Watercolor Monsters

  In class, we were assigned to use watercolor paint to create our own monster paintings. Rhythm is the pattern in art elements, such as lines, shapes, or colors. We learned about four different types of rhythm: Regular, Flowing, Progressive, and Alternating. In my first painting, I mainly focused on progressive rhythm. I used the rock salt to help achieve this: sprinkling salt over the surface of wet paint, and removing it once the paint dries. I painted the bottom of the monster with a darker blue, and a lighter shade near the top. For the background, I used a light blue with the plastic wrap technique, which includes plastic wrap being applied to wet paint then letting it dry, resulting in an interesting design. You are able to tell that I used progressive rhythm because the color shows how it develops, from light to dark. My successes for this painting were that I was able to use the progressive rhythm, and I really liked how the rock salt and plastic wrap technique added to the piece. My challenges were mainly getting used to the watercolor paints and finding which techniques would be best.


For my second watercolor painting, I used a flowing rhythm and a regular rhythm. The "feet" or the leaves at the bottom of the monster flow out slightly, giving a sense of movement. The space between each line on the leaves show regular rhythm because of the regular intervals. For the background of this monster, I also used progressive rhythm, as it goes from a lighter yellow to a orange shade. I used the splattering technique in this painting, although it is hard to see in the picture attached. I used a slightly darker orange to splatter onto the background of the picture. I also used masking with masking fluid to protect the monster itself from getting orange paint on it as I was splattering the paint. My challenges were coming up with a monster that I liked, as it took me a while. My successes for this project were using different techniques in it (masking, splattering, graduated wash).