Pink Rose

[Balaji]

A couple of days ago I had yet another unexpected holiday due to the depression located nearby in the Bay of Bengal, threatening to flood Chennai. I used the time to do a watercolour painting inspired by Fabio Cembranelli's artwork.

This was meant to be an A4 size painting on 270 gsm Chitrapat watercolour paper (matt) but the left edge of my painting (as we view it) got damaged when I was removing the tape. Perhaps this is something that happens with Chitrapat matt paper. I have not faced this problem with Chitrapat rough paper. Anyhow, my painting therefore is now only approximately 10" × 8".

 

[Schuee]

I like the soft fluid strokes. Really good.

 

[Artyczar]

Nice! The style is very pretty and I love the washes.
What kind of tape did you use?

 

[joe1It]

Bautiful job

 

[Hawkmoth]

Really beautiful painting, and very skillfully painted. I don't think losing the paper under the tape is a problem, the composition looks perfect.

 

[Triduana]

It's a beautiful, delicate painting.

 

[JessieNebulous]

Very nice! The flower looks so soft and pretty. And a few tricks I use to avoid tape damaging the paper: first, before you place the tape, tap the adhesive side against a piece of fabric a few times. It'll still grip the paper, but not quite as vigorously. Secondly, when you're ready to remove the tape, use a hairdryer on it. That will loosen the adhesive. Lastly, the way you remove the tape makes a difference. It's easy to show but kind of hard to explain, but instead of pulling straight up, try to pull it back, perpendicular to the paper. I hope those tips are useful! It's so frustrating to work on a piece only to have the tape damage the paper at the very end.

 

[Charlie’s Mum (Maureen)]

The composition is good Balaji and your brushstrokes beautiful … very successful work.

 

[ColorEnthusiast]

Elegant and economical strokes.

 

[Queen Bee]

Lovely rose.

 

[Trier]

Lovely is the correct impression.

 

[Jo Castillo]

Mmmm, beautiful. You saved the composition.

 

[Donna T]

I like your painting style very much. Beautiful!

 

[Brad]

I love how the darks set off the lights, great painting.

 

[KreativeK]

Love this! I did look up the artist Cembranelli and his work is amazing.

 

[E.J.H.]

Great work.
I've had similar trouble with Khadi paper, though it is 100% cotton it always tears with tape. And masking fluid is also deadly...

 

[tyree]

gorgeous !

 

[laika]

Beautiful. Some of your lines behind the blooms are like calligraphy.

 

[Balaji]

Penny, Artyczar, Joe, Claudia, and Kay...Thank you.

 

[Balaji]

Very nice! The flower looks so soft and pretty. And a few tricks I use to avoid tape damaging the paper: first, before you place the tape, tap the adhesive side against a piece of fabric a few times. It'll still grip the paper, but not quite as vigorously. Secondly, when you're ready to remove the tape, use a hairdryer on it. That will loosen the adhesive. Lastly, the way you remove the tape makes a difference. It's easy to show but kind of hard to explain, but instead of pulling straight up, try to pull it back, perpendicular to the paper. I hope those tips are useful! It's so frustrating to work on a piece only to have the tape damage the paper at the very end.

Thank you Jessie for the comment on the painting, and for the suggestions on tape removal. I used to have problems regularly while removing the tape and then I learnt to tap it on to fabric before using it. It helped. I also learnt to pull away from the painting. But for some time now I have not been tapping the tape against fabric, and merely pulling it away kept my paintings safe. I guess I must have been careless this time while pulling the tape. I did not know that using a hairdryer helps.