Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thursday, March 21, 2013

The Red Dahlia

I finished the red dahlia painting yesterday - I am still wondering if I shouldn't make the green background darker, but for now, I am leaving it alone.

The painting is 22" x 24" and is painted on 140 lb. cold-pressed Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper.  This is what I would almost consider a conceptual piece since the process almost overtakes the painting - the purposeful, controlled application of the mask, and then the controlled pouring of the paint with the masked lines, changing the subject into my concept of the flower, rather than a photographic replica of the subject.
I poured with acrylic inks, and then finished the painting with watercolor.  Yes - you can paint over acrylic inks with watercolor if the inks have been diluted with water before the pouring process.  Most of the reds are the original pour - only the white masked areas and the shadows where the petals overlap, are watercolor.

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