More Masa Paper

 MASA PAPER PETUNIAS

I have several blogs on Masa Paper.

You can start it two different ways. Whatever way you choose, mark the back of the paper - the shiny side - with a small ink X so you don't get confused when it is wet.

You can draw your picture onto the paper before you wrinkle it. The advantage to this is that it is much easier to use a light box on the flat paper. You can draw it with heavy pencil or micron pen.

OR

You can wrinkle the paper first. Then soak it in clear water for a few seconds. Lay the wet paper on an absorbent surface (I use a puppy pad). Then with a large brush, randomly add colors to your paper and let them run together. Then dry it completely. The advantage to this is that you come up with a random, unplanned design to begin your painting.

Some people like to glue the paper to a surface before painting. I prefer to do as much painting as I can before glueing, because I get more of the wrinkle effect. 

On this painting of PETUNIAS, I started with drawing the flowers first, then created a random design on the wet paper using yellows, magenta, and some blues (cerulean) all over. I dried it completely before going to the next step.

Here you can barely see the drawing.

Then I began to paint the large shapes around the flowers. First the pot, using a combination of French ultramarine and neutral tint. I used a size 12 round or 3/4" flat, painting a little dry so that the brush doesn't scrub the paper, and leaves texture. I dried the pot and painted in the basic color for the table, still using a large brush on dry paper to pick up the texture of the paper.

I painted in a mixture of greens (using French ultramarine, quin gold, and yellow.) outlining the flowers.

I will go in with darker green later to negative paint some leaves.

I've filled in the centers with purple and painted pink shadows in the flowers. Darkened the cracks in the wood, and added darker green shadows. Almost ready to adhere it to a backing.

Glueing onto a board gives me a little more control over the paint.

I use either YES paste or heavy mat gel for the glue. Apply it about 3" at a time to the paper or board, and start gluing the masa paper down. The glue can dry quickly, so you want to get the paper onto it before it dries. Put some wax paper on top. Use a roller to press it down. Some people like to leave some wrinkles, but if you want it flat, you'll need to roll it with a breyer.