Ballet in Watercolor….Tried

Well, I tried it and (even though I had to fight every inclination to grab my watercolor pencils to help me)….I stayed with the brush for the entire painting!



I also wanted to put a background in.  Probably best to put the background in first….oh well!  I used masking fluid and applied it pretty heavily over the entire body.



Once the masking fluid dried, I could freely paint over the entire figure.  I used a dark green for the floor then a yellow for the background layer 1.  Then I sponged in the dark green over the yellow to give it some visual texture.




Once the background was dry I could pull up the masking fluid which dries into a rubbery film.



Since backgrounds make your piece appear different I had to go in and work some more details….mostly, darkened my shadows.



Source picture from tumblr…but doesn’t reference photographer.

My goal in life is to bring color into an otherwise colorless world-  Unknown.

I debated with myself….between, making this piece more photo-realistic or letting the watercolor give it interest in it’s own way.  I am least pleased with the leggings…but I have trouble working the shapes in watercolor like I can in pencil…..so, after 3-4 tries I let it be and kept it simple.