it's borderline surreal to not only have gotten so many responses to the last post, but also to have so many people say that they'd like to have a painting that i've done. thank you everyone! i appreciate your kind words and support...

sandy mastroni, i drew your name from the hat! i think that most of you probably know sandy and her awesome art, but in case you don't, pop over to her place and check it out... she's a mighty sweet - and talented - woman.

'the magicians daughter' ~ watercolors, gouache & colored pencil in stillman and birn journal

i'm finished with the 4" x 6" stillman and birn 'gamma' journal that i started in early january, but before i move on i thought i'd share my thoughts about it with you. as i said in the last post, i *loved this book*! not only is the paper gorgeous and able to withstand way more water than i initially thought,


it laid flat when open until the very end. there are a lot of pogo prints in it, but the book handled the increased bulk beautifully. i only took the centerfold out of one signature; i loved the paper so much i couldn't bring myself to take out any more, and i really didn't need to.


initially i did a lot of faces like these where i used watercolors but was very sparing with the water.


i was a little heavier with the water here,


and by the time i got to these pages, i could see that i could paint in a 'normal' way with watercolors. the pages did buckle a tiny bit, but not much. most of the buckling went away when the paper dried. 'evangeline' (on the left) is on the only page that i put matte gel medium on first. there's a whole bunch of paint (gouache, casein, and watercolors) on her, so it was probably a good idea, but it wasn't absolutely necessary.


the flower on the right page is another example of the paper holding up to a lot of paint and water... if you click on these you can get a pretty good idea of how flat the paper stays with varying amounts of water.


another example of a watercolor page... i used colored pencils and gouache as 'accents' once i realized that i could paint freely with watercolors...


i'm showing you these pages because of the pogo print of the bowl. i cut the bowl out and then peeled the back off. i really like to do this. : )


one of the last faces in the book, and it brings me back to lips... i thought i'd try drawing the lips first to see how that went - no outline, nose, eyes, anything, just lips to start with. lol! it was complicated! it showed me how much the lips determine about a face. i never figured out her neck completely, hence the hair hanging down on one side. ; )

i highly recommend the stillman and birn 'gamma' sketchbook... now i'm working in a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" 'gamma'.

* * *

'Thought and Pleasure #2" ~ Squeak Carnwath