Judy Morris Workshop - Day 1

I am presently in Myrtle Beach, SC taking a watercolor workshop with Judy Morris. She is a wonderful artist, and so entertaining. The amount of information she has taught us is amazing.

Most of the class is about texture and design in watercolor. We are learning  some ways that you can create texture. A great part of Monday's class was a lecture with demonstrations of the various ways she adds texture and examples of different design plans. Judy is a salting expert...and I do mean it. To watch her paint and add salt is like watching a master chef cook.

Here is a sample of the test swatches with kosher salt that I did on Monday.

Judy started a demo on a full sheet of paper. She is painting a rustic, stone wall with a window. She demonstrated how to add lettering and writing and use salt to create texture.
We went back to our own tables to select a photo reference to use these techniques on.

I decided to use a photo I had taken of Chinese lanterns in Chinatown. I sketched it out and decided I wanted to use the word Chinatown as part of the texture. Judy had showed us how to use latex paint to stamp or paint on our paintings. She brought along a sample of latex paint that she had mixed to be the exact color of Arches watercolor paper. When you paint over the latex paint the letters take on some of the color you are using in the painting, and the letters show up in a very subtle way. She had also used gold gesso to stamp on one of her paintings. So now came decision time...do I use the white latex or the gold gesso? Judy suggested trying a sample of each. And how do I do the lettering without an alpahbet stencil. I will show you tomorrow.