International Artist – June-July 2019

(WallPaper) #1

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Diner Still Life, watercolor, 5 x 5" (13 x 13 cm)
I order my regular breakfast special. I get out the art supplies. What
to sketch? There’s a napkin holder, a sugar container, salt and pepper,
and a creamer in front of me. I’m endlessly fascinated by the variety
of surfaces, such as chrome, glass and paper. I feel loose and careless,
so I dive in with big strokes of transparent watercolor to see if an
image emerges.
Creamer, casein, 5 x 5" (13 x 13 cm)
Casein is well suited to this kind of black-and-white rendering. It’s also fi tting
because I’m painting the cream container using paint that uses milk protein
as the binder. The emulsion begins to form a bond as it dries. Over time, that
bond gets stronger and more stable for overpainting. The emulsion in casein
is stronger than gouache, but not as strong as acrylic. The owner, Arleen, tells
me these creamers are a lot of work to clean and maintain.
Booth Table,
watercolor and gouache,
5 x 8" (13 x 20 cm)
Barb refi lls my coff ee cup
and I try again. This time
I combine transparent
black washes, opaque
white gouache, water-
soluble colored pencils
and a fountain pen fi lled
with brown ink. I border
the chrome highlights
with blue on one side and
orange on another.

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