Think about the differences between using pure watercolour and mixed media. If you can, visit a gallery or galleries with both kinds of painting on show and make comparative notes on the differences between the two.
My own experiences during this project
From my own experiences, working purely with watercolour was very different from using mixed media. I had trouble integrating other media at first, because I did not want them to dominate the painting. With some practice, I began to welcome the additional possibilities and even felt that including other media helped to emphasize the particular character of watercolours. I think this was because opaque media like gouache and oil pastels emphasized the transparency and lightness of watercolours. I also enjoyed the contrast between the fine dark ink lines and textures versus the bright colours in the mixed media flower bouquet (second large study with dark background).
In a way, using mixed media is one solution to overcoming limitations of pure watercolour. For example if one wants to paint light colours agains a dark background, this can be achieved using opaque media. It relieves the necessity of meticulous planning of tonal areas and in my case, it helped me to produce more energetic and spontaneous paintings.
Starting from initial dislike and reservations against mixing watercolours with other media, the experience has changed my views. I highly appreciate this!
Looking at other artists
I did a Google search for artists who employ both pure watercolours and mixed media approaches, but did not get very far. There were a few contemporary artists and hobby painters, of which I chose three for a closer look. What I saw was quite in line with how I assessed what I produced in this part – additional media can add an element of interest, for example giving structure by adding linear marks over areas of colour. There’s always a risk of becoming too blunt or illustrative, but of course this is also a matter of taste. I saw quite energetic paintings but this may have been a selection bias and just be the result of what by chance turned up in my Google result list.
Karen Dawson (United states, contemporary)
Karen Dawson seems to always work in mixed media, I found no pure watercolours. I selected two paintings of a series in yellow oil pastel with watercolours.
Street game: This is a nice scene and I think it’s a powerful subject, but I think the painting is somewhat underdeveloped. It is energetic but maybe lacks colour intensity. I guess I’m realizing it because it is something I recognize in some of my own paintings. For example my pineapple painting is similar in this “lack of intensity”. I think my pineapple is more varied with textures than Karen Dawson’s painting, but it also lacks some depth and intensity.
Random: Works with the colour effect of opaque yellow lines against the flowing effect of watercolours. It has more of the qualities I appreciate in watercolours, in particular colour intensity.
Kathy Wariner (United States, contemporary, trained artist)
Again I found no pure watercolours, instead quite energetic watercolour paintings with linear elements that are probably underdrawings executed with charcoal or graphite. I imagine how the paintings would lack structure without the linear elements. The lines have a double effect – they tame the flowing colours, but they are also energetic in themselves. I think lines and washes work very well together here.
This is something quite inspirational for my own paintings, because so far, I have made underdrawings in hard pencil and lost track of them as I added layers of watercolour. I might be more courageous with integrating my underdrawings in the final painting.
– Daisy and red clover
– Flowers
– Still life with bananas
Edith Dora Rey (Swiss/Canadian, contemporary, trained artist)
The two paintings I selected are very similar in colour and composition, but only the second one has some linear elements. It’s nice to see how this changes the overall effect into something more edgy. I admire the simplicity of shapes and the intensity of colours. I’d like to have more of this in my own paintings.
– Gravy jug: Pure watercolour
– Salt shaker: Watercolours with line
For now, I will leave my research at that, but I’m definitely sensitized to application of mixed media with watercolours. With more time, I guess I’ll come across a broader variety of mixed media works and get a more comprehensive understanding of the effects and differences compared to pure watercolour paintings.
References
Karen Dawson http://www.karendawson.com/mixed.htm and http://arugulayumyum.wordpress.com
Kathy Wariner http://kathywariner.wordpress.com/ and http://www.roundaboutmadison.com/InsidePages/ArchivedArticles/2005/0905HCArstCraftsGuild.html
Edith Dora Rey: http://doreyme.blogs.com/