Hello beautiful people!
Yesterday, after posting my Steemit article, I was really bored. I stayed for a while on the computer, upvoted for articles I found nice and watched a couple of video about nail polish... Don't ask me why! After one or two hours, I wasn't feeling productive and I closed my computer. That's when questions about watercolour popped in my head, because I'm not a professional painter, only a girl who likes to creates !
Why do we only use plain water for watercolour? How would the colour looks if it was something different? That's what this cringy article is about today...Shall we start?
Hot and cold water
I started with a normal wonder. Does it affect the painting if it's hot water or cold water? I thought at first that it couldn't really matter but I finally found out that cold water tend to... I don't know, stuck the pigment together? Because compared to the hot water one, the colour is more uniform and bright, less pastel. I also found out that the cold water spot dried slightly faster than the hot one, but maybe it's just my perception.
Contact Lense Solution
While painting, I had a bottle of contact lense solution on my desk because I'm a Four-Eyes girl! I though that since the solution is kinda salty, I would find salt grain on the paper but no!Instead, it makes the colour much more intense but easy to spread! It was like a perfect mix of the cold water and hot water effect.
Sugary Water
So, after trying a ''salty water'' such as the contact lense solution, I wanted to try with sugar. Does the fact that it's sweet instead of salty affect the colour?So, I put about one tea spoon of C12H22O11 (See what I did there?) and mixed it with water until it dissolved. After that I used it to spread the paint and I think this one is one of my favourite because... The colour is so intense and there's no random shadow... I think that if you use sugary water and another solution saltier, you could get a nice masterpiece....
Water and Soap
Then, I moved on to the next experiment and use water and soap. It finally ended as I expected: A little darker where water was more concentrate and clear where the soap bubble were disposed... Not so much to say about that one because it wasn't so impressing but, hey!
... This is where it starts to get a little weird...
99% Alcohol
Before you say anything, I'm not a true scientist (Even thought I'm studying in the science program at my school) and as I said in my intro, I'm only painting for fun! So, I wanted to know how the colour would appear if (The next sentence is extremly weird...) I used something other than water base with watercolor?So I took friction alcohol and use it on my most pigmented tube, the black one. I was first hoping that it would make the black even more intense but it ended up drying too quickly and it became grey all around that weird spot and... I don't know, I don't think I would ever use 99% alcohol on my paintings.
But my ''serious'' experiments doesn't stop there!
Fluor Rinse Mint Flavoured
That one looks better than the last one. The colour was pretty intense at first and there's again that weird spot in the middle, but I kinda like it. I don't know if it's only the colour, but it looks like cotton candy and... It kinda smell nice.
Oil-Free Makeup remover
We're still in the bathroom product with using my Oil Free Makeup remover! I don't really like that one, because after drying, it doesn't look that nice, even if it's better than the 99% alcohol one. Also, I found out that when I touch it, it's really chalky and it left a weird yellow dust on my fingertip... I mean, maybe it could work, but no.
Perfume
First: Don't! I thought it could be a good idea and that maybe just like the Contact lense solution, it could combine the good of 99% Alcohol and the fluor rinse but... No, it didn't. It only combined the worst of both and it doesn't even smell good because I used an old and cheap perfume. It doesn't spread the colour nicely, it lost the intense pigments and it smells like my attic.
And it's not even the worst.
Oil
If you look at the picture, I don't have to describe the fiasco it became. I mean... It did'nt even wanted to cooperate! It just sinked in the paper without even letting me blend my paint spot. I think it's because watercolour is already really thick and it needs water or a least a proper liquid solution to ''activate'' it.
Water and Matte Powder
So,I used a water base first to spread the colour because I was really discouraged after the last one... In fact, the texture ended feeling like the Oil-Free makeup remover one, but it looks nicer. The same chalky texture but I think the colour look nicer. Probably because I used actual water...
Vaseline
I don't know what's gotten into me for that one, even if it ended looking nice. Maybe because it's hydrating... Hydra... Hydro... Water in Latin, I think?It was weird because instead of a liquid base, it turned kinda... Creamy? It was weird and I doubted it would dry quickly, so I used a tissue to wipe off the excess and I liked it. I would recommend using it for cloud or the sky in general because it gives a fluffy look.
Oil and Water
Last one! I mean, I still had that feeling that oil could work, so what if we added water with it? It could look nice and since oil and water doesn't mix, it could maybe make spot like the soap did?I was wrong. It doesn't even look great, the colour isn't nice and it wasn't even dry when I woke up this morning. If you have the patience to try it and not wipe it with a tissu like I did, I would be really curious to see how it's looks but... Yeah, I wouldn't use it in a serious artwork.
So, that how I would conclude this experiment. I think I learned a few things that could be useful in my next artwork but I did it mostly for fun and I even enjoyed seeing the bad ones... Don't be afraid to try new things, even the ones that doesn't make sense.Maybe that could finally end in something you absolutely adore? We don't always know what kind of things life can bring us, so don't be afraid to just try!
Have a nice,take care of you and share the love♥
Science is the special province of the ego. And magic and art are the special province of something else. I could name it, but I won't. It prefers to be unnamed . Cheers!and love
I guess it's the role of each individual to find out what art and magic are part of ^-^ Thanks for leaving such a nice comment!
This is very good Information. Thank you for sharing.
It's a pleasure of mine ^-^ Thanks for leaving a comment!
A lot of watercolor painter's use windex and other liquids for different effects. Good idea to experiment though. I have used coffee and mt. Dew before.
Thank you for leaving a comment! I have thought about using soda like mt.dew but I didn't have any. I guess coffee give an old looking tint?I might try windex and other things in the future, I've never heard of it before ^-^