Snowy Farm - Dec VSD

Lehigh Valley Farm
7" x 5" watercolor on Aquabord
Stacy L. Rowan

This month I decided to try something different and paint my Virtual Sketch Date entry on Ampersand Aquabord. I've been wanting to work with this watercolor support for some time, because I am interested in framing watercolors without glass.

I wasn't sure if pencil marks would erase off the board, so I did my preliminary sketch with watercolor pencil. I liked how this worked out and might try it for my next painting on regular watercolor paper.

However, with my first brushstroke of paint, I questioned whether experimenting when I had a deadline was a good idea. The Aquabord doesn't absorb water exactly like paper does, so with a fully loaded round I was leaving puddles on the board. Not the effect I was going for.

I switched to flat brushes which hold less water and found they worked better. Most of the rest of the painting was done using my flats. I did go back to the rounds when I painted the trees. I wanted the paint there to be juicy so my little dabs with the brush would run together and produce interesting shapes.

One of the things I really loved about the Aquabord is how simple it is to make changes. The paint lifts off very easy when you re-wet it. I was able to lift out the windows on the second story of the gray barn and get all the way back to white. (I went back in later with some light gray mix to tone down the white.)

One downside to this is that sometimes I got lifting when I didn't want it. I had to use the flat brush at a shallow angle to avoid lifting paint with it's edge. The same was true for the points of the round brushes. But I thought it was easier to correct the areas where I accidentally lifted paint than it would have been to correct on paper.

My only minor disappointment with the Aquabord I encountered when I painted the back tree line. If I was painting on paper, I would add the trees while the sky was still damp and let the paint flow naturally into that area. This gives a nice diffused and somewhat varied edge. It's one of those cases of letting the paint work for you. With the Aquabord I couldn't get this technique to work, so I had to go in and soften the edge with a damp brush. Like I said, a minor disappointment, and I can't say it wasn't just a result of my inexperience with the surface.

I haven't prepared the painting for framing yet, so I can't comment on that part of the process. I will try to remember to report back and let you know how simple or difficult it is.

Visit the Virtual Sketch Date blog this Sunday and use the posted links to visit all the entries.