Dancing the Night Away

Dancing the Night Away

8x10 inches

Watercolours and watercolour pencils on watercolour board

I have always loved watercolours - not actually painting them, for this is a medium I never seem to master, but because of my struggle, I have all the more appreciation for those who do master this beautiful medium. My biggest problem is letting go and allowing the paint to do it's thing. I really wanted to do this painting in watercolours alone, but then that need for detail and tightness reared it's ugly head and so I ended up relenting and completing it with watercolour pencils. Nevertheless, I will continue to play and practice and research and see if I can't one day produce a piece that I am truly satisfied with.

One of the things I have also struggled with is using masking fluid. This time, I tried watering it down slightly, and that seemed to make the liquid much more managable. I have read on numerous sites that the masking fluid is impossible to remove from your brushes once set, however I use a wonderful product by Pascoes called Oomph Glue Remover for removing everything from adhesive to chewing gum, and to my delight this liquid removed all traces of masking fluid from my paint brush restoring it to it's former glory. It smells a little like the Zest-it used to blend coloured pencils, so I'm wondering whether the Zest-it might also work for those who have some.

Little Mouse Lost Miniature Watercolour Painting

Little Mouse Lost

7cm x 9.5cm

Watercolours on Arches Paper

It has been a while since I picked up a paintbrush, particularly to paint with watercolours, and I had forgotten what a joy this wonderful medium can be. A lot of my artwork tends to be very tight and realistic, and it is nice to branch out and be a little more creative and loose, which is easier with watercolours. I think because so much of my work tends to be based on realism, I am also enjoying a bit of experimentations with the world of whimsy - it always takes me back to childhood.

Latest ACEO - Hide and Seek

This is my latest ACEO - had so much fun drawing little mice, that I thought we might add to our extensive family pet collection to get a couple of mice, so I have ready little models - hope they don't smell too much, but they are very cute.

I was interested, and I must admit, a little disappointed to see the Innocence ACEO did not sell on ebay, so have moved it over to Etsy. That is the first of my ACEO's not to sell in a while, maybe because it was too much like a portrait. I have always started my ACEO prices from a reserve of between $20 and $30 aud, so thought I would try something different with this latest one and start the bidding at 95 cents, to see if it attracts more interest. I guess there is always a risk in doing this, that it does sell for only 95 cents, which really doesn't make 6-8 hours of work worthwhile, but will be an interesting process. This ACEO may be purchased from my ebay store.