Batik Tulips~WIP

This is as far as I got before the big 'boom' and the flames. I used artist's tape to mask the areas I wish to keep white in hopes it will not allow any bleed as I add the next layers of color. I will be switching to a regular brand of masking tape to complete the painting. Bleeds will be desirable now. Just a note: I really have no idea what I'm doing yet. This should be interesting.

My working drawing.

Here I ramped up the contrast in my photo editor and greyscaled the image to get a better handle on the values.

This is a crop of a photo submitted by Lorenz on Paint My Photo. I cropped it quite a bit to create a macro.

I've been so impressed by Sandy Maudlin's masking tape batik watercolor paintings I decided to try my hand at it. See Sandy's batik poppy Here and the work of some of her students Here.

I chose to try tulips as my first subjects. Fairly simple shapes to contend with. For my reference I'm using a photo submitted by Lorenz on Paint My Photo, a site I found and joined through Facebook where photographers and artists share their work without worries of copyright violation. I haven't gotten very far yet as my hair dryer decided to burst into flames when I was drying the first wash so until I replace it, it'll be slow going.

Exploring Options

Now this is what I'm talking about! This is definitely an option worth considering. I hit this one with the watercolor filter and got some real impact going on. It makes the original painting look downright drab. Anyone up for watercolor and wet charcoal?

IMO, this is a job for colored pencils. Not sure which filter I used for this effect but if anyone is interested I can sure go back and find out.

Last night I opened Elements and experimented with my latest painting. I got some interesting and extremely varied results. To tell the truth, the first time I considered painting the birch reference I thought of Nick Simmon's koi technique. His 'sewing machine stitch'(one of many unique techniques he demos on his DVD) and the use of spattering with a toothbrush to add shading and volume came to mind immediately. I will need to think on a much larger scale but I may try it out on a closeup section to see if I can pull it off. I'll need to order some full sheets of HP as well. It sure won't be Arches HP, though. I really should contact that company and let them know the problems I've had...at least with this latest block.