Painting 33

Ref 950: 951.- Painting Mixed-media watercolors

Whenever I´m at the easel, I always keep one idea firmly in mind; that watercolor is a tool of expression, not and end of itself, in other words I like watercolors that are painting first and watercolors second. So whenever I begin a watercolor now; I do not hesitate to make it a mixed media venture. These days I´m making a underpainting with  with powder graphite diluted and applied with brush, and then fixed before add watercolor on it, as a result my work has become free. looser and more expressive, I´ve also discovered a few other advantages to mixed media watercolors:
New imagery;
-- middle value unifier,
-- regaining lost lights,
-- dark values because.- when starting with a middle tone-paper, darks
          becomes easier to see and paint
-- combinig skills
-- second attempts.- becauseyou learn to paint in both sides of the paper, when your transparent watercolor turn out to be less tan a masterpiece, but with mixed media, more tan one watercolor can be painted in one side, scrubbing out your first attempt
In my following paint; I start with powder graphite and then fixed to avoid dirty conditions for next steps
After completely dry I can adjust dark tones in a easier way
Of course I did use some masking in particular áreas to keep interesting iluminated áreas, and I use quite small amount of color to preserve lighthing áreas as much as posible
The graphite underpainting was th key for the following painting

                    Ref 950    "Nature it is not a place to visit; it is home"

The following example ref 951 now it is made with same technic but over hot press paper;
This is the result after powder graphite disolved in wáter and applied with brush

 

Also I did some masking on it

After it dries, I apply laca to fix it (spry), and then I start to watercolor, which result easier when I start with shadows defined either to reinforce or to leave like that, my lesson learnt is that I didn´t fix correctly the lower side and the grahite disolved again with wáter making forms undefined and dirty, nevertheless this is the technic I did use either over cold and/or hot press paper

 

Ref 951.- "Every painting tells a story"