Painting Finished: March 29, 2022
Dankarl. Trees in Fog. Wikimedia Commons.
Markino was famous for what was called the “silk-veil technique,” a technique that created the effect of mist and fog in his painting. A librarian for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea noted that “according to the Markino scholar Sammy Tsunematsu, Markino would start his pictures by soaking the paper in water and would begin the backgrounds while it was still damp. This made them appear blurred or hazy, exactly the effect he needed” (Walker 2016). For this post, I wasn't following any particular painting of Markino's and was simply experimenting on getting the blurry effect.
So, I began my experiment by dipping the watercolor paper in water. And then adding more and more color. The color bleeds every where and layering color after color does produce a hazy effect, as seen in the photo to the left. Some of the paint did collect in some weird ways, but I imagine that is more do to my cheap watercolor paper and paints more than anything else. And thus, the "silk veil" is begun. See the next post to see it used in
an actual painting
Before going any farther, there's a few terms that may prove unfamiliar to those who have never dabbled in watercolor. First, a "wash" is generally the first step to a painting and essentially the background layer. There are two kinds: "dry wash" and "wet wash." A dry wash means that the paint is applied to dry watercolor paper, while a wet wash means that the paper is first layered in water and then paint is
applied.
For all the paintings in this series, I started with a wet wash, and so when I say wash, I mean a wet wash. Some other helpful things to know as you continue to explore these posts is that I am constantly wiping off excess water and paint of my brushes in order to use different colors or to avoid placing too much water on the painting. When watercoloring, it is essential to pay attention to how much water you are using. It can be destructive to the color you are putting down if too much is used.
References
Walker, Dave. “Markino: Bright Lights, Big City,” The Library Time Machine (blog), July 26,
city/.
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