Painting on Claybord - so much excitement!! So many questions!

As I was getting frustrated with the lack of interaction between my pigments (some granulating, some not, some quite heavy, some very light), or rather with the lack of predictability, despite me taking copious notes of what pigments I used, how much I waited before adding another colour, when I tilted the paper. I know that timing is everything, but I am not a patient watercolourist. I like to literally fling paint at the paper. What I want is something dynamic and rich and exciting. So I decided to try Claybord panels. And I had so much fun. My watercolour pigments were drifting, mingling, exploding - they completely had a mind of their own. And I loved it. Now of course, I have more questions - how to fix the watercolour, how to frame, what about the cost, particularly if you move to larger boards, etc.?

But it was worth it, just to know that some surfaces will give me the unpredictability I love, without going the full way to Yupo (although I have a few small sheets bought years ago that I never touched, so you never know!). Can I find a paper, or a ground that I can apply to paper, that will give me a similar effect. If any of you out there know the answer, or even think you know the answer, I'm happy to hear!

I worked on 30x30cm. Lots of spraying and flushing and tilting. A few close-ups also.

Going darker? Or lighter?

When what I intend to do doesn't work out, it's easy to fall back on what I'm comfortable with!  Anyways, just like Claude said, it's all about timing. I spent a lot of time holding my paper at just the angle it needed, and I watched as the water carried the pigment through. I might flush that dark tomorrow and see what happens. It became shiny in parts, which I really don't like! And note to self, pick up stray hairs (from our cat I suspect) before the paint dries darker around it!

More experimenting

Sometimes, it works out, sometimes it doesn't. All about timing. The one that worked here was on the back of a quarter sheet of Saunders Waterford Cold press paper. Love the granulation. And I wrote down the steps in my studio book. But Claude AI can actually give you a pretty accurate step-by-step account! Scary that! The other ones were an attempt at flushing water and pigment onto the not-so good postcard experiments. Still not so good! (Two Rivers paper, very thick and quite rough for cold press).

2 others looked interesting while still wet, with heavy white watercolour added in swirls on top. But they disappeared as the paper dried. Timing is everything!

zoomed in on the bit I like

Trying to reproduce that effect!

You know when a watercolour does exactly what you want, but you have no idea how you achieved that effect? Then you keep trying and nothing works. Some of these failed experiments turned out ok. Others, not at all. The ones that worked out better were on Hanemhulhe Cornwall paper, with white watercolour dropped in to a mix of Indigo and Bloodstone Genuine. The ones that didn't were on really thick Two Rivers paper. The first one in the series here is the one I am trying to reproduce! I did use Grey of Grey and white watercolour in there somewhere - maybe that is what lifted? There was something in the layering, or the timing, that lifted beautifully when I ran a damp brush with a light wash over it! All experiments are postcard-size. No point in going larger until I can figure this out. And yes, I am very tempted to try different pigments, but I know I shouldn't change the parameters!

Small experimentation

Sometimes painting large feels like too much. I don't know why. I have painted large for the last few years. But now, it feels like too much. So, rather than not painting at all, I'm back to painting small, postcard sized. Some of these made me happy while painting, watching pigments mingling on the paper. One makes me very happy. But I have no idea how I achieved that effect! All on Hahnemuhle Cornwall paper. 

Idea vs technique

Sometimes, I go, duh, why did I not realise this earlier? I'm looking at a landscape that has very definite shapes and I'm thinking of it as an abstract, but it still has definite shapes. So why am I trying to paint it with wild watercolour techniques, ie lots of water and sloshing around on really smooth paper? It makes no sense. Does it? And how do I make it make sense? I don't want to go down the gouache, gesso or soft pastel route (although I have to admit I have bought some more soft pastels!). So where do I go from here? Am I thinking too much? 

Sometimes the journey takes a turn

Can't say if it's a wrong turn, But I mixed the previous image with that thumbnail, added dark watercolour as a foreground and middle ground. Then lots of soft pastel. and some more watercolour on top.  It looks better in photo than reality.  But it's too much of a landscape for my liking. The 2 images were never meant to come together. Is it a wrong turn or a cul-de-sac? Time to step back, I think. 

 

Two paths meet

The shapes in one of the photos I had put in my Seeing More Clearly concertina book were calling out to me. And also the realisation that I want to introduce the actual shapes from the landscape into my more abstract paintings. I'm not sure why (yet), but it's important to me to recreate those roads and mountains, while at the same time hiding their exact locations. It's like they are my own personal haven. I want to share their beauty with the world. But I also want to keep them secret! So I have started with a thumbnail. An actual small-sized thumbnail. Not sure yet how I will merge this with my loose wild watercolour application. But that's another day's work.

Journey variations

Working from the 6 images I painted on a full sheet. Now I'm exploring each individually, seeing where it will lead me.

I'm pretty happy with the first one, the colours are light, the idea is simple. The interaction of watercolour and line (oil pastel, Cretacolour wash pencil and soft pastel) work well.

In the second one, I went too crazy with the soft pastel, using marks that didn't work with the background, then trying to flush them out. We'll have to see if I can recover it in some way!

 

Journey

The journey has started. First layer exploration of two of the compositions from my 6 pieces.

Elemental

I'm painting again! I was starting to worry. I had so many ideas that I felt like a rabbit in the headlights. But  after spending some time in my studio book, looking back at notes from 3 years ago and painting from the last couple of years, I had a better idea of what I wanted. So, here is the first step! Lots of ideas emerging already from this set of 6 painted as one. Mostly watercolour, lots and lots of water. And a little watersoluble pencil.

Rough and Smooth

Can't decide what paper to use. I thought hot press would be best, but I'm getting better results with rough paper! I thought I wasn't going to pursue results. I'm just experimenting and playing, right?