Mini watercolour doodles

 A couple more of my small, imaginary floral watercolour sketches in my Moleskine book.

Approx 3" square

This was the wet-in-wet start for the above image

Eco-dyeing again

Before the cold weather set in I was given three branches of eucalyptus and I had been waiting for warmer weather to start another dye pot.  (I use the dye pot in the kitchen, so need to keep the window open for ventilation.)  Some of the leaves I managed to press, but a couple of branches I left outside in water and the leaves suffered a bit of mildew before I rescued them.

What I had not realised with my first experiments was that the same dye liquid can be used several times - I had initially discarded mine in a safe place in the garden.  So, another dye pot was started - I bundled 4 strips of Bockingford watercolour paper and a couple of pieces of pre-washed calico, this time around short lengths of copper pipe.

Vegetation used was mainly the eucalyptus leaves, with some smoke bush and bramble, plus a mix of red and brown onion skins. Recommended cooking time was 2 hours.

Results - I did not get the bright orange I was hoping for from the eucalyptus leaves and these were very spotty (probably due to the mildew), some areas turned out a green/khaki colour (maybe a result of using copper pipe), the bramble leaves left an almost black imprint.  I think I should have rolled the materials up more tightly,  All in all, definitely a lot of experimentation required, both with dye pot ingredients, types of vegetation and cooking time (although with increased fuel costs, this has to be somewhat limited!).

Most of my information on this subject comes from following Nicola Brown on Youtube.

Detail of prints on Bockingford paper

Detail of prints on calico

Watercolour practice

 

Another small watercolour practice piece (approx. 3" square).

The righthand side of this page shows how I start these small studies.  I wet the area with clean water, then flood in my chosen three colours. Once dry, I "find" my subject in the shapes I'm left with, drawing with pen and then using negative glazing with the same three colours.  I might occasionally add highlights with white gel pen or some metallic colour.

Easing back into painting

Apart from the occasional sketch, I have rather got out of the habit of painting over the winter months.  I feel it is now time to get back into the flow.

Firstly, in my A5 Moleskine, a swatch of colours from a new metallic watercolour set.

Then some small, imaginary floral practice pieces - again in the watercolour Moleskine.  These are both approximately 3" square - watercolour and pen.  I have added touches of the metallic colours on these, but the effect is very subtle.