Three fun, but failed landscapes. I used one of the mini Legion pads, Stonehenge Aqua Coldpress Heavy. The other minis have 10 or 15 sheets, this one only has five. The paper is so thick, it is more like an artboard. I like that it can handle lots of water.

This is my last try. I like it, in spite of it not working as I planned. I thought about showing it vertically. But I decided I liked this view better, as painted. I think it could use more light areas.

I used Yellow Ochre, Indigo, and Green Gold. And the Indigo was the smallest proportion in each painting. They still went much darker than I wanted. I used a credit card to apply the paint and then sprayed water to get the paint flowing. Very little control using this method. It is better suited to larger pieces of paper. Still, I had fun experimenting!

Thought of naming this one, “Ocotillo before the bloom.”

Second try is too heavy handed. Too much pigment, not enough water.

So what do you think? Did I make improvements in the end?
Did my roundabout path to looseness pay off?

In watercolor, if you are not in trouble,
then you’re in trouble.
Selma Blackburn

The watercolorist’s vocabulary consists of
the ability to handle edges
in a variety of ways, from soft to hard.
Tony van Hasselt