Watercolor on Mi-Teintes

I keep a selection of tinted papers in my sketchbook. The paper I use most often is the Mi-Teintes by Canson. It is a pastel paper. The paper has a large content of cotton and handles very much like a piece of 90lb watercolor paper. The colors I like are warm tones and neutral (crème and grays).

A few things to keep in mind when working on a tinted surface…your watercolors will look very different, especially if you use transparent watercolor. The paint will be influenced by the tint of the paper. And use less water so the paper doesn’t buckle too much. Since the paper is tinted you will have no whites to bring a sparkle. I don’t always feel adding white is necessary. I have a small lip gloss container filled with permanent white gouache in my sketch set-up. I don’t keep it on my palette as it dries quickly and becomes useless.

Right now I imagine a few watercolorists are raising their brow when they heard, “WHITE PAINT”. In many circles this is a NO, NO! Well guess what? In my sketchbook anything goes. Here is where I am free to play and break all the rules. Oh what fun!

The last sketch was done on Mulberry paper. Yeah....I'll paint on just about anything. Go ahead give yourself permission to play. You just might love it!

Happy Sketching!
Brenda

Cinque Terre

I was in Cinque Terre, 2 months ago. Today I learned of a flash flood in the villages of Cinque Terre. Two of the historic little villages (Vernazza & Monterosso) are damaged terribly from walls of water ripping through the tiny streets. Many lives have been lost. How sad all of this makes me feel.

My trip in late August was a saving grace after a very painful 6 weeks with a pinched nerve in my neck. A month before the trip was so bad I couldn't sketch at all. After many weeks of therapy, 8 x-rays, an MRI, muscle injections, and an epidural I was good to go!

The real cure came while I was in Cinque Terre. Sketching with the warm sun on my back, relaxing strolls, hiking... I felt as if my body had been restored. I stayed in the lovely little village of Corniglia in an apartment that over looked the sea. Each day I explored one of the 5 villages.



I will remember the little villages as I sketched them. And I will remain grateful for the time I had in this beautiful region of Italy.

Brenda

Reflections of Italy...

As promised I am posting addition images of my sketch journal and photos from Tuscany. I have scanned my travel journal, sorted photos, and sent copies to workshop participants. I had a couple delays along the way in trying to get this completed. It is amazing how so many projects can need my attention all at once! But at last I am back and eager to share.



In my last post about Tuscany I shared images from before the workshop while I sketched in Cinque Terre. The images I am sharing now are part of the workshop. We spent 10 days in a lovely Tuscan farmhouse in the hills of Lucca. The location was charming, relaxing, inspiring and just all around perfect! I had a wonderful group of participants and we became friends in a short period of time. We traveled to little villages during the day to paint, had authentic Italian cooking lessons, went to a Puccini concert, painted our own Italian influenced plate...and so much more. I teach workshops in Europe each summer but something was extra special about this group.


Happy Sketching!
Brenda