Watercolour on tracing paper didn’t go well. I hadn’t stretched the paper, because I was in a rush, and it buckled horribly as I got it wet. The paper is far less absorbent than watercolour paper, or any paper really, apart from greaseproof paper – so it was very difficult to judge how the paint would behave as I applied it. So I made a sketch of the same image I’d done in the soft pastels, and waited for it to dry.
Then I held it up to a sunny window, as I’d done with the soft pastel version.
Yuk! Maybe stretching the paper and wetting it before painting might have helped, but this sketch is far from what I wanted to make. Every brushstroke is a blob, and there is little variety to the density of colours or texture, and not much contrast between light and dark – the paint is too translucent. I’m feeling an idiot – but should really get a grip and try this again. I have a vague idea that something interesting will develop from this, but re-making the same image again and again, when this has turned out such a mess, does seem futile.
I’ll have another go, but will stretch and wet… (see above!) and if it’s still rubbish, I will move on to another medium.
