For most of the last year, I’ve been doing lots of watercolor, first for my Vessels show last spring, and then creating sweet, candy-colored backgrounds for the sayings of The Algorithm. This winter, when I expected to have a nice quiet period for some painterly experimentation, some commissions and another show popped up at short notice, so I was watercoloring away like Beatrix Potter, if Beatrix Potter had painted bacteria, not bunnies, in little waistcoats and bonnets.
That’s a long way of explaining that I’ve been itching to get back to painting in ink on yupo, which is really fun. Just watch – it’s magical.
The paradox of these paintings is that they take a long time, and also no time at all, because they involve multiple steps with long waits for drying between each one. Think of a recipe that takes minutes to mix and hours to marinate. I usually allow a week from start to finish for an ink painting layered with text, but my active painting time might account for 15 minutes of that.
I was about to say I begin by writing out a quote or poem in masking fluid on the yupo, but that leaves out all the time I spend reading and looking for perfect words, about the brain, the heart, memory, and emotion. Then, when at last I am ready to start a painting, there’s the stage of trying to remember what I called the file where I saved the precious words.
Once I have words and am ready to go, I hand-write the text on the yupo in masking fluid, using a tool called a masquepen, which is the greatest thing ever and also the bane of my existence, as it clogs up constantly. Then comes the first drying pause
***drying***
When the mask is dry, I cover the yupo with water and add acrylic ink (usually black) with a brush. I try to make the black very watery to create a fairly light background for the next layer.
***more drying***
After a day or two, I remove the mask from the words and add an image, usually a brain or neurons.
***more drying***
Then I cover the yupo with water again and add the colored inks, which is the really fun part.
If I mess up and go too hard, I can rinse the ink off before it dries. (I want the words to be half-visible, as if you are forgetting them or dreaming them) When I’m happy with the results, it’s time for
***more drying***
The most satisfying part, of course, is removing the second mask and seeing the end result.
After a little ***more drying***, I apply a protective fixative to hold the ink in place. Et voilà!
If it seems like a lot of waiting around for a few transcendent moments, it has that in common with a lot of worthwhile things, like opera, sex and football.
The pieces I painted this week will be listed for sale online in a little while, after I’ve matted them and taken their pictures. (An artist’s work, alas, does not end when the art-making is over) But you can see some here that I made earlier. Maybe you’ll find one that will look stunning on your wall, and you can tell all your friends how it was made.
If you’re in the DC area and you would like to see the art IRL, I have several events coming up, including Art Blooms at Mosaic on April 6-7 in Fairfax, and Langston Boulevard Earth Day in Arlington on April 21. Artomatic is open in DC through April 28; you can find my work there in room 5108.
I enjoyed reading about your process including all the ***more drying***'s! 😀
Thanks for sharing your process! It’s hard to be patient at times when the medium requires it but your mind is ready to run 😅 so I especially admire this!