Imperfect beauty - watercolour by Chinh

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Imperfect beauty (poppies)

Testing Stillman & Birn Sketchbook - Gamma Series

I love painting poppies because of their vibrant colours and textures. Working from my snapshot, I began by doing a quick line drawing with a twig, using black ink. Next, I worked on one petal at a time, from the bottom up, because I wanted to see how the paper reacted when I applied different colours. This was my first experience with a Stillman & Birn product and I wanted to try many watercolour techniques: wet-in-wet, dry-in-wet, splattering textures, dry brush, etc. What a beautiful paper to paint on! When I paint, I can feel my mop brush glide smoothly over the paper’s surface. The pigments blend nicely and stay on the paper. I hadn’t painted watercolours on ivory paper before, and this colour tone really gave a warm glow to my poppies. One thing I really love is that the colours kept their brightness and glow after the pigment dried.

Although the book states that the paper allows for light washes, it can withstand many layers of paint. The paper did buckle during heavy washes, but the buckling (about 85%) went away after drying. What an awesome paper to work on! I absolutely love it and highly recommend this awesome product. I’m looking forward to trying different series.

Thank you for taking the time to view, to appreciate, to comment my work.

Chinh :)

Sketch time: 2 hours

MEDIA: Black drawing ink, Winsor&Newton watercolours, Raphael Aqualine mop brush
SURFACE: Gamma Series – 100 Lb. (150 gsm) – Ivory, Vellum Surface, Landscape 9”x6”