Watercolor on Canvas Board

I've been painting on Arches cold press or rough 300# papers since 1990. I love it. That said, when I saw Fredrix canvas boards, I was tempted. How would the paints flow on this linen surface? Could I frame it without glass?

The Produce Aisle

16" X 20"

Watercolor

$295 (unframed)

Click here to purchase

I chose a rather ambitious and atypical subject for my first painting on this new to me product. I found the darkest darks hard to achieve, but being able to lift the paint back off was a fair trade for that problem. On paper, it would have been necessary to mask off the roots or carefully paint around them.

With this canvas board, I was able to paint the solid color of the shadow and then after it dried, I went back in and lifted the paint off. I was very pleased with this effect and when I have an image that this would work particularly well with I may choose to use canvas again.

Granulation and wet on wet techniques still work fairly well on the canvas.

I have sprayed the finished product with several coats of Liquitex Archival UV Protectant Varnish.(Matte). I am planning to frame it without glass.

Do you paint with watercolors on canvas? Leave your experience in the comments. I would love to hear what you have to say.

Day 2 - Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days

Pike's Place

4" X 6"

SOLD

In May of 2012, I visited a dear friend who lives in Seattle. It had been a decade since I had seen her and she was a fantastic host and tour guide. I painted this picture from a photo that I took at Pike's Place Market. She bought gorgeous King salmon that she cooked for us at dinner. It was amazing.

I think the look of this carried the jaunty essence that make me think of nautical flags. That is likely the abundance of blue and red and the two "x" shapes that I left white within.

I had a good time painting it, but even at 4" by 6", it took considerable time. I am hoping that I get faster doing these, because I do have other paintings that I would like to do this month. I would love to whine that watercolor just takes more time than some mediums by my friend Lillian Connelly over at It's a Dome Life has managed to do much larger works both days and has posted much quicker than I have.

To see other Day Two paintings, visit Leslie Saeta's blog.