Time for Watercolor
- Kaaren Poole
- May 5
- 3 min read
I’ve been doing a lot of drawing lately, and have finished five different drawings of catS. I’m thinking I might do a ginger cat collection, mostly for fun but also for my Redbubble shop. I'm quite captivated by Redbubble, as it’s just so fun to see the mock-ups of one’s artwork on their various print-on-demand products.
Anyway. Also recently, I watched a video from Theodora Gould doing a watercolor painting. In case you don’t know of her, She works with pen and ink, watercolor, and gold leaf and seems to specialize in illuminated initials and florals. I often see her posts on Instagram and greatly admire her art.
I have a fabulous collection of Daniel Smith watercolors, but don’t feel confident with the medium. After watching Theodora’s video, however, I thought I could give it a try.
Her first step is to complete her detailed drawing. She then inks it and erases any traces of the pencil. One thing I found particularly interesting is that she was using Winsor & Newton pens. She remarked that they are waterproof, even though that fact is often not included in the product description on art supply websites. She just cautioned to be sure to let the ink dry thoroughly before adding any watercolor.
This was great news for me, as I’m always concerned about using penwork in mixed media because of a few experiences where the ink ran when I added anything water-based over it. In one case, it ran even after I’d sprayed the inkwork with fixative. The lesson here is—at least partly—that “waterproof” and “water resistant” are two very different animals.
So, today I was ready to take the plunge. I’d let the ink dry overnight, and I figured that should be long enough. I cleaned my art table off, got out the watercolors, and gave it a go.
It was gratifying to see that the ink didn’t run at all! So far, so good. In her video, Theodora emphasized a layered approach, with the first layer of color being rather pale. I followed her advice. It fits me perfectly, as I like going slow and building up an image a little at a time.
Most of what you see in the photo for the florals and background is just one paint layer. The cat’s eyes have several, as do parts of the fur. How I’m going to tackle the white fur, I’m not sure yet. It will be a challenge, but if I can get everything to work out, I’ll be happy, do more watercolor, and stop feeling guilty about ignoring my precious Daniel Smith watercolors.
If you are a watercolorist, I am in awe, as I’ve always been intimidated by it.
By the way, here’s the link to Theodora Gould’s video. Enjoy!
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