Playing Around

Brusho Sunflower

Watercolor

I started playing with a product called Brusho a few weeks ago. It's a dry crystallized watercolor that comes in little plastic bottles. If you poke holes in the caps it can be shaken out like salt. That's what I decided to try. If you wet the area you want to paint and shake the colored crystals out they dissolve when they hit the water. Sometimes you get  a speckled effect. Some colors like orange and purple are a combination of primaries so if you leave them alone, they will stay unmixed on your paper. You can also use a brush to mingle the colors together. 

I've looked at some tutorials on line since this painting and have seen some interesting things to try. One of them was using spray starch. 

Summertime is a good time to try new things so I've been watching some Jean Haines Videos too. I love her loose, watery style. She makes it look so easy but it really takes a lot of control and practice to get the mix of water and pigment just right. If I get a practice piece that looks like anything recognizable I'll post it. I find it hard to carve out painting time in between summer travel and activities but I get a little in here and there.