Tuesday, 19 July 2022

2022 Topic 10 : Up my Street {by Kate Yetter} with Jo Firth-Young stamps



Hi everyone, it's Kate (Kate Yetter – Musings, Tea and Drippy Paint ) with you today, and I'm here to share with you a painting using stamps in an unusual way.


When I chose these stamps, I had a picture in my mind of an Asian garden/landscape scene. I knew this little girl would look perfect in the foreground with a pagoda in the distance. I decided I was going to paint the scene using a mixture of watercolor and PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Paints.




I used Holbein watercolors, Fresco Finish Paints and Watercolor paper for my main project in addition to ink pens for detailing. There are many different types of watercolour papers out there, so it can be a good idea to test what you have to hand to see how you like the flow of paint and ink on different surfaces.

 
Using my sketchbook, I sketched a few ideas before I got to this stage. This is the sketch that I decided to go with and build my idea from.



To create a mock-up, I stamped my images where I wanted them placed in the final piece. I did this on several pieces of paper and chose the layout I liked best.


I chose my favorite mock-up and then used graphite paper to trace the sketch directly onto 300 gsm watercolor paper.
 

At this point I mixed my palette and put down a base layer of watercolor. 


As you can see, several areas are bare so I started filling them in. 


Watercolor paper is a fun medium to work with, as the paint is carried to wherever the water takes it. I really like the way the paint is flowing on the girls hair.



Here I started layering my PA Fresco Finish paint. They were perfect for the flowers, the little girls kimono, and the pagoda.

To put the final touches on my project, I focused on detail as well as shadows.


Inking, using the Pigma Micron005, is one of my favorite ways to darken and define areas. I also like to keep it loose with some squiggles. In my opinion, a painting always looks better after adding some detail lines.

 
Originally, I was going to keep the mountains simple but I was inspired by traditional paintings I found on Pinterest. While it didn't turn out exactly as I hoped or envisioned, I like what I did better than the original idea. I used a Uni-POSCA White paint pen to add white highlights to the mountain tops.



This was the first time I used acrylics and watercolor together in one painting. It was also the first time I used stamping in this manner. I loved the look of tracing the stamp, which allowed it to be incorporated naturally into the painting. I never thought to use stamps in this manner but I will certainly be doing this again. I learned that acrylics are not my strong suit and of course are very different to watercolor. With hindsight, I would have practiced the blending and loosening of acrylic paints before starting this piece.

Until Next Time,
Kate

1 comment:

Jenny Marples said...

Love that hand drawn background Kate. It compliments the Japanese lady and cherry blossom stamping so well.