Dogs may be a theme for the month, so please welcome Emma! She’s a watercolor on Yupo, which is a plastic substrate, often used with inks, which has quite another result than watercolor. For now, we’l focus on the watercolor versions. On Yupo, the results are far less controlled than on your typical watercolor paper, and, vibrant colors are much more easily and quickly attained! One of the reasons I love Yupo is how forgiving it is. If you don’t like something, you can wash it off, completely! No staining. No tearing. No dulling. No kidding.
For example, in the piece above, I tried out several background tones before settling on the blue-gray version. Below is a version where the background color replicated the original photograph. While I LOVE the vibrancy of the orange background, it really competed with Emma. So, a little water, clean brush and paper towels, and the orange disappeared!
Yupo’s greatest strength is also it’s downfall. Because it can easily be washed away with water, editing the piece after it dries requires using less water and more pigment. If you apply color that is too watery, it will blend with what’s underneath, and effectively obliterate it. So, caution in that regard is to be considered.
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