excellent, as usual! So I'm assuming you taped it off (based on the hard edges), and I'm also assuming you didn't pre-soak the paper since it is 300lb? I'm always trying to figure out the best way to deal with watercolor paper - I used to pre-soak all my paper (140 lb) but it is such a hassle, that I started just taping it down - I think that works pretty well as long as I'm not putting down a ton of watercolor; but it looks like you are in this one so I'm curious what you did and how well it worked for you.
I have one watercolor block, but they are expensive and go figure the first time I used it one of the edges still came undone from the water pulling on the paper, ha.
The background: did you first put down a coat of green/yellow, then go back over it with the blue? The top right almost looks like a wet-in-wet wash, but maybe not. If you can't tell I like dissecting the art I see :) Helps me to learn and get different ideas of ways to do things.
With 300lb good quality cotton paper you don't need to soak the paper. That's why I love it, but it is so expensive! I need to make more SBD to afford just to buy a large sheet which can cost $30ish usd. I always try to leave a clean edge, it looks so nice but sometimes I forget...hahaha that happens less and less as I establish my process. I pre-soak and stretch all my paper under 300lb. I use a staple gun on lightweight board to stretch my watercolor, its much easier. I just bought a staple gun again after years of only using 300lb paper. Now that I am painting more I can't afford the expensive sheets. There is handmade 300lb cotton paper made in India that's affordable but it is rough and that can make a really interesting painting. I'll post some of my butterfly paintings rendered on that kind of paper this week.
I usually work from light to dark even if I use gouache. I like to apply yellow then a blue to get green, mixing my colors on the paper. I usually do wet on wet for the background working around my main subject. This was my first work and you wouldn't believe how much my paintings changed from butterfly to butterfly as I got a feel for the subject and developed a consistent process. The process of painting I think is the most important, not the outcome!
Blocks don't work, you need to find good tape and a good board the tape will work on. Plus the tape needs to be throughly dunked in warm water. I don't like taping at all! Stapling is the way to go if you want to stretch your lighter weight paper. I've seen people also use big clips used to hold stacks of paper together too! I haven't tried that method yet.
Man, it is crazy how expensive good watercolor paper can be; when I first went to the art store near me to get some good watercolor paper because someone wanted me to do a commission thing - so i couldn't use my normal cheap 140 lb paper - I was shocked to see how expensive it was. That being said, I could instantly tell a huge difference in seeing how the paint spread on the quality paper (it was Arches brand), so I guess it is true for watercolor paper that you "get what you pay for"!
I bought a watercolor "board" at the art store and I stapled the paper down but the staples kind of crushed the board so that was a complete fail (I may have also been using too powerful of a stapler); so then I went and bought some MDF board from Lowes and cut it up and then covered it with a waterproof sealant, and that has worked well so far - I got about 8 boards of different sizes for about $30. I've thought about stapling into them, but I was afraid the holes in the board would ruin it over time, but now that i'm thinking about it, the boards are really so cheap anyway I should just do it and see what happens.
I haven't yet incorporated gouche into my art, but I want to - just need to go buy some!
I'll look forward to seeing more of those butterfly paintings!
Thanks for sharing your processes and tips!
My favorite professional watercolors and gouache are made by Winsor and Newton. Their white gouache is the best! We can share our watercolor stretching stories until we become rich enough to buy 300lb cotton paper by the block...If you are close come and visit, we can mix paints together!
If I'm ever near Oklahoma I'll let you know!
hahaha, it's a deal!