Monday, April 16, 2018

Leave a Little Mystery!

IRISES
Watercolor on rice paper - 10x18 

The famous french artist Edgar Degas was regarded as one of the founders of impressionism. He felt that a 'painting requires a little mystery, some vagueness and some fantasy. When you always make your meaning perfectly plain you end up boring people.'

When painting with watercolor you can take advantage of applying color to wet paper to create soft, dreamy shapes for that sense of mystery. You can also limit your use of hard edges when you come back into the painting and start defining your shapes. Painting on rice paper also allows for less control and more vagueness in your final piece.