Tag: watercolor on canvas

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Sunny still life

Sunny still life by Inese Poga

Sunny still life on watercolor canvas

Sunny still life is a painting which I started on January 1, 2013. I got busy, and this canvas was collecting dust (literally, it was hard to get rid of it) until now. The other day, I was going through different pictures and thought: why not to finish up this still life? “Sunny still life” was intended to be painted in pastel. I had painted two smaller pastels on canvas from the same set-up in my studio, and everybody liked them and later bought. I used watercolor for the base layer. However, this isn’t a watercolor paper. It is watercolor canvas.

Creation process of Sunny still life

What is watercolor canvas?

Watercolor canvas is supposed to be a surface which accepts watercolor paint. In reality, it doesn’t. Paint comes off extremely easily, and it doesn’t stay on. I can lift paint, but to get more of it on, is not going to happen using regular technique. I bought this watercolor canvas exactly 8 years ago. My hope was I could use it for watercolor and then hang without a frame. Frames are always a problem, and they become an issue when one has very many paintings.

Original art by Inese Poga

Getting realistic image on watercolor canvas

Watercolor canvas is very difficult with somewhat realistic image since we get only one attempt in covering an area. I think it would work when pouring on very thick watercolor paint, but there is nothing much of a thin layer. I still decided to complete this painting. The truth is, I feel obligated to finish all paintings I have started. I don’t know if they still sell watercolor canvas, but this was the only one I ever bought. Thick watercolor paper is so much better for realistic paintings, but it needs a frame, unfortunately.

Sunny still life, Inese Poga

Excellent quality paints

After lots of attempts cheating paint onto canvas, I got somewhat saturated colors.  This painting is 24 x 20 inches or  61 x 51 cm. I always paint around edges, just like with any painting on canvas. I could accomplish this because I use pigment-rich watercolor paints. I use St. Petersburg watercolor paints, and I’m absolutely happy with them. Over years, I have tried most brands, and I must admit, nothing on the market compares to St. Petersburg paints.

Watercolor canvas, painting

I think the mood is really sunny, and therefore, the title of this painting is also “Sunny still life”. This is how the painting process and experiments started: Experimenting with surface and medium

Paint goes all around edge

Other than that, I am preparing materials for online art classes and my watercolor painting book. It is a very lengthy and time-consuming process. At least for me. I am a bit slow because there is so much to do in the garden.

Stay healthy, purchase some art. Many people are doing really well during these COVID-19 times.

 

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Paintings in progress: experimenting with medium and surfaces

Pastel painting in progress, still life painting in pastel

Experimenting with subjects and medium

Experimenting is the force behind creation of new art. I love experimenting.  I think most artists try new materials and challenge themselves time to time. We cannot just paint one and the same subject in the same way all life. Life is too short not to find out what else is out there. In order to create these paintings, I have to try different medium options.

Experimenting with surfaces

I just found out that watercolor canvas is not my preferred surface because paint comes off much easier than it goes on, but it was interesting to try painting on this surface. It was quite a struggle to cheat the paint onto watercolor canvas. I had to wait until the first layer is completely dry and then try adding more paint. See how gorgeous it actually came out: Sunny still life, finished years later

Experimenting with medium

I’m combining acrylic ground, watercolor, pastel fixative and pastels in order to draw with pastels on a stretched canvas. While it is a multi-step process, the small canvas looks really good.

Pastel painting

Disadvantage of using glass

I’m also stretching watercolor paper on bars, and I’m doing this because I don’t like how paintings look behind the glass. Frame contributes to perception of an image, but glass reflections definitely disturb it. I have watercolor paintings under museum quality glass, and there is still present reflection. It feels as if color and image are not directly approachable as with acrylic paintings.

paintings in progress: amaryllis acrylic painting
First layers of acrylic paint in amaryllis painting

Challenges with any medium

I don’t think, there is any absolutely flawless medium. Pastels leave a lot of dust and cause respiratory problems. They need to be preserved immediately. Acrylic paintings are easy to store and hang, but paint dries out almost immediately, and any correction requires to go over a big area. Watercolor paintings on paper need to be preserved and framed. Glass, mat board and frame increase the selling price a lot.

Creating a still life
My set-up is visible in the background

Avoiding necessity to frame art

My goal is to paint on any surface combining any mediums so that I don’t have to frame my paintings. To be honest, good frames look fantastic. However, framing many hundreds of paintings is very expensive and time-consuming. It is almost impossible at this point since there are too many paintings. Art buyers actually like paintings without frames. That allows them framing or not framing later, and using frames they prefer to.

combining pastel and watercolor on canvas
Such art doesn’t require frame and can be used without it

Paintings in progress

None of these paintings is finished yet, but I like how they are coming out. I’m experimenting so far, but I will see soon what works the best. It’s also fun to use watercolor pencils, pastel pencils, pastel sticks, watercolor on canvas, on paper, on board and just take a risk. The result might be unpredictable, but I don’t think it’s going to be unacceptable. Painting from real set-up is also the way I like it. Update: please, see newer articles for all finished paintings.