Given that at the moment my time is somewhat  limited I've decided to contrentrate on small studies rather than attempting large works - small studies that I hope I will find useful later on.  Primarily I have been flirting with water colours which to be honest are a medium that strikes cold fear in me!

I'm finding the wet on wet technique as explained by Ewa Karpinska in Wet-on-Wet Watercolour Painting not only very interesting but also I feel has a lot of potential for originality and expression of mood.

Karpinska devotes the first part of her book to a very detailed study of the water cycle and the various stages of how water is absorbed and travels through the paper and the varying effects one can obtain when pigment is applied at which stage.

I find the whole process fascinating.  In this wet-on-wet technique your are basically drawing with clear water first, making all the decisions as to composition and so on.  Then the colour is applied, somewheat thickly, sometimes just literally dropped onto the wet paper and allowed to spread out following the water channels almost as if it has a life of its own.  Applying different colours and watching them blend into each other as the paper is tilted slightly is a really thrilling experience.

The leaf above is my exercise for today.  A poor example of what can be achieved by this method. I love it's painterly effect. I'm usually given to realism so having achieved this quasi impressionistic effect I'm rather pleased with myself.