Watercolor Rooster

[Joy]

This has been on my “to do” list for ages, so I decided to finally proceed. It is on Canson XL 140 CP sketchbook paper, about 7 x 7. I wanted a uniform BG, and I saw a recommendation on YouTube to mix Chinese White with your BG color for a solid, uniform look. The bad paper, which I am determined to experiment, made the color look blotchy and shiny. I used salt, which ended up sticking to the paper, for texture, with a bit of white highlights.

 

[Jo Castillo]

Joy, very pleasant on the eyes. Great job.

 

[Artyczar]

I have to say that all the techniques you used really paid off in this one, right down to the little highlights in the background behind the rooster's head. This is just excellent Joy. Really professional work here. Great job!!!

 

[CaliAnn]

Love roosters - this one is fabulous!

 

[Queen Bee]

Beautiful. Very appealing.

 

[Triduana]

Beautiful work! Love all the tones in the red. I've never heard of Chinese white being used for backgrounds this way, and it's worked really well.

 

[Corne_Akkers]

I like the res fleshy structures.

 

[Terri]

Brilliant! Love how your background ended up, and the white flecks and marks from the salt have really punched this up. Excellent in technique, and of course his crowing expression only adds to the overall impact.

It's really great, Joy! Hope you're happy with it - you should be.

 

[Joy]

Thank you all so much for being so complementary and encouraging. The salt mainly stuck to the paper, and had to be scraped off, I have tried with various degrees of moisture in the paint, but it always seems to occur.

Kay D, Hope you had a great honeymoon! Adding the Chinese White to the watercolor makes it opaque, for a more graphic look to a single subject or still life, supposedly pushing it forward. The object was to have a solid, uniform BG. It came out rather blotchy and shiny on the cheap paper. I did start a smaller version of the same on Arches, and the BG was much smoother. But the salt stuck again, and I just got bored with the subject and abandoned it.