FROM MY SKETCHBOOK: WATERCOLOR PROJECT 6
Watercolor Project 6: Vegetables on a Cutwork Cloth
Project Six from Step-By-Step Guide to Painting Realistic Water Colors by Dawn McLeod Heim is Vegetables on a Cutwork Cloth. I liked the looks of this project just looking through this book and couldn’t wait to paint it. (In fact, I jumped ahead and did it out of order.) The focus of the lesson is to paint the different textured surfaces of the vegetables. I pushed my comfort zone by working really large. This is a full sheet of 300# watercolor paper. I’ve never used 300# paper and I don’t generally use a full sheet. I learned that I don’t really have the room to accommodate full sheet watercolor paper; well, I could if I took over another room in the house, but I’m less likely to do that on a regular basis. I also learned that I didn’t have the experience of applying even washes in large areas since I usually work smaller. Again, I thought the turnip would be difficult, but I liked it from the first pigment. The other two companions that look “so easy” were deceiving and made me struggle, mainly due to such large wash areas. I might try this one again, only (wait for it) SMALLER. I’m beginning to sound like Goldilocks in Goldilocks and the Three Bears fame. My new mission is to find the right painting size. But until then, I may be cropping out just the turnip I’m so smitten with.
