Some results from the cradle board paintings

 Just to brag, here are some of the results using the method taught last week. See also the Oct 26, 2017 post on mounting a watercolor on board. I will post the rest next week as they are finished. 

The following did not need a coat of wax at the end because they are either rice paper or masa paper. For those, a final heavier coat of Kamar Varnish will do the trick.

These can either be finished with wax or extra Kamar Varnish.

These two painted a border with acrylic paint first, then used YES paste

on the back of the painting itself to adhere it to the board.

This one was gouache, but used the same process.

Questions I got today

1. Why do you have to cover the wood with GAC-100 first?

If you are using a wood board, it most likely has acid in it, and you need a barrier between the wood and your painting to prevent the acid from degrading the paper. It is not a glue, but a barrier. Some cradle boards come with a white coating that already seals the wood.

2. If my painting is smaller than the board, can I still mount it?

Yes. You can paint a boarder around the board with acrylic paint. I still put GAC on it to prevent any acid from getting into the paper. 

3. What glues can I use to adhere it to the board?

I use YES paste or Heavy Matte Gel. Even tho the gel is a little more archival, the YES paste holds the paper down on the board a little better.

4. How long should I wait for the glue to dry before I can work on the painting?

I usually set my glued painting under a heavy weight overnight to completely dry the glue. But in class, since we were working with so many at one time, we only let them dry for about 20 minutes. They still need to be dried more.

Dry time for GAC---about 15 minutes

Dry time between varnishes--about 15 minutes

Dry time for glue--overnight for best result

5. What does the Kamar Varnish do?

A good varnish will protect from UV rays and protect from environmental issues, such as dust, heat, and humidity.

6. Why use several coats of varnish instead of one heavy one?

The first light spray of varnish sets the paint. If you go too heavy with it, the watercolor paint can run a bit. Better to do several light coats before a heavy last coat.

7. Can I use something besides GAC?

I use gesso if I need to put a transparent paper over it, like rice paper. You can use gesso instead of GAC, but it is not clear and takes a bit longer to dry.

8. Why would you want to use Dorlands wax to finish it?

Waxing gives a little more protection from the elements, especially humidity. It also gives a bit of a glow. To wax, apply some Dorlands wax with a clean cotton cloth. Let it sink in a little, then buff it until it no longer feels "tacky," but smooth.

9. Do you cut the painting to size first or after you adhere it to the board?

I like to wait until it's glued to the board, and then I use a craft knife to cut around it. It seems to make a tighter fit. If you cut it first, use a paper cutter if possible so you can get the best edges.

How to Mount WC on a board

More about mounting a frame-free painting

Today I handed out 8 x 8 cradle boards and showed how to mount a painting on it for a frame-free finished painting. Each student can choose how they use this cradle boards. They can:

1. cover it with gesso and textures and create a painting right on the board

2. cover it with watercolor ground and paint directly on the board

3. choose a painting and mount it to the board.

4. Mount a piece of watercolor paper to the board and paint on that.

Below is a link to a blog from Oct 26, 2017 that describes this process. I haven't changed the process in the past ten years, and I'm happy with the results I get. After ten years, this painting looks exactly the same.

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8812132386157895665/5636917786975199917

The bare necessities for this process are Krylon Kamar Varnish to seal it, and either YES paste or heavy gel medium to adhere to the board. If the board has not been sealed, you can use either gesso or GAC-100.

For mine, I additionally finish with Dorland's wax. Occasionally, if I want it to look like brushwork, I'll add a coat of liquid varnish before the wax.

There are several reasons why you might like this method of framing.

One is that it is less expensive than a frame. (For the price of one frame, you can mount several paintings this way.) Second, there is no glass or frame to break in shipping or traveling. Third, some people really like no glare on the painting from glass or Plexiglas. Fourth, it is lightweight and easy to hang. Fifth, it looks great as a di-tich or triptich with no frame in between scenes.

Here is the painting I used to demo in class---see the cat painting we did a few weeks ago.

Here are some of the finished or almost finished paintings done this week.

Gessoed paintings:

Halloween misty moon picks:

Painting on Gesso like Karlyn Holman

Last week we covered an old painting (or just watercolor paper) with gesso and impressed it with textures: bubble wrap/textured roller, etc. We let it dry completely, at least 24 hours.

This lesson is how to paint on that gesso surface. It can be a lot of fun.

To start out, I've included this lesson from Karlyn Holman, which was not available when I first was introduced to this technique. The way I originally learned it was the way we did this zebra in 2021:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8812132386157895665/8330294453449949277

It is a subtractive method in which you cover the entire surface with color, and then lift out all the whites and lights.

Karlyn teaches it diffently, using a negative painting approach. I'll show both in this blog.

Karlyn Holman video: 1 hr 22 min start to finish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLLMTtTOSMI

Below is a painting I did from Facebook Free Reference Photos for Artists. The photographer was Melina Gioffre Fuda.

My interpretation using Karlyn Holman's suggestions, negative painting the darks and background first. 

Here is my first sketch. I ended up cutting off some of the details and making the painting a square format, something I would not have thought of if I had not watched the video first.

Draw the picture onto the gessoed surface with a pencil or graphite trace paper such as Saral. For this picture, there was a very dark earlier painting underneath the gesso, so a light box would not work on it. But I really like some of the "ghost" images and color showing through the gesso. You can see some of the pinks and blues coming forward especially at the bottom.

After I negative painted the background, leaving lighter colors around the bird, I began the flowers centers. I used a small liner brush to make short marks, first with yellow, then orange, then red, then quin burnt orange. If I wanted very dark at the bottoms of the centers, I added French ultramarine. Making the color in short lines gives it a fuzzy look.

For the bird, I underpainted with blue, then did some dark shading around the outer edges. I lifted a bit of the belly and cheeks to make a rounder bird. Do you see some of the texture coming through the paint?

For the flower petals, I first painted between the petals with cobalt. When it was dry, I used a pink to paint the petals. When all was dry, I lifted some highlights back to white. Cone flowers can be white, yellow, violet, pink, so choose your color.

For the stems, I first lifted any unwanted color. At the base of the flowers I painted a dark blue, (the same blue I used for the background and greens, in this case ultramarine turquoise) then added quin gold to create a green, then dark again at the bottom of the stems. When they were dry, I lifted some highlights on some of the stems.

As you paint, you'll discover five things about painting on gesso:

1. Colors can be very dark and vibrant

2. If paint dries in a hard edges, you can easily soften it with a little water and blend with colors around it

3. You can lift back to white IF you did not use a STAINING color, such as pthalos.

4. It's easy to clean up a "muddy" space, and also to wipe out and change color

5. The texture can be subtle or distinct. Either way, it makes the painting more interesting.

The Zebra

The reference for the zebra also came from Facebook Free References for Artists.

This one was from Andrea Ludman. She had other interesting photos, but this one looked easier to paint, less detail.

Start by drawing the zebra onto your gesso UNLESSS you decide

to paint a colorful background first, THEN draw your zebra.

Since it is difficult to see a pattern on a lightbox, through the layers of gesso and paint, use graphite paper to trace/draw your picture. If the color is very dark, the gray graphite will not show up well, so use

a colored Saral, such as white or yellow, which will show up better on dark surfaces.

It can start to get very confusing as you begin painting the stripes on the zebra. So I enclosed the dark stripes and left the white stripes open at the bottom of the neck.

The instructions for the subtractive method are on the blog listed at the beginning.

But you can just paint the stripes. It's fun to use a rainbow of colors for the zebra, just making the eye and muzzle very dark. 

IMPORTANT

A finished watercolor painting on gesso will need a protective coating, such as Kry lon Kamar varnish for watercolor. (In Karlyn's video she uses a Krylon acrylic finish, but the varnish is probably better. As long as it is UV protecting) It is normally framed under glass.

HALLOWEEN PICS

Here are some results from finishing the Halloween picture. So Fun!

It's Halloween again!

 I love creating a painting with mood, and nothing is moodier than a full moon on Halloween. This picture centers around that moon and silhouettes, and all the details are totally up to you.

I started by drawing a large moon, tracing around a plastic lid. After wetting the entire page, I used ochre and yellow to paint the moon, dropping in pale violet to create some craters. While the moon is damp, I painted some violet and orange around the moon, letting the edges soften around the moon. I concentrated some orange at the bottom.

I let all of that dry. I drew my picture over the color. This can be whatever you like..owls, cats, bats, scarecrow, witch...and I outlined tiny details with a black microns. This is because I want to get the face right on this picture, and my hands shake. I also added some details not in my sketch, like the broken broom at the bottom.

  

At this point you can either paint in some of the background, like the pumpkin or leaves on the tree, or start with the silhouette. On mine, I painted blue and indigo on the dark spaces .

When I painted the silhouettes, I painted with blue first, then added indigo on the darkest to give a little shaded effect.

Hot Press vs Rough

Hot Press vs. Rough Press Papers

I am painting this cat twice, once in hot press and once on rough to show the advantages of each type of paper.

Hot Press

Hot press is very smooth, almost like Bristol board. Think of ironing your clothes to remove wrinkles--Hot press.

Hot press is often associated with botanicals because you can get such detail with it. People love it with ink and wash. Its smooth surface doesn't damage your pens. The colors seem brighter and bolder because the color sits on top of the paper more than being absorbed by cold press. Another advantage is that it is easier to lift color.

There is a learning curve, however. Hot press seems to dry faster initially so that blends are a bit trickier. You have to use more water at first to get a smooth wash or getting the colors to mix wet on wet. You also will find that you see more brush strokes than on cold press. When the paper is damp, color will spread, but not as much as on cold press paper. 

Here is how I painted the hot press kitty. The reference is from Karen Lindh on Facebook References for Artists - Animals.

I began with the lightest colors and shadows first. I wet the ears and added a pink mix, even when they aren't going to end up pink.I painted the nose also. I wet the areas first, making certain they don't dry before I can add the paint. I used transparent pyrrol orange on the face.

I found the areas of shadow that were pale.

Here I wet the light shadow areas and added blues and pinks, especially to separate the head from the body.

Here I've added some darks in the ears. I put the first blues in the eyes. For the eyes, which are not done yet, I wet them and added cerulean blue, and as it was drying I took advantage of the fact that hot press allows you to add paint to a damp area without spreading too far. White the lighter blue was drying I added French ultramarine to the centers. I lifted some lighter areas in the tops of the eyes while still damp.

While waiting for the eyes to dry, I began making darker fur with Paynes gray and a fine brush. Around the nose, I darkened the nostrils with a brown and used a light lavender for the shadow under the nose. I also created the mouth, starting with a bit of pink and added blue and brown. I also outlined the eyes with Paynes gray  on a #2 brush.

Continuing black marks on his face. I'm beginning to wish I had masked out the whiskers, but I can grab those later. 

I darkened the eyes with some turquoise, with Paynes gray in the pupil. For the dark fur on the body, I used burnt sienna and French ultramarine and salted while wet.

Next I softened some edges with a brush that is a little stiff, but not a hard bristles brush that we consider a "scrub" brush. I made a pretty wild background by wetting it first, then dropping in transparent pyrrol orange and French ultramarine.

USING ROUGH PAPER FOR THE CAT

Rough Paper also has its own learning curve. The surface has more bumps and texture. It is great for landscapes and seascapes that you plan to dry brush on. If you are after a smooth blend or graduated sky, you will have to be sure the paper is wet, and don't use granulating paint on those areas.

Granulating paint and texture techniques work great on rough press. The heavier particles in the paint fall down into the crevices and look sandy. It's not hard to find granulating paints you can use: French ultramarine and burnt sienna, especially together, will do nicely. But for other heavily granulating paints, you can try:

"lunar" paints: black, earth, blue, etc.

"genuine" paints--they are made from genuine stones like jadeite, serpentine, etc.

 French Ultramarine, Manganese Blue Hue, Cerulean, Cobalt Turquoise, and Ultramarine Violet.lunar blue

Greens: Cascade Green, Undersea Green, and Green Apatite Genuine.

Earth Tones: Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Lunar Earth, and Garnet Genuine.

Blacks & Grays: Lunar Black, Mars Black, Payne's Gray, and Davy's Grey, shadow violet, sodalite genuine

There are others, but these are very common

One thing to remember about achieving texture with granulating paints is that they will granulate better if they are not thick and dark. Lighter and watery shows more texture.

Except for masking the whiskers this time, I began the cat on rough press very much like the hot press: the pink in the ears and nose; light blue in the eyes, light shadows on the body. The difference is that I used some granulating paints on the dark areas on the body.....just French ultramarine and burnt sienna.

On the fore paw, I wet the surface and added some blue/gray paint while it was drying to create a furry look. I darkened inside the ears.

I began making some of the fur and darkened the nose. I continued to make some shapes of the face lightly.

Used a #2 brush on the black fur and used burnt sienna for the brown fur. I deepened the blues around the eyes, and the color in the mouth area. 

Removed the masking on the whiskers and nose, and used a lifting brush to soften the furry edges and on the nose and eyes. I decided on no background this time. I may yet go in with some white for the fur in the ears. 

side by side comparison of rough on the left, hot press on the right

       
Here are some masa paper paintings from last time:

Pam M.

Carol #3

Karen Rice loose landscape on rough press

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b324G1lVapg

Rachel Parker varner paints on hot press

https://www.google.com/search?q=find+a+video+on+painting+watercolor+on+hot+press+paper&rlz=1CATRIY_enUS1215&oq=&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCQgDECMYJxjqAjIJCAAQIxgnGOoCMgkIARAuGCcY6gIyCQgCECMYJxjqAjIJCAMQIxgnGOoCMgkIBBAjGCcY6gIyCQgFECMYJxjqAjIJCAYQIxgnGOoCMgkIBxAjGCcY6gLSAQk0MTc1ajBqMTWoAgiwAgE&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:70333ef1,vid:1At1F2pBXKg,st:0