BRUSHO, WATERCOLOUR & BLEACH

Thought it would be interesting to see how the two react with bleach.  I had only ever used bleach on Brusho and it was suggested that you could use bleach on Watercolour too.  So Polly had to experiment and here are the results, which you might find interesting.

This is the Brusho chart. Using all the colours that I have.  With the exception of Prussian Blue on all the above I used just one sweep of a brush loaded with bleach (or you can use Milton (a sterilising agent)   And the whiteness of the paper just appeared through as if by magic.   Obviously some reacted better than others.  The paper didn't turn yellow and wasn't damaged.  In fact, I have tried and you can paint over the top when it is dry.  Could be very handy to know. 

Watercolours and exactly the same procedure BUT I had to scrub the bleach into the paint, no single strokes here, so was worried about the paper and the brush (an old brush that I washed constantly) And while I can see that some of the colours allowed the white paper to show through, many of them, even after the vigourous brushing, did not turn white.  The scrubbing affected the wash giving run backs sometimes.  I wouldn't use bleach on a watercolour painting from choice, as I feel it could damage the washes around the bleached area, not to mention quickly ruin any brush.

I would be interested to hear from anyone else who has tried a similar experiment.

Have a wonderful weekend my lovely blogging friends!!

BRUSHO EXPERIMENTS

Still in Brusho mode - but I am itching to get back to my beloved watercolours, (six weeks since my holiday with Hazel Soan was watercoloured out) and today am putting Brusho away and getting out my w/c palette. 

These two paintings though are a little experimental, and I also wanted to try my new brusho colours and the effect of bleach on each of them, as I feel this is an important part of using this exciting medium.

This was painted by drawing the figure, then using candle wax for the highlights around the figure and on the skirt, then woosh in with the Brusho.  I used bleach for part of the legs.

First I used Indian Ink and cocktail stick to draw in the outlines, then I used salt in the background top and bottom, love the effect!  I didn't have to do anything, it did it all by itself. I used cobalt thinking I could bleach out the snow.  Not that easy.  Used bleach then a damp magic sponge over the top.  So determined was I to get back to white that a ruined the surface of the paper. Never mind, 'It's only a piece of paper'.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, KEEP WARM AND CHILLAX, AS THEY SAY THESE DAYS

BRUSHO AND PHOTOSHOP

Thought I'd try a nightscene.  Not easy I know.  And experiment with a mixture of watercolour and brusho.  Firstly I painted a watercolour underwash of pinks, blues and yellows in staining colours.  Then I did the brusho painting using black and a little yellow only.  Using bleach I took out the shape of Blackpool Illuminations from the Brusho,  no drawing, I expected the non staining watercolours to still be there, giving the lights gentle colours showing through.  However, the bleach took out everything.  This was a surprise as I thought bleach didn't work on watercolours.

I was now frustrated!!!   So, I photographed the painting and then, inspired by Rita Vaselli's blog who played around with photoshop recently (Check out her our wonderful blog, beautiful paintings, and someone who experiments and loves art so very much). So I changed the hue and saturation on two of them (the vivid colours) and the other one is a filter and is supposed to be stained glass (you need to look at this one larger to see the effect. It was fun seeing the different colours and effects that you could achieve.  Boredom is my enemy and sometimes I need to find an exciting friend!!!!!!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

POPPIES AND REMEMBERENCE DAY

I have posted this poppy before so no comments.  I just wondered why we use poppies at this time of year and found this explanation on BBC page, for anyone interested.  I don't know if any other countries reflect in this way with a flower, although I think that France uses the cornflower, must check up on that one.

We must never forget them .................

Why the Poppy?

The poppy has a long association with Remembrance Day. But how did the distinctive red flower become such a potent symbol of our remembrance of the sacrifices made in past wars?

Scarlet corn poppies (popaver rhoeas) grow naturally in conditions of disturbed earth throughout Western Europe. The destruction brought by the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th Century transformed bare land into fields of blood red poppies, growing around the bodies of the fallen soldiers.

In late 1914, the fields of Northern France and Flanders were once again ripped open as World War One raged through Europe's heart. Once the conflict was over the poppy was one of the only plants to grow on the otherwise barren battlefields.

The significance of the poppy as a lasting memorial symbol to the fallen was realised by the Canadian surgeon John McCrae in his poem In Flanders Fields. The poppy came to represent the immeasurable sacrifice made by his comrades and quickly became a lasting memorial to those who died in World War One and later conflicts. It was adopted by The Royal British Legion as the symbol for their Poppy Appeal, in aid of those serving in the British Armed Forces, after its formation in 1921.