Dug up an old book on watercolour painting. Completely different techniques from what I normally do. But I got frustrated with trying to paint waves with gouache, so I felt I had to try something different. This approach is all about very wet washes and spraying and pouring paint and water, and knife painting to get a dynamic effect. And then finish the painting in a more traditional way for the details. I'm happy with the result.
The book is called "How to make a watercolor paint itself", by Nita Engle. Wonderful inspiration. But the techniques she explains are not as easy as the title implies. I feel that if I wanted to explore this approach further, I'd almost have to abandon everything I normally do with watercolours. Also, she uses masking fluid a lot in the initial phase of her paintings so she can have the freedom to pour paint afterwards. And I gave up on masking fluid a long time ago - it never gave me the delicate result I was expecting - I'm not a delicate or patient person. And it's messy, with paint pouring everywhere. And right now, I just don't have the space for that, as you'd really be working on 3 or 4 paintings at the same time, given how long it would take for the paint to dry before you can move to the next stage.
Never say never, though. But not for now.
Here are two process photos. As you can see, it changed a lot as I went along.
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