12 Watercolor artist | AUGUST 2019
CreativityWorkshop
Dropping In
Experiment with this unexpected art tool to create
impressionistic painting effects.
By Kathy Collins
T
his past year I was sidelined
due to illness, but was never-
theless anxious to continue
painting while in recovery. My
endurance was limited, so I needed
a new, faster way of working. Even
though I already painted in a rapid,
loose style, I needed to shorten my
Lauren With a Puzzle
(watercolor on paper, 11x14)
painting time to stay within my
energy allowance.
PAINTING WITH
A DROPPER
Th at was when I pulled out a set of
Dr. Ph. Martin’s radiant concentrated
watercolors—paints sold in small
glass bottles with eyedroppers—and
decided to paint directly using the
dropper instead of a brush. I didn’t
dilute the paint; instead, I used it full
strength to achieve very dark values.
Referring to a sketch I previously
had made from a live model session,
I started to draw directly on the