Using the backs of old paintings I wanted to try and create textured watercolour abstracts that avoided the washed out look that results when working with copious amounts of water to create movement and texture.
I had the notion of rusty metal when I selected the colours for this one. Perhaps more contrasting tones and depth could be achieved by adding even more pigment to specific areas – which was the method I applied to reduce the washed out look I described above in all these sketches.
Well, figuration had to creep in with my background and the ethereal rising of lighter tones hinted, for me, at some spiritual mumbo jumbo, so a few figures were cut into the patterns.
And representation made further inroads in this final piece.
All have the seeds for further development and I will stow them away in my sketch book for future reference. It was nice to play aimlessly and see what developed for once. The main purpose was to maintain a good range of tonality amid splashing and spraying and I think I see how I can achieve this.
Other watercolours are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
graham mcquade 
The second painting is very bark-like — as in some of the eucalyptus trees.
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Yes, I suppose it has the uneven appearance of bark having been flattened out.
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I like your watercolour experiments. I find that representation creeps in all the time ! Do you use spraying water a lot in your work, Graham ? I’ve never tried that.
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Thanks Margaret. I suppose I was playing around without any aims, but if I am focussed on abstract, I can keep the representational at bay.
I do use the spray a fair bit to break up forms. I have found that having two types of sprays gives very different results. A fine spray gives quite a uniformed coverage, but a coarse spray (using one of the household cleaning sprays) gives a much rougher coverage which if you flick pigment over the sprayed surface gives wonderful tree effects ( see 7 April 2020 and 7 Nov 2018 posts) and then adding thicker/stronger paint for trunks and branches you get a myriad of edge effects. Then of course there is spraying into nearly dry paint…
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Thanks for explaining your process. I will definitely use some of these techniques in my next watercolour experiment .
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I think Ann Blockley describes this in one of her books/videos on landscape, though what I have discovered is that the particle size of the spray droplets has a marked effect – so for trees/foliage the bigger and more spaced out the better. Happy experimenting.
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Nice! It’s good to play and experiment in between masterpieces! I especially like the shades in the rusty metal piece!
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