#Or when I'm in the middle of an art hyperfocus and want something on in the background | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

md3artjournal · 1 year

Text

Been trying to get back into watercolors.

Even though I don't really have watercolor paper. LOL Actually, I think I have a pad of watercolor paper, but I'm not sure where to dig around in my room for it. Or maybe it's in storage; not sure. But either way, I've always been too anxious to be anything less than stingy with art materials. It was a real problem in painting class, when everyone kept telling me that I don't mix enough of the paint colors that I need. But I just couldn't stand the idea of throwing it out at the end of class. And even though I've switched to alcohol markers, I'm still too nervous to use expensive paper like watercolor paper. When I'm too afraid to mess up with expensive supplies, I end up drawing nothing, for months and years. Though, it is strange that I have no problem using Copic markers and other artist markers, though on cheaper paper. Maybe it's because I almost always get my markers on sale at anime/comic book conventions. Never pay $8 for one Copic marker, when convention booths will usually have them for $5 each.

Been making some notes during these past few days, while experimenting with getting back into watercolor painting:

5/12/2023. Tried to make intentionally messy, to differentiate from marker coloring. I wanted this to be obviously watercolors, to make switching from my usual markers medium, worthwhile.

5/12/2023. Still practicing watercolors, so tried doing my final linework as only pencil. Sometimes I wonder if the softness of pencil fits better with watercolors. I still want to differentiate my watercolors from my marker/ink drawings. So I tried some wet-on-wet techniques and allowed a lot of messy imperfections.

5/14/2023. I know I should have stuck to my usual Copic markers, since I was short on time. But it’s been a long time since I’ve done referential drawing, and I wanted the pencil’s ability to erase mistakes. Also, I’ve recently been experimenting with trying watercolors again. Back before markers, I primarily used watercolors. (Then again, back then I also had sketchbook paper thick enough to handle watercolors, and that’s not really the case anymore.) I may be comfortable with alcohol markers and ink pens now, but I keep wondering if something good might come of me returning to watercolor painting. Maybe it would look nice to color more organically, and allow some loose messiness, the way watercolors are often afforded. Maybe that type of style could really work for me. So I’m trying watercolors again. Today reminded me how much I love drybrush, when I use brush pens—even though I haven’t gotten the hang of setting up that technique with a paintbrush yet. So I might practice more drybrush with watercolor paintbrushes.

5/18/2023. My last watercolor drawing reminded me that I could use drybrush with watercolors, to mimic the feeling of using brushpens, which I love. So I did a lot of hatchlines, like I would do with my usual pen/ink drawings. I actually wanted to do more sharp detail, but needing lighter colors for those details necessitated more water, which made the brush tip less tapered, so those smaller details I wanted, ended up broader and messier. But didn't I recently get back into watercolors, wanting to differentiate them from my pen/ink drawings? And I determined that allowing watercolors to be messy and looser (since people usually afford/expect that from watercolors) would be how I would differentiate my watercolors from my marker drawings? Then again, I had been wanting for a long time to find a way to break out of my hyperfocus on one medium at a time. If I could switch to dip pen in the middle of a watercolor painting, maybe that will bring me closer to mixing color pencils on top of marker drawings, or mixing pastels on top of marker ink, and just mixing more mediums. I want to be able to use the mediums to achieve the effects I need in each case, but I keep unconsciously locking myself in to only one medium at a time. But if dip pens make my watercolors too precise and erases that lovely, organic, messy looseness, then what's the point of me going back to watercolors from alcohol markers? Hmmm….We'll see what happens.

#watercolors #drawing practice #art mediums #processing thoughts #confused with myself #progression

2 notes · View notes