Want to try a new watercolor product? How about Brusho...!

Happy 2019! Looking to start the new year by trying something new? Why not join me in experimenting with Brusho. This product, made in Sheffield in the UK, has been around awhile but is relatively new in the US. I saw a demo and knew right away I wanted to play with these vibrant and intense crystal of dyes and other blended pigments. They can be sprinkled on for less control or made into a paste as they dissolve in water and brushed on for a more controlled use. Either way, they are potent , dynamic and very staining....so wear some gloves or be prepared to wear some color. There are 35 colors available but I started with 13 that include lemon yellow, yellow ochre,  sandstone ( very orange), burnt sienna ( gorgeous color),lime green ( wow!), moss green, olive green, terra-cotta (very watermelon red), scarlet, ultramarine and cobalt blues. From a demo on Cheap Joe’s website by , I learned to never use more than 3 of these at a time because the dominating color will prevail and the result is mud....I tried it and it is true!

I chose this new method to introduce to students on January 14th at my one day work shop at Galleries at Pecan Creek in Marble Falls. Everyone will start as a beginner with this product but I hope some advanced painters will join us for the fun. The small towns in Texas have amazing art connections and Marble Falls is no exception...enthusiasm runs deep! It is far more important than talent, in my opinion.

This is the image I chose to paint. Another scene from the beautiful Filoli Gardens in the Bay Area that we visit whenever out there. It never fails to provide me with several scenes to paint. If you follow my blog you will know my “Show Off” bloomed from a peony that grabbed my attention while there. In this latest painting, I added a little sign to remind others to go visit this place when in the San Francisco area. And the title is simply, "Pansies on the Steps".

Here are my Steps to “Steps...”

                                     1. Masking fluid was applied to all whites and other shapes that needed
            saving. Then yellow ochre was sprinkled and sprayed to show the sunny areas on the steps.

                             Terra cotta was brushed onto the clay pots

Lime green was used for the mossy areas on the steps and I began adding grays to show the shadowed steps and the wall behind the pots.

This may be all that can be accomplished in a 5 hour time period but here are the results after adding my darks and finishing details ....I like to wait at least one day to allow drying and some less stressed decision making as I finish a watercolor.

I hope you enjoy my "Pansies on the Steps"....it is bright and a ray of sunshine in the Winter months.