog and the nice comments about my poured miskit paintings. Love the giraffes!

Hope to see you tomorrow!!

Dawn said...

very cool Sandy, love the giraffes!

Joyfulartist said...

I have never tried usint misket that way, I shall have to give it a go. I love the results you get. I have used misket with a bruch to save parts of a painting and then poured. It sounds messy but fun. You certainly got great results. Thanks for the links, too.

Billie Crain said...

Sandy, you post the most amazing, creative 'out-of-the-box; ideas! Your giraffes are incredible and thanks so much for posting those links.:)

Debbie said...

For someone who just loves animals and lives in a country so accessible to them, I'm in awe of this painting and the wonderful technique used.... this would work well with Elephant too. Lovely post! Thanks a ton, it's quite insightful!

Meera Rao said...

The giraffes are beautiful and thanks for the detailed instructions and tip about spraying water to the edges. . Is there a particular brand/kind of miskit that does the job better than others?

Sandy Maudlin said...

Thanks so much, each of you for stopping by to say HI to the giraffes. Meera, I use a thinner miskit that Nita Engle always uses, called Pebeo Drawing Gum. I add a drop or two of water too it, too, to help it flow easier.

Christiane Kingsley said...

The giraffes are gorgeous and I love the depth of the background as a result of your miskit.
Thank you for the detailed instructions.
I hope that you will soon be enjoying warmer weather.

A Brush with Color said...

amazing! this is beautiful! So interesting.

Jeanette Jobson said...

This is a wonderful piece. Soft colours and flowing colours.

Using misket is an interesting concept and quite effective. Oh no! SOmething else to play with!! :)

javi said...

Hola Sandy, tus pinturas son muy buenas, me encanta la variedad de técnicas y materiales que dominas, especialmente las acuarelas que pintas con tanta sencillez, mimo, luz y efectos increibles.Saludos

Doris Glovier said...

I absolutely love your giraffe painting. I have been tempted to try this method before. Now I must!

Deb Léger said...

I love, love, love these giraffes! The colours work soooooo beautifully together. You are a master as choosing colours that work so superbly together. I always admire that about your work. The colours just always reach out and grab me!!