Green Woodpecker and the Dangers of Packing Tape #Watercolor #52WeeksOfWatercolourBirds #WatercolorBirds
The prompt for week 10 of '52 Weeks of Watercolour Birds' was Green Woodpecker, I was happy with my previous experiment in pouring paint, so I decided to try it again for the background sky.
As with my previous bird, I masked off the whitest areas -- the face, chest and stomach of the bird -- using clear packing tape cut into the proper shape.
I poured on a light wash of Daniel Smith's Lunar Blue, which worked nicely. I then let it dry for several hours and proceeded to remove the packing tape. Oops! I've had problems in the past with Fluid watercolor paper tearing, even from low-tack masking tape. But I didn't have a problem with packing tape on my last bird.
This time though, the entire taped area tore, especially at the throat, extending out and including the beak. Not sure why. I'm reasonably sure the paint was thoroughly dry. However, the humidity was a little higher than usual. Possibly that had something to do with it. Whatever--I won't be using packing tape to mask, again.
I wasn't sure I'd be able to save the painting, but I think it came out okay considering.
The paint mixes were the go-to my bird paintings, with the addition of the Lunar Blue background, and Ko Vermilion Hue for the woodpecker's head.. The pigment in my mixes are M. Graham: Anthraquinone Blue; Daniel Smith: Hansa Yellow Light; Qor: French Cerulean Blue, Naples Yellow, Sap Green, Burnt Sienna, Permanent Alizarin Crimson. I adapted this palette from the one suggested in 'Domenic DiStefano's Painting Dynamic Watercolors',
To paint the birds, I used a Silver Black Velvet Round size 6 and size 16.
This bird was done in the Global Art Materials Field Watercolor Artist Journal Hand Book, 7 by 10-Inch that I'm using for the '52 Weeks of Watercolour Birds'.
As with my previous bird, I masked off the whitest areas -- the face, chest and stomach of the bird -- using clear packing tape cut into the proper shape.
I poured on a light wash of Daniel Smith's Lunar Blue, which worked nicely. I then let it dry for several hours and proceeded to remove the packing tape. Oops! I've had problems in the past with Fluid watercolor paper tearing, even from low-tack masking tape. But I didn't have a problem with packing tape on my last bird.
This time though, the entire taped area tore, especially at the throat, extending out and including the beak. Not sure why. I'm reasonably sure the paint was thoroughly dry. However, the humidity was a little higher than usual. Possibly that had something to do with it. Whatever--I won't be using packing tape to mask, again.
I wasn't sure I'd be able to save the painting, but I think it came out okay considering.
This bird was done in the Global Art Materials Field Watercolor Artist Journal Hand Book, 7 by 10-Inch that I'm using for the '52 Weeks of Watercolour Birds'.
Next time your tape or glue sticks to the paper try heating it with a heat gun. This will soften the adhesive and let you remove it without damaging the paper. Love your artwork!
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