Happy Monday! Over the weekend I was at the movies (New Moon--yes, yes, I admit I'm a bit of a Twilighter) and they were handing out the new "fancy" 3D movie glasses which look like big yellow sunglasses for Christmas Carol. Thinking about the 3D effects reminded me of trying to achieve that same effect in watercolor using the paper tole method. What is paper tole? It's essentially a centuries old European 3D decoupage technique where you create three dimensional scenes from intricately cut paper. Normally, I don't think of myself as "crafty" per say, but I think it's worthwhile to always be on the look out for tools and techniques that could enhance our artistic intentions.
In this case, as an experiment, I decided to contrast realistic butterflies against an abstract background. (That pattern by the way is a piece of construction netting trash I recycled from my front yard.)
You can see where this could be a great technique to try with a variety of watercolor paintings--figures, landscapes, etc. For more information about my watercolor or mixed media classes in Denver, please drop me a note at ScarletOwl@hotmail.com.
