Wednesday, September 9, 2009

SEA RIBBON - watercolor on illustration board




Sea Ribbon
15" x 22"
watercolor on illustration board

Well, my first painting on illustration board is complete. There are many things I enjoyed in working with this support...

Illustration board is very smooth, and the surface is already prepped to accept wet media such as watercolor. You can use a wet-into-wet technique or a dry into wet, and it also accepts dry on dry. Up to a certain point, if you want to lift color, you can get back to almost pure white. But, be warned that after several attempts to lift color in the same spot, it no longer cooperates so well!

One very tricky thing about this board is that when you lay down the watercolor, it tends to wander from the line you placed it against. Once the color was dry, I had to go back in many places and pull the color back to the boundary lines, hoping it would stay put this time! As well, it is very easy to damage the surface of the board, so you must treat it with care.

A beautiful feature of the Illustration Board is that the colors dry just as you put them on!
With watercolor, the colors dry 30% lighter most of the time, so you always have to be thinking and adjusting for that. With the board, you do not have to worry about it drying lighter at all - and that took a bit of adjusting in my thinking!

This painting is based on a photo I took while in Campbell River, British Columbia, in June of this year. The beaches there are loaded with gorgeous rocks, driftwood - from small pieces to HUGE trees that have been uprooted, and things which have washed up on the shore with the tides. This sea vegetation was so beautifully wound around the rocks that it made the perfect subject for a painting. I have a few other photos I took along the beaches I visited which I may paint this fall.

So - I guess I just admitted that it is fall. Time to reevaluate where I am at and where I am headed as an artist! I have several new things planned for the next few months - but I am just in the planning stages right now. I will let you know more as I have thought things through and begun the new journey's direction.

As always, if you are interested in what Sea Ribbon might be purchased for, either framed or unframed, please contact me: jogiesbrecht@gmail.com

17 comments:

Kim said...

It was totally worth tucking that rock into your suitcase. The rocks looks awesome!!

Unknown said...

Would you say this painting "rocks"??? HAHAHAHAHA!!

Thanks, Kimmy!

Lee Ann said...

This is gorgeous, love the curves and the flow of it. Very interesting to hear your experience with the illustration board too.

Unknown said...

Thanks, Lee Ann,

It was just that - the curves and flow, that attracted me to this particular piece of seaweed. I have bought a smaller and a larger piece of illustration board to do a couple more paintings on. We'll see how I like it after those. :-)

Kim said...

Haha. That's my "courtesy laugh."

Alvin Richard said...

Beautifully rendered. Very soft and flowing colors....just like the small sea ripples that bathes the pebbles to keep them wet.

Unknown said...

Alvin,

Thank you for your comment... you know how much I value your critic! It was fun to do this, and make the background fade out as though in a bit of fog or mist... love the ocean and its moods. :-)

I am shocked at how many paintings you are doing for your solo show, but I am cheering you on, and know you will complete each one as you promised.

Hope you are having a wonderful fall. :[)

Pegi Sue said...

Just beautiful!!! I really do love this painting!!:)

Unknown said...

Hi Pegi Sue,

Thank for stopping by and for your comment which makes me feel REALLY GOOD as an artist! I must find out how you did in the contest you were waiting to hear back on. Have a great day!!!

Pegi Sue said...

I got the email yesterday afternoon!! I AM IN!!!!
I have the whole letter posted in my blog! I am so excited, as this is my first show!!:)

Unknown said...

Oh Pegi Sue! I am soooo excited for you!!! Congratuations - that is awesome!!!! I'm going to your site now to read the whole e-mail. Yeah!

Jean Victory said...

A beautiful piece Joanne...beautifully rendered! Want to see more!!

Unknown said...

Hi Jean!
So good to hear from you! Thanks for your comment - and yes, I have a plan in place to do a few more paintings of the beach in Campbell River. I bought some more illustration board too, so I will be giving it a try for other ideas.

Hope your summer was great, and that you are feeling well!

vjc said...

Joanne,

Beautiful painting and I really appreciated hearing your experience with illustration board. I'm just setting up to try it in a mixed media piece and your comments have already been invaluable!

Unknown said...

Hi Val! So nice to meet you... and I am so VERY glad that my comments were able to help you out somewhat as you try illustration board. Let me know how you like it! I have a couple more pieces that I went and purchased a few weeks ago - and have plans for in a month or so! :-) Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Your painting is gorgeous! I was wondering how watercolours would react on an illustration board and my friend had told me that the water disintegrated the board but I'm glad to see that that doesn't happen with care. :)

Unknown said...

Thank you! I m not sure if your friend was using "illustration board" - but my experience is that it works beautifully with watercolors. I hope you give it a try - it really is fun, and texture is a breeze with this support! Happy painting. :-)