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"Unlike oils and acrylics, where you can wield total control, if you can surrender some control and work with the medium [watercolor], allowing colors to flow and blend on the paper, the most beautiful results oftentimes occur naturally."

~ David R. Smith

Surrender control? Have you noticed this recurring theme in my writings? You may already have figured out that I am a bit of a control freak. Even in my art, I find it very difficult to avoid being attached to an imagined outcome. But I am getting better at letting things just happen!

One of several works-in-progress in my studio is a small 10" x 10" portrait of my daughter-in-law. I love her expression and I thought the metal art on the wall behind her might make an interesting composition. I also liked all the warm colors in the photograph, although I've been trying to work from black and white reference photos in order to limit my preconceptions.

By the way, I work upright and use push pins to hold my watercolor paper in place. I do not punch holes in the paper!

Since this is such a small piece, I consider it more of a practice piece and I feel a bit freer to try different things. When I applied the second layer, I found that I had unintentionally created some beautiful blooms (unpredictable textures also known as backruns, blossoms, or cauliflower). Learning to appreciate and even intentionally create these "happy accidents" only comes with experience. Of course, there are times and places where a bloom is the last thing you want in your painting! The trick is knowing how to handle the ratio of water to pigment on your brush compared to the dampness of the paper. But that's another topic (and something I always cover in my workshops).

I love the blooms that happened in Jessica's hair and will try not to lose the effect in subsequent layers.

When I worked on the third pass (below), I was overly reliant on the color reference which caused me to be too slavish to the colors in the photo. As soon as I realized what I was doing, I removed the color photo from my board and will use only the black and white image for the remaining layers. This will give me freedom me to make my own color choices.

In this layer, I was successful in preserving the existing blooms and actually created a few more.

Until next time!

Paint. Love. Repeat.