All I Want to Do is Paint, Paint, Paint

 

So, do you know that song with the lyrics all I want to do is dance, dance, dance? Well, all I want to do is paint, paint, paint! And yes, I did sing that as I typed. Hahahahahaha! I have been learning so much by watching and participating with Tracy Weinzapfel's videos. You can find her here, here and here. I am learning that I can totally do this. I never believed I could. Just ask Sandra Strait how many times I've whined to her that I wish I could paint. I know it isn't landscapes or portraits but this is making me so happy I just do not care. 

I am sorry I didn't get a shot of the very start of the page. I am working  on a brand new on the market paper from Leda Art Supply. Their Mixed  Media Pad is 140 pound weight and comes with 12 sheets or 24 work surfaces. While I was working with my gelli plate from Gelli Arts, I used a sheet of Leda's mixed media paper to collect the roll-off from my brayer. I do not waste product. I may not always know what I will do with it, so I stick it in a drawer until I do. This page started that way. When I decided to paint florals, I grabbed a #8 flat Black Tulip brush from ZenART Supplies and pre-wet the entire background. Then I used their #8 round brush to add shades of green, yellow and teal over the entire page. You can still see remnants of the brayer roll-off underneath. 

Using an ultra fine Sharpie I mapped out my florals. Starting with my Schmincke watercolors, I went back over all the background again adding more texture and depth with some darker shades of teal and marine. And painted those centers of the flowers. This is all the painting I intended to do for this project. I wanted to leave the petals of the flowers open, just using that first underlying coat of watercolor and gelli roll-off.

Next I added details to the flowers themselves. Printemps centers, the antidots tangle around the outside of the centers, and lots of lines and curves in each of the petals. No mistakes, no bad stroke, just freeing and relaxing good-time fun! White highlights and lines were added with a Sharpie paint pen. And last I used a black Archival ink pad and a stencil brush to add a little shading around the outside and to darken up that upper right section a bit. I loved how this turned out. A little tame for my regular color choices. Hahahaha! But I love it anyway! And I worked larger than normal. I filled up a whole page. For my second time. And I have already started another. 

I am working on a post with the Hahnemühle Nostalgie post cards and hope to be able to share that really soon. 

Leda's Mixed Media paper can be purchased here and here. I would purchase it from their site over Amazon - you save money. You're welcome :) 

ZenART Supplies' Black Tulip brushes can be purchased here.