Watercolor Celebration

I finished the art journal spread which has been part of my recent adventures with watercolor. With my last few projects, I think a new branch of my art path just opened up! It’s a watercolor celebration!

the finished art journal spread, bear visits the garden

I’m pleased with this spread because it’s full of little creatures, happy, and joyful. And I’m thrilled to have found a way to work with this medium that has eluded me for so long.

I described the start of this project in my previous blog post which you can find here to get the story from its beginning. At the end of that previous post, I’d found the piece’s ‘bones’ and I left off wondering whether it would take a little or a lot to finish it. Here’s the spread as it was then.

where I left off in my last session of working on my bear in the garden art journal spread

Moving On

In a way, it didn’t take much to finish it, as the overall feel of the two pieces aren’t that different from each other. But in terms of time, brush and pen strokes, and thinking, it did take quite a bit of work for it to feel complete.

Basically, the changes were the border, adding more ink work and motifs, and adding more color. But the trick was what and where?

In addition to the border, I felt there were two areas that especially needed more work. The first was the boring vertical strip to the left of the layered bear and rose images at the far left. The second was the relatively empty area running diagonally on the right side of the spread, from the lower left to the upper right.

The Border and the Vertical Strip

detail showing how I corrected one of the problem areas

Beginning with the border, part of which you can see in this image, I felt it was too white—that it drew the eye away from the main part of the spread. So, I toned it down with a coat of the palest yellow, mixed from gesso and the tiniest bit of yellow acrylic. I thought that really helped. Then I added text, just writing around the edge about the project, how it came about, and how I felt about it.

As for the vertical strip along the left edge between the border and the bear/rose image combo, I felt it needed both more color and more image. Noticing that the flowers in the bear image echoed the brightest pinks elsewhere in the spread—the pinks in the clippings of some of the roses—I decided to add several of those same imaginary flowers in the troublesome strip. I added as many as I could, also adding their foliage.

The Empty Area

the relatively empty area of the spread

For the diagonal area on the right side, I began by adding more ink motifs. I gave the lone daisy two friends and also added squirrels. It still felt empty, but I really liked the two spirals of blue and white. There they were, right in the middle of my problem area, but I didn’t want to lose them. This area would need more thought. Later on—in fact, nearly at the very end—I added a flight of seeds with ink. The flight originated from the flowers around the bear and stretch all across that problem area to the upper right of the spread, and even off that edge. I used my white Posca pen and then purple and turquoise metallic gel pens. I also added lots of tiny dots. I just kept going until I felt I’d added enough.

I thought that area was now successful, and my spirals still showed. So, this was a case of adding visual ‘weight’ with lots and lots of tiny things rather than something more definitive.

more ink work in the empty area

There were other little things to do here and there—corrections, additions, emphasizing, and pushing back. I also added more color, namely the greens in the rose leaves and the pinks and greens in the flowers and leaves in the vertical strip along the left.

Overall

I think this spread has more individual elements than any of the others I’ve done. It was so fun just going on and on with the pen work. Many times, I was adding motifs over others that were already there, and it was just fun. With this pen work, I didn’t worry about covering up what was underneath. As it turned out, I didn’t cover them up—the lower ones still showed through, and yet it didn’t feel confusing. It just felt rich.

More Watercolor Celebration to Come!

I can’t wait to do more work like this! And I think various parts of this spread would make lovely cards. I’ll continue with my watercolor celebration, and it won’t just be a once-a-year holiday, but an on-going practice. Care to join me?

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