Wednesday 29 March 2017

masking fluid and watercolour - Part 1


The last time I tried using masking fluid I it was with alcohol inks and the result was woeful. I wasn't sure if it was the Bristol Board that made the masking fluid tear the surface (Four Bunnies of the Apocalypse) - Bristol Board is a great base for markers as it's very absorbent. But since reading this Craftsy tip on using masking fluid I reckon I had made an error. In my impatience to dry the fluid I'd applied heat from a radiator. So I'll have to give the alcohol inks another go with added patience.



For now I'm using the masking fluid along with watercolours. Going back to the blue figure that I've worked on in my sketchbook which in turn evolved from a figure-drawing practice tool online - Line of Action. I wrote a previous blogpost about the blue figure - REDO blue figure in sketchbook - and this is a continuation of that drawing. What was originally a gun in the online photograph became a broomstick. And the blue figure is now a witch in the light of the full moon.


I used Winsor and Newton masking fluid to protect the figure while I washed the background in shades of Turquoise, Ultramarine and Payne's Grey. Some Vermilion and Sap Green were added to break up the sameness of the colours. I decided on a whim to use sea salt on top of the wet paint. By the time I'd found it, opened it and used it most of the wet paint had already dried. The areas that were altered have almost a crystalline effect.

Allowing the masking fluid to dry naturally and lifting it as soon as the background was touch-dry made removing it very easy and without harm to the surface of the paper.


Filled in the white space with light teal and shades of pale cream for the skin, moon and broomstick. 


Part 2 to follow...



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