"A Poetic Collection"

(unavailable....4" x 6".....watercolor on Fabriano 140 lb. CP....mounted on masonite)

"A poetic collection fell to the ground." The fall is a perfect time to see all kinds of poetic collections while taking a walk. The very small leaf in this piece had three seed pods sitting on top so I brought it back to the studio. What was so interesting to me is that these three small pods have not moved from that leaf. It is like a still life found.

Noticing small things in nature and in art is the chief business of the artist. For instance, this piece has a variety of different types of edges. And edges can make or break a piece. The first set of edges were created with masking fluid over the first initial wash and the paper being thoroughly dried. So after all of the glazes were finished, and the masking fluid removed, there is softer and harder edges based on the gradated color in the lettering. So many different effects can be achieved by when you decide to include masking fluid.

The second set of edges were created in the initial wash using "neutral tint". This is actually the name of the color and turns into a beautiful gray on wet paper. After the sheen of the water leaves the paper, these letters were written with a more concentrated amount of pigment and a pointed brush. The edges became softly diffused.

I then created some black erratic lines with pen and FW ink which created a few more shapes and some very hard edges. The seed pods on the leaf were then painted followed by the pencil lettering. The lettering was "beefed up" a bit after initially being written. All done with an extremely sharp pencil (sharpened on a sandpaper block) to create very thin lines. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.