I had to take a break from post writing for much longer than I had anticipated.   Need of a change of air took me to Yellowstone for a few days, and then to the Eastern Sierra mountains.  Back at home, I have been painting and binding books with new inspirations from recent travels, as well as making tiny arts in my old bullet journal.  I also have another art supply experiment to share today. So here we go.

A few photos from Yellowstone

Please click on the image thumbnails to see the photos –

Yellowstone was profoundly overwhelming.   I was hoping for late spring snow, and mother nature listened.  It snowed there every day during our stay.  The landscape transformed with mist and smoke from every part of the ground when the sun came out after the snowstorms.

The storms also gave me this beautiful contrasting dark sky. During an early evening walk we heard a loud noise and saw an ever-increasing plume behind us. Not sure which geyser went off, as there are many in that area.

Off to Tioga Pass

Please click on the image thumbnails to see the photos –

Then we went off to my favorite Sierra mountains.  The trails were still closed due to snow.  We took it slow with walking around a few new and old areas, and simply reading while listening to the rain.  

Even though it was warm in the valley, it got cold in the mountains with oncoming nightfall.  I was glad to have packed my winter jacket as we waited for the mountains to take on the colors of Alpenglow.  I really missed these mountains.  Now I am back home until the weather cools off again, and I can breathe freely outside with pollen-free air.

Outside the Lines – Gesso and Watercolor ground

Outside the Lines is a series where I share my experience with new art supplies.   This time it’s watercolor on Liquitex gesso and watercolor on QOR watercolor-ground. 

I converted my last year’s bullet journal into an art journal.  That’s when I thought of using gesso and watercolor-ground to cover up the writings.  To see how they each perform, I covered two discarded paintings with gesso and wc-ground each.

Gesso on the left, Wc-ground on the right, both after 3 coats

I needed to apply multiple thin coats in order for the paper to not warp.

Gesso covered and sealed off the darker under-painting and writing much better.   Wc-ground didn’t perform very well with the coverage even after three coats.  When used to cover up writing, it picked up the ink color and got tinted by it.   It’s a bit more wet than gesso, so the paper warps more too.  

At the end, I ended up applying gesso first, then wc-ground over that.  

Watercolor on wc-ground lifted off completely, even after a full night of drying, showing the white surface underneath.   That’s fine with mistakes, but it made it very hard for me to layer colors.  The colors simply lifted off or moved around, which made them very muddy.   When not layering though, it worked well enough.  I couldn’t get any definition on small things like the girl or the cat.

I sanded down the gesso paper just a little to get a smooth surface.  Watercolor on gesso lifted off too, but much less with some drying time in between each layer.  Watercolors tend to slide on gesso, but I could layer on colors with caution.   In the large areas, I could keep the subtle colors with ease.  The girl was a little better here, but I had to use pencil for the cat.

Overall I liked gesso better for my journal, even with its limitations.   Wc-ground would be great for fixing small mistakes in a painting.  The colors stick on gesso more with proper drying time.  The covering and sealing up is much better too.  Both of these qualities were lacking on wc-ground.  Additionally, since I have to use gesso to cover the writing/work first anyway,  I might as well stick to that for my converted bullet journal.  

If you are using a clean surface and do not paint watercolor in layers, you might like the wc-ground better.  Always remember to a couple of small test paintings first.

Here is the same painting on paper only.

Art Journal

Ever since school, I have always used a planner.   Last year I hand made this book for my planning.   Instead of discarding it, I converted this bullet journal to an art journal.  I am mostly using Tombow dual brush pens for colors and various pens for drawings.  I am covering up the previous dates and writings with darker marker,  bits and pieces of discarded paintings,  darker washi tape,  printing and drawing paper, and now occasionally with gesso.

I only work on it for 15-20 minutes before bedtime.  Sometimes I draw one day and color it the next day.   I am filling the pages with random small drawings, paintings, writings of my own, and occasional quotes.  It has been really wonderful for calming my mind before sleep.

Little watercolor cards

As part of my art study, I started painting these little watercolor cards more regularly.  A lot of times it takes a while to get what is in my head down on paper.

Tiny Alpine Gentian flowers grow in the meadows at the Sierra mountains – a reminder of cool weather and the gorgeous outdoors.

My friends came up with a couple of beautiful names.  Fluttering by Kim and All Aflutter by Dixie.   The Butterfly Effect is what I came up with afterwards, after reading more about it.

I really love the art of sword and archery disciplines.  This little painting of a scabbard took close to two days to draw and paint.   According to me, scabbards are blessed by dragons and imbued with special powers.  The butterflies light the dark path and the oak leaves warn the carrier of this scabbard of nearby dangers.  

With increased study load,  I am forcing myself to take more breaks so I don’t repeat another crash.   I hope these photos, art and the stories brought you much joy and respite.   I will wrap up here with these four lines I wrote along with this painting –

Life is wonderful in my boots,

Exploring from roots to shoots.

Into the mountains, here I go,

Finding myself, no friend nor foe.

Until next time,
-Soma

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