Wavy Gravy Weekend

Here are a couple of funky watercolor panels that are almost too simple to post but... I did use my Simon Hurley Dye Ink pads in a new way and I so enjoyed making them, I figured I'd just roll with it. The "new" inking technique is basically just a funky version of the good old Direct to Paper method: I chose a bunch of analogous colors, then used the corners of each to draw a swoosh across the paper. I experimented with more/less pressure, and varied the angle at which I held the ink pads against the paper to see what sort of marks could be made. When I had a "base" of color... (there were still white areas of paper showing, but the basic idea and shapes were there) ...I took a waterbrush and dragged the colors into, around, and over each other. When the paper was completely covered with ink, I let it dry before coming back in with white and gold paint pens to add a bit more structure to the lines. Then I used two sizes of black Letter It Fineliners to outline the paint pen areas, and also to create the impression of more dimension within the various colors. Finally, I flicked the whole thing with clear water and let it sit for five minutes before blotting off the excess. Proof of how much more fun this is to DO rather than read (or write) about: I made the second panel before the first one was even fully dry!!! 

It's somewhat important to use a palette composed of colors that all blend well together. If you don't know which shades will fuse into cool new colors and which will make mud, I highly (HIGHLY) 

recommend purchasing (or bookmarking online) a color wheel! In the meantime, the junior high school acronym we learned to memorize the colors of the spectrum in order : ROY G BIV ...which stands for Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet... is most helpful! Colors that are directly next to each other on the wheel (and in the acronym) are analogous and basically guaranteed to blend well; this includes looping around from Indigo and Violet to Red, btw. If this sounds like a boring limitation, remember that within each color, there are MANY different hues and they're all fair game!