Mingus #99. 11.5 x 5.5 in. watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.
Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of beer. That has been in my head all week. I don’t even like beer. Today is the day. Day #100. This afternoon will find me working on Mingus number one hundred.
Today’s sky was a wreck. I managed to save it. There was a cloud on the right. A stripe really. I had gone in and removed paint with a clean brush. It didn’t work.
I let the paint dry. Not completely, but almost. I re-wet the ugly area, and put paint back in, and worked it back and forth until there was a more even wash there. If you look just right of center, you can see a hint of white left. Along the right edge, some of the paint stained, but luckily, it gives the effect of distant clouds forming.
I didn’t mean to leave white along the bottom edge. I wet the paper before I added paint to that hill. I don’t think that works on a landscape this size. It is more dramatic on a portrait orientation. I AM happy though, with how the paint edge uneven. I know I brushed water on in a straight line, and that would not have worked at all.
There is some nice granulation going on. Along the dark edges of the drips, and in the dark along the bottom. I did not use the granulating medium, so that was a nice surprise. It is subtle, but the texture adds interest.
#10 WWM. 5.5 x 8 in. watercolor on Strathmore 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.
I watched a short video today, where the artist haphazardly added paint to his sky, leaving white areas for clouds. I often do that, but I plan the direction a little more. He made a lot of vertical stokes, and I use more horizontals. Well, on #10 I tried it his way. Not completely happy with it. I lost most of the hard edges, trying to make sense out of the negative, white, shapes.
I have also had a hard time getting the yellow to scan correctly. In the coneflowers, and in #9, it looks much lighter than it does in person. I warmed these (above) up by adding some Quin gold. Then some yellow ochre. I did not want to add orange, so I added a bit of magenta. Well, too many colors going on, they turned out a bit muddy. So lesson learned. Again. Ha ha ha ha.
Overall, happy with both. Happy with the practice. Happy with the chance to learn.
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A Year In The Life Of Mingus
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