"Above the Ocean" is a textural extravaganza of mixed watercolor and acrylic ink. I began by creating outlines of flying birds. If you cut them out of tracing paper, you can arrange them in a pleasing way on the paper that you're planning to paint on. It's a good idea to make some of the birds appear to be just partially on the painting. This can give a sense of movement to the piece. When I decided on the arrangement, I cut the birds out of contact paper and adhered them to my watercolor paper. This is a great way to mask big areas.
 |
| This shows the contact paper birds on my watercolor paper. |
Next comes the really fun part! Just throw paint on the paper. I used watercolors and acrylic inks. I spritzed with a mixture of water and ox gall liquid to make the paint granulate and to really make the ink spread. Next I covered with saran wrap.
 |
| Here's what's happened so far! |
After I let everything dry, I peeled off all of the texture as well as the contact paper.
 |
| Here's what the piece looks like under all that saran wrap! |
The next step is to finish the birds and add to the background.
 |
| "Above the Ocean" • mixed watermedia on Arches 140# cold press paper |
I added to the ocean and painted the birds. I really like how the texture worked out in the water.
For more information about this piece click
HERE.
cMelissa Gannon 2015
