Today's subject at Avon Valley Artists was `Squiggle'! Not the most exciting of subjects but we don't take the easy route and have many challenging subjects. There were fourteen present and we were presented with three or four squiggles on white pieces of paper. I believe they were made by Jan Weeks grandchildren.
Jan Weeks.
I really like this painting. It was produced on Waterford 16" x 12" 140lb (300gsm) Not. This one and mine were based on the squiggle above.
Yvonne Harry.Approx. 16" x 12"
Yvonne used the same squiggle as Jo below. The paper is Cornwall, a Hannemuhle product, which is cellulose based 210lb (450gsm). She used the rough surface, with quite a pronounced pattern on one side, the other smooth. They also do it in a not surface.It is quite hard so the colour remains bright as it doesn't sink into the paper. Yvonne also found it is easy to remove colour and likes the whiteness of the paper. One to try as, even though heavier than the popular 140lb, works out cheaper than cotton-based papers. Due to the heavier weight it doesn't buckle under washes, even without stretching. I thought the resulting painting was pretty good. See Yvonnes' blog with detailed descriptions of how she painted it. www.watercolourflorals.blogspot.com/.
Jo McKenna
In Jo's distinctive style painted with Shin Han watercolours which she loves. Her squiggle was the black outer line with the yellow interior.
Peter Ward
16" x 12" Gerstaeker No.3 200gsm
I pretty much stuck to the lines of the squiggle and attempted to do a sort of mountain scene. I used it to experiment with the Daniel Smith Lunar colours, all of which granulate. These included Lunar Black. I also used DS Appatite Green, another granulating paint. The brown-orange is Translucent Brown (PBr41) from Schminke, another excellent colour. I also brushed on some granulating medium to create even more texture. The black looks a little overdone. I think I gained some knowledge of what to expect from these colours.
Unfortunately the stage at the end of the Church Hall has disappeared so we had to set up the paintings in a rather ad hoc fashion so all are not visible. Next week the subject is `shadows'.