Watercolor

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I appreciate the technical difficulty of watercolor. I find it an interesting metaphor for the illusion of control in life. Watercolor does what it wants; we can put it down with some intention, and with many years of experience, perhaps it's easier to predict what will happen. But usually, it is an exercise in appreciation of what has happened -- learning to let the pigment do what it wants, and knowing when to stop.

Most of my watercolor work has been done on Arches 140 lb cold press watercolor paper taped to a board of some sort (foam board or a drawing board), but I have plans to experiment more with heavier and/or smoother papers, and vary my paper stretching technique to attempt to have more control (ha!) over the large background washes.

I am also playing around with pen and ink in combination with watercolor in life study situations (plein air outdoors and work with models), and I find the process and results quite gratifying in a different sort of way than the other media currently feel. It feels more child-like, in a good way.