East Meets West

This is where I'm at right now. I'll start painting the details of the flowers tomorrow.

I laid on the masking fluid pretty heavy for this project. I'm glad I did. Juicy work, easier removal. I did add a little salt in places for effect.




I needed a break from the kitties and I felt a floral coming on. It's been ages since I painted flowers. The winter weather, although not bad right now, is making me miss my gardens. I had been fooling around drawing snow covered tulips but couldn't find the right blue for the sky. The mat and frame I have is the wrong format for what I had in mind, too. Well...nuts.

As luck would have it my April issue of Watercolor Artist arrived in my mailbox and the Chinese artist,

Lian Quan Zhen had written a four page article on three styles of Chinese painting...detail style, spontaneous style and a combination of the two styles. Zhen also incorporated what he calls the Western Style of negative painting in a demonstration featuring orchids. What caught my interest the most were some of the techniques this artist used...pouring and negative painting. These are two methods of painting with watermedia that I've been planning on trying but somehow never got around to actually doing. I'm posting my work in progress, two orchids and a bud. So far, I've completed my background and removed the masking.

Warning! When pouring be ready for a mess! My first try was hideous. I mixed my paint too thick and poured a little too fast and heavy. I had paint on me, the floor, all over my worktable...holycrapwhatamess. Err on the side of caution when attempting this method and wear your grubbies. Have lots of paper towels handy, too.

Lian Quan Zhen also has a step-by-step demo available online right now. You may want to check it out.