Acquarelli Poi Inchiostro - I (step 1)

9"x12" Smooth Bristol Board, Acquarelli
Pari, Grosseto Italia

After experimenting with building form with watercolor on a rough pencil structure in Acquarelli e Matita - I, I decided to modify both my techniques and materials. Rather than painting directly in my sketchbook, I decided to use the smooth bristol board that I had become accustomed to using as the base of my artworks. I also decided to skip the step of creating an outline in pencil and go right to the painting. For the paint, I decided to keep using my Winsor & Newton set of acquarelli, mainly as a way of "switching things up" in the New Year (I had gotten in the habit of using my hand-mixed Maimeri colors).

This photo, taken before I added in ink to complete the piece, was much closer to what I had hoped to accomplish in my previous sketch. Switching to the smooth bristol board allowed me to capture the motion of my strokes, as well as the color — building a sense of form through color alone. I also experimented with a very limited set of "warm" and "cool" colors to raise contrast with the shadows.

One thing that surprised me, particularly after using the Maimeri colors for so long, was the amount of paint that I needed to use when laying down the grey color for the street and pots for the plants around the restaurant. In some ways, I wish that I had stopped here instead of adding in the ink, but then again, this is also how one learns.

You can find the final pieca, entitled Le Due Cecche - III, by clicking here.

Yours in inspiration,
Michael Weaver