over not under

//6.23.2016

roughin' it up in here

Step 1: You'll need water, watercolors, some tissue, watercolor paper, a straight edge brush a detail brush, and masking tape. Cut making tape into strips and lie them straight on the paper. These are your tree trunks.

Step 2: Lay down a wash of light color and then build up intensity of color. You can use any color scheme. I was in a red/purple mood.

Step 3: WAIT FOR IT TO DRY. As you can see, I lifted the tape too early and it ripped the still-damp paper. So wait.

Step 4: To make the branches of the tree, lay down a droplet of purple-black paint and using a straw, blow that droplet in the direction you want the branch to go. To make them even more branch-like, go for a detail brush and make little sprigs coming off the branches.

Step 5: Using the same purple-black paint, take your straight-edged brush and feather out the bristles gently with the tip of your finger and then make grooves along the tree trunks.

The painting my icon is from. Lazy Saturday watercolors! It was supposed to be Romero from Hemingways’s The Sun Also Rises, but I had imagined Romero as a curly, black haired youth and accidentally painted this guy’s hair blonde. I was jamming to Daft Punk’s new album a little too hard. Oops? I did paint his hair brown in an attempt to darken his hair up but then I gave up. Romero will have to be done another day.