Wednesday, July 23, 2008

The Seattle Daniel Smith Store's FREE Weekend Demo, July 19th with Marianne Perkins


The FREE weekend demonstration at the Daniel Smith Store in Seattle last Saturday was with Watercolor and Walnut Ink Artist Marianne Perkins .

Marianne talked about and showed the group lots of her tips for working with Walnut Ink with different tools and on different kinds of papers. Papers like Arches Watercolor , Vellum, Bristol Board (favorite), really most types of papers. She has also done mono-prints with Walnut Ink on to printmaking paper.

Some of Marianne's tips were: Do not use your best watercolor brushes to apply the Walnut Ink because you can't get all the ink out when you clean the brushes. Akua Kolor's Needle Applicator - 5 pack is a wonderful way to draw with the Walnut Ink, you get some very expressive lines. When using these, Marianne has one of the 5 applicators filled with water so that she can easily clean the needle of the applicator she just used for drawing. She attaches the used needle to the water-filled applicator and gently squeezes water out through the needle. Consistent, and immediate cleaning of the needle before the Walnut Ink dries in the needle is very important, because if it dries out, the needle will be permanently clogged and ruined.

Some of the really cool effects that Marianne gets with Walnut Ink are when she works with it as mixed media. Marianne often adds watercolor (she really likes the effects of the Daniel Smith Luminescent Watercolors ) when painting (not mixed together!) and Pastels . When using Pastels, she lays down some Pastel color on scrap paper, then using a brush (with water) takes up some of the pastel dust and paints it onto her work.

Another of Marianne's favorite tools is Frisket Masking Film, and she often uses the same shape over a couple of times. She gets some interesting effects when the masking film starts to loose some of it's "tack" and the Walnut Ink or Watercolor begins to seep underneath the film.

Marianne had several framed Walnut Ink paintings / drawings on display near the demo table, which inspired several questions during the demo. It is always interesting to see the Artists work on display while they are talking about how they work, and demonstrating to get those effects. Marianne told the group that while she ..."loves the process of painting, I don't always love my paintings". She added that it's through the process you discover new ways of creating visual excitement in your work, so don't be afraid to play, experiment and get involved in the PROCESS, that is how you make exciting Art!
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