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| 9x12” Live area 5.75x6.88” ©2026 |
This watercolor painting is my first in a series of smaller pieces exploring layers painted on top of layers around a given subject.
For this piece I began drawing the top leaves and painted the entire live area. Then I drew more leaves and painted over those but only painted around the first leaves. This process was repeated three times so that the lightest values were on the top layer, then midtones, and the final darknest values on the final layer each time painting over the backgrounds and around all the leaves.
This watercolor technique was a new approach for me. I watched a video online in a demo of this negative painting process and was intrigued to give it a try.
While I was working with this new process, I became aware of how these leaves could easily be a metaphor for the painter. The lightest leaves represent the side that we let the world see —sometimes known as the "false self". The background leaves in midtones could likewise be viewed as the “true self,” the side that we most likely hide from the world.
This was very interesting technique that I plan to further explore. If you’ve never tried a negative watercolor, they are very interesting and enjoyable.
Oh, life is such a daring adventure! lol
Thanks for viewing,
Nancy
