"Paintings With Personality"

Here is a quick sketch I did of some clam diggers in Ireland. I'm sure they were all thinking about the delicious dinner they would have later that day.

I’ve been cleaning out my filing cabinet in preparation for my studio move and looking for a checkbook I hid, and can’t remember where. I came across my old teaching notes and my notes from various workshops and classes I have taken. I decided to type the notes into the computer and throw out the hard copies. I found the notes fascinating, I had forgotten so many things I once knew. The notes on texture were especially interesting and I’m going to share them with you. I wish I could tell you the source, but I wasn’t that thorough in my note taking. I must have thought I would never forget the date or instructor.

Painters use texture, in their work, to add interest, to define two areas of the same color, or to resemble the real texture of a subject. I’m merely listing those that are often used in paintings, but describing those that might be new to you.

1. Use a variety of different brushes, or other items such as sticks, twigs and fingers
2. Take advantage of or create back-runs (blossoms).
3. Spattering and splattering
4. Scraping
5. Salt and sand
6. Stamping
7. Blotters, sponges, rags, tissues
8. Plastic wrap
9. Wax resist
10.   Crumpled Paper
11. Sandpaper dots – using rough watercolor paper lightly sand the peaks of the paper, then paint a wash over it. Or, paint the wash first, then sand the peaks.
12. Turpentine, acetone or any mediums that dry fast and won’t mix with water – paint or spatter one of them into a damp wash, or apply them on clean paper, or on already dried washes. You can do several washes as long as the preceding wash has thoroughly dried first. Or, mix one of them in a bottle with watercolor and shake it. Paint the mixture on turpentine soaked paper.
13.  Acrylic spray, spray enamel or fixative – paint into damp acrylic spray for a rich looking texture. Try painting a wash over wet and dry spray enamel, or fixative.
14. Starch – mix powdered starch with watercolor for a creamy texture, or for a thicker consistency use more starch. The starch will make the paint value a little lighter. The starch mixture won’t spread as fast or far as without starch. It will leave an interesting irregular edge and a cracked texture. It must be used on a solid surface, like illustration board or gator board sprayed with a latex undercoat to prevent cracking.
15. Freezer – put a paper with a wet wash on it on a flat surface in the freezer and leave it there  until the wash dries. This isn’t easy to control but is very interesting.
16. Colorless soap – makes wild washes behave. It’s best to use castile soap, which is colorless. Let the soap mix with your paint and try working with it on wet and dry paper. To get a halo effect, brush a light soap wash into a dark wash, paint a dark wash over a lighter soap wash for another interesting texture.  Try soap washes on both rough and smooth paper.

Textures alone don’t make a great painting, so use them sparingly.

The house is now spotless (not a messy closet or drawer in sight) and the checkbook is not to be found. So, I cancelled the checks from the last number to be written in the missing book to the first one in the next book. If you want more information about any of the textures, comment below and I’ll tell you all I know. Have a great week, Judy

www.judyballance.com