Powerscourt in the drizzle and wind

If I have one piece of advice for any artists out there who care to listen  - don't take new watercolour paper out for plein air painting in November in Ireland. I did. And it caused me much frustration. Oh, and the second piece of advice: don't even try to deploy your light-weight easel - you will end up with bruises.

The thing is - I love plein air, I love the challenge of sketching outdoors in the winter, I love the light in Ireland when the clouds are rushing through the sky. But a strong breeze and a drizzle? Really? What was I thinking?

So the new paper was an A4 plein air pocket book by Two Rivers - it alternates TR rag hand-made paper for watercolour and cartridge paper. I had never painted on good Two Rivers paper before, except for one direct watercolour Life Drawing in studio, and I was excited to try it in the field. But it really didn't turn out the way I had expected.

The thing about that paper is that it's got a lot of sizing I believe, and the paint sits on top of the paper, keeping its beautiful vibrancy rather than absorbing fully into the fibres. My experience on that drizzly November day, however, was that the pigment seemed to disappear off the page (no vibrant colour for me) and yet, the paint sat on top of the paper, refusing to dry (that's the Irish weather for you!). I had another pad of watercolour paper that I know well, and it behaved as normal, so I switched to it for a while. But I was keen to experiment some more, first with the cartridge paper, which is actually quite nice, if you don't put wet ink on the verso, as that will bleed through. I tried some sketching, and then some more watercolour, which turned out disastrous. At that point, I got so frustrated that I packed my bags and drove home and felt sorry for myself for the rest of the day.

So what lessons did I learn?

• Don't bother with easels in the winter in Ireland
• Always wear rain trousers for plein air in winter in Ireland. Even if there is no rain forecast
• Test new paper fully before expecting to produce a masterpiece (indoors and outdoors - the backgarden can be interesting too!)
• It's better to pack up and go home than to stick at it for too long. The frustration goes exponential by the minute
• Reduce the amount of art supplies you bring out if you need to walk, even for a short while
• Don't give up because one painting went wrong.
• Take it as an opportunity to experiment
• Pick yourself up, and go again the next day

So, here they are:

This is the one that broke my spirit. A complete wet mess that wouldn't dry - the pock marks are a combination of rain drops and the roughness of the paper and the sizing that stopped the paint from absorbing.

On the left is the watercolour paper, and on the right the cartridge paper. As you can see, I couldn't paint any detail on the watercolour paper, as it just turned into blobs of colour. It is atmospheric - it does remind me of the day, even if I'd rather not be reminded!

This one was on Saunders Waterford paper. I did add a second layer of paint at home and painted the tree at home. But you can see I was much happier with how the paint behaved here. The same basic colours were used - Buff Titanium, Lavender,  Monte Amiata Natural Sienna, Transparent Red Oxide, Green Apatite Genuine and Ultramarine.

A pen sketch - the effect on the right is from the wet watercolour page opposite flapping on top of this page. I did have bulldog clips to stop my pages flying, but I had to close the book to walk back to the car and the paint was still not dry. The pink blobs are watery ink I splattered after I got home.

I added colour and darker values to the tree after I got home. You can see that the ink from the verso bled through the heavy cartridge paper. Funny that it can handle watercolour quite well, but not ink and water.

I added another layer after I got home. A bit too bright now!!! Maybe that's what this paper needs - plenty of layers. It's so strong it can certainly take plenty of rework, and it doesn't warp at all. So it's not all bad. I just need to get to know it better!

My original tree disaster is still a disaster. But I learned a lot from it. The paper is so strong that you can lift paint quite easily . And it can take several layers of watercolour without going dull!