June 8, 2013

We're back! And it looks like summer is going to be a great session. True, some of us are taking summer vacations, but we have some great returnees and a promising group of newbies—including a third Elaine (and you know you just can't have too many Elaines!)

Turnout may have been a bit sparse today (vacation season and all), but what we saw was marvelous. Marva is back and she's been painting up a storm. As has Ken—he's only been away two weeks but he's channeling his inner Rothko. As for the rest of us, we're all "people persons," including John, who's back and working in colored pencil. Join us next week to see what he's been up to since last we saw him. Meanwhile, let's get started.

What's with the round painting, you ask? That's just another in our series of experiments. This time, it's Elaine O. trying canvas and watercolor ground. She bought a small 5" stretched canvas round and coated it with watercolor ground. This is a product from Daniel Smith that claims to turn any surface into watercolor paper—wood, canvas, paper, even metal.

What's our take? Interesting...and worth further exploration. The ground accepts paint like clayboard or hot press paper. The surface can be scrubbed back to nearly white, allowing for re-dos. It stays wet and blends easily; however, dried paint tends to lift with new applications of paint, making it challenging for painters who glaze with multiple layers. In the end, the jury is still out. Watercolor ground is very promising, but calls for more testing on different surfaces.

Ken will also be trying something new in the weeks to come, "irridescent" medium, so watch this space as we continue to explore paints, mediums, paper, brushes and much, much more.

See you next week.