Above: Another practice dog sketch, in a handmade 8 x 8 inch journal using white Stonehenge. Pentel Pocket Brush Pen and light washes of gouache. (Spread cropped because the text isn't important here: I just have to remember to wear my glasses.) Click on the image to view an enlargement.
Don't forget that Sunday, August 7, is "Paws on Grand." Join us at Wet Paint to celebrate. Artists will be on hand sketching free pet portraits from noon to 3 p.m. (rain or shine).
(Note: I am still undecided as to which medium I'll be using at "Paws on Grand," this Sunday. Due to established size and time constraints I will probably not be working in color or wet media. You'll just have to show up and see what happens!)
Right: Detail from the above pen and gouache sketch. I liked the colors so much and thought you could really see the overlapping of the paints on this page of Stonehenge, so here's a closer view. Click on the image to view an enlargement.
I've been experimenting with yellow ochre and cobalt blue and this page is one of the results. I've been using the Niji waterbrush so much that I'm having a bit of a learning curve adjusting to a regular brush that holds a lot of color. But it's fun, and not painful.
Stonehenge is a printmaking and drawing paper, but don't let that stop you from working with wet media on it, or mixed media. It's different from watercolor paper in that it doesn't have the same sort of sizing that floats your washes over the sheet for a bit. But if you're game you can play around with your water and pigment levels and adapt. I haven't experienced any bleed through, even when working a sheet with lots of layers but I do wait for my layers to be more dry than I would if it were watercolor paper. I do less wet-in-wet work.
