Painting without a Plan

In the manner of a longer introduction, I thought I would take you through the process of one of my paintings. Follow along with me as I describe this recent work, and myself.  

Lets start with the basics, these are the materials I use. I really love Cason this mix media paper, because I don't work in just one medium and I also don't know what my pieces are actually going to turn out like when I start them! It's good to have a substrate that can deal with my whims.  My friend bought me this half pan set of watercolors from Sennelier, and they are absolutely amazing! They're so vivid and easy to use.  I use metallic pigments in literally everything I create, and while I currently use Pearlex powders mixed with gloss medium, this set of mica watercolors is on my wishlist! Add outlining with an archival ink pen and C'est fini.  Link below for all these supplies and more!

When I was little, I would make 'weather maps'. These consisted of random circles and squiggles and where the lines closed in sections of paper I would color them in different colors. In my memory they were like a crayon Kandinsky, but let's be honest, it was just the scribbles of a four year old. Nevertheless, color blocking has always been my favorite type of painting, and this weekend messing around piece is a great example of that. 

I have always believed that the objects that people keep say a lot about their personalities, and the above photo of my painting desk is certainly no exception. I have a photo of myself and my husband from back when we were dating (on a vacation to Hilton Head) , a crystal hippo that belonged to my mother, and a hand blown vase from the first Mommie Daughter trip we took to the exotic locale of Columbus Ohio. This painting sat in this condition on my desk for over a week while I decided if I liked it or not.  

So I finally moved on to step two, metallic watercolor accents. I add metallic sparkle to literally everything I paint, and why not? 

After another couple of days on the desk (I had to go to work) I added some ink lines and voila! The novice Kandinsky style painting that my four year old self would totally love! 

Just like every artist, I suppose I have a whimsical quirkiness when it comes to my paintings. This particular piece was a fun diversion from my typical dialed in stained glass style of painting.