By Alexis Bonari

Watercolor painting is both a relatively accessible art form and a difficult skill to master. Beginners enjoy the variety of effects that can be created by simply varying the proportions of water to paint, using different brushes, or using tape to isolate specific areas. Experts also appreciate the wide scope of watercolor techniques, but are more skilled and deliberate in their art. The following are some alternative ways to manipulate watercolors that can be both experimental and strategically perfected.

Drybrushing

Set up a blower or fan so that it can dry your paper as you work. With this technique, it’s important to keep your brush from being too wet, so shake off the excess water every time you wet or rinse the brush. Once the brush is damp, use it to pick up and spread a small amount of paint, allowing your blower to dry the paint as soon as it’s applied. This technique can lend a unique sense of intensity to your watercolor painting.

Making Object Impressions

This technique works best on smooth paper, but experimenting can enable you to find a trademark way of conveying your vision with watercolors. Choose some objects that might create interesting impressions, such as leaves, flowers, string or thread. Select a dark color, paint one side of the object, and press it against your paper. Some objects may require a coat of soap before they hold paint.

Lifting Wet Color

Once you have a wash of color on your paper, experiment with absorbent materials like paper towels to lift away surface paint. You can be gentle by simply laying the towel on the painted paper, or you can try blotting away paint until you have the texture and shade you need.

Applying Grainy or Powdery Materials

This technique also works well with a wash, so once you’ve chosen and applied your color, try sprinkling sand, salt or cornstarch onto your paper. This can change the consistency of your paint, the texture of your images, and even the shade of color on your paper.

Painting on Wet Paper

Use a large brush to cover your paper with a thin layer of clean water. Next, apply paint to the wet surface of the paper, observing the effect: the paint spreads out in seemingly unpredictable patterns, but an expert can use this technique to produce a very specific image. Experimenting with the amount of paint, brush size, and other factors can help you anticipate the reaction of paint to wet paper.

Using a Palette Knife

If you’ve never used a palette knife, you can buy one from your local art supply store. Apply a dark wash to your paper, then use your palette knife to gently scrape away some of the paint. You can use the edge of the knife to create lines that will remain when the paint has dried, allowing you to create textured backgrounds.

Bio: Alexis Bonari

Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She often can be found blogging about education and scholarships for college. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

Guest Article written by Alexis Bonari.
Copyright remains with Alexis Bonari.
Not to be reproduced in anyway unless prior permission is sought.

“I have been actively involved with exhibiting at the Bulimba Gallery Arcade each week.
I make myself available to the public to discuss displayed and future commissioned work as required.”

“Where previously my work was mostly traditional, and tight, I have acquired from Donald the ‘gift’ of loosely applied glazed washes, forming the ’springboard’ of being able to work my illustrated content into these creations.”

“To feel the ‘freedom’ of capturing what I ‘feel’ rather than what the subject might demand, is a wonderful new experience.
This ‘conversion’ took some time, and new found patience.”

“Colour has always been the real magnet that originally drew me to art, many years ago. Now with these new skills, I have been able to satisfy my desire to produce very brightly coloured work, which I consider to be the key feature that draws people to my work.”

Many works are available as originals, or as Giclee Prints (stretched). Guide prices are around $200 to $620. Please see www.johndrake.com.au for more information on work, exhibitions and John Drake himself.

02 Bulimba Ferry Terminal

Tuscany Heights 04

02 NZ MV Arahura Ferry on Brisbane Floating Dock

12 Clock Tower ,Main Street, Grafton

09 1930 De Soto 2 door Coupe

John is an Australian artist living in the southern suburbs of Brisbane. He has exhibited at the Wellington Point Art Gallery, the Circle Gallery in West End and has various works in private collections.

Date

13 August 2010 – 27 August 2010

Location

Pine Rivers Art Gallery – 199 Gympie Road, Strathpine

Cost

Free

Contact

Pine Rivers Art Gallery
Ph: (07) 3480 6941
PineRivers.Gallery@moretonbay.qld.gov.au

http://www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/subsite.aspx?id=73242&libID=75793

Having studied under Ian Simpson in Britain, Shirley immigrated to Australia in 1992 and now lives in Brisbane, painting full time.

Shirley has sold her work extensively in Australia and overseas with many exhibitions behind her. her favourite mediums are watercolours and pastels, but works in all mediums.

With her skill in figure painting and love of nature, Shirley is also an accomplished art tutor, and her art lessons have led to several of her pupils successfully exhibiting their own work.

Shirley Charlton’s website is at www.shirleycharlton.com. There you can see a large selection of her work, and contact her directly about her work and art lessons.

Below are a few examples of her work featured here:

No More Tears Brother (Check availability with Artist)

Jill's Cat - Sold Commission

Bathing Nude (Check availability with Artist)

View From Maleny - Pastel 51cm x 69cm (Check availability with Artist)

Title: untitled. Size: 18"x 24" Medium: Watercolor on paper

ABOUT KRISTINA DIMITRIJEVIC
KENNETT SQUARE, PA, UNITED STATES
I love painting and have been doing it all my life. This summer (2009) marks the beginning of my official painting year. Just out of undergraduate, I’ve decided to work on my art full time and see what happens. This blog is an attempt at documenting it. Hope you enjoy!

To see many more paintings and information, visit www.paintingintrees.blogspot.com/

Drawing Point Gallery & Studio
Art Time Supplies, 203 Brisbane Street, Ipswich, QLD, Australia

Friday 13th August to Friday 27th August, 2010.

RSVP Charmaine Davis 0413 651 486 / Kate Roberts 3812 1188.

What the trees have seen.
They have stood as silent witness and seen so many generations pass into silence.
They are living memorials of events.
The ancient and the young – hey all have stories they could tell.
They are custodians of history.
So too the mighty river.
Meandering this way and that.
Always listening.

Do you have an art exhibition?

Promote it here. Send us a flyer or a couple of images and description, location, and we’ll put it up.

This blog is aimed at a world wide audience, so your exhibition can be located in any country!

In the last month, the store has now moved completely online and will continue to trade full time as an online business – what this means is that they have now been able to reduce their prices for their products. Those physical stores cost a lot of money! Even once postage is added, it should still work out cheaper once you buy more than a couple of items. Delivery Australia metro areas only.

They will be looking at ways to continue to offer low prices, which means the possibility of lower prices being offered for certain products. At the moment, each product has a before and after price (before being the price they used to charge in store, and after being the new online only price now being offered).

Not all of the products from their store are online yet, but new products are being added every day.

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