Several years ago on Halloween eve, I was carving pumpkins with friends. My pumpkin design was very intricate: I had a vision of flicking candlelight streaming through the carved openings. I continued to cut away the pumpkin flesh, pushing the limit, until... with just one more cut... the entire pumpkin collapsed inward. A mound of pumpkin mush lay before me. Oh, Halloween horror!I recalled the pumpkin episode as I painted the Dogwood blossoms. I started with a gentle watercolor wash in soft pastel hues. Then, one warm Saturday afternoon, while shopping for watercolor paper at Blick, rows of watercolor pencils caught my eye. Ink intense. Bright shiny objects. Must have.
I bought a handful of watercolor pencils and rushed home to try them out -- on my tender Dogwood blossoms. With the first application, an inner voice moaned, "Uh oh." Gone were the soft petals of spring, replaced by a bright commercial graphic suitable for a luau. "Oh, well."
Sometimes its good to push the limit. Try something new. "You'll never know if you don't go."
So now I know a bit more about watercolor pencils -- and I love my No. 6 round brush all the more.
Hope Springs - Watercolor
