Watercolor - Controlled Blooms

My journey continues as I study the faces of interesting characters. My methods are evolving mainly due to my experimentation with what I call “controlled blooms.” Each new painting seems to be a discovery of methods and techniques that are moving me closer to my goal.

While many watercolor artists despise blooms during the painting process, I have been encouraging blooms through some of these newly discovered techniques, painting in many multiple layers of blooms. Much of this new method has to do with the timing of moisture control of the paper and the thinness or thickness of the paint applied in a “wet into wet” process.

I’ll leave the viewer to decide the merits of this new process. For me, I am as excited as I am obsessed with this finding. Above are some recent paintings that explore the process.

Sorry I am late in updating this blog, but I have been out of pocket lately. The next installment will show a Work-In-Progress (WIP) of one of the first paintings I used “blooms” for layering purposes. So stay tuned in…watch the magic!