Unexpected Artist Tool
This artist tip involves an ordinary household item, a fan. Okay, so maybe this fan is not found in every household these days. Most of us have ceiling fans and do not use box or stand fans anymore. Actually, I was storing this fan in my art room because it was not being used. The first time I used the fan I was working on a large watercolor piece, 22 x 30 inches. The background for the abstract painting I was working on required the entire piece of paper to be wet, using a wet on wet technique. The paper was less quality than I usually buy so the paper began to buckle from the moisture. I set the project down on a table near the fan and thought about using the fan. I plugged it in and faced the fan directly on the piece. Clarification here, I know that most watercolor artists use hair dryers to dry paintings when we are in a hurry. I could not find my hair dryer. What I learned from this experiment is that we have options. When we use our hair dryers to dry the paper many times we get undesired results, like color run or buckled paper that retains the shape because of the heat from the dryer. The fan dried the painting with cool air, slow and even. The paint did not run nor did the paper buckle.
In the photo below, this painting begins is a wet on wet technique. The second layer of color is added to the painting while it is still wet so I needed the paper to stay wet to continue painting. If I would have used my hair dryer There is a good chance that it could have dried too quickly. The finished painting "The Fish" is posted below. Cool air drying and timing were elements that helped me complete this painting.
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