Yupo calling :-)

I found myself wanting to experiment more with Yupo “paper” and also adding some texturing techniques from Diane Culhane's online class, "Paint Your Garden".
 

I used watercolors with frottage and blown blots techniques to create the background layers.  More texture was created with sgraffito  -Yupo is rugged and holds up nicely to this technique.  Next, even more watercolor and added definition using colored pencil and graphite:

I call this "Wild...Flowers" :-)

Yupo is bound for the flat file

... for awhile.

I did finish this last imaginary flowers painting beforehand (still using the flower assignment from Carla's class, "2014: Year of the Fairy Tale"):

I was hunting around my studio for "something else" to add color to the piece. I decided to use Caran d'Ache Neocolor II watersoluble wax pastels for the background and to intermix them with all the other media I used on the ground.

I enjoy this kind of experimentation. And even though failures "happen" I find them to be valuable, truly an opportunity to learn. Admittedly I may not see it exactly and positively like that at the time though :-)

Surprise?...more imaginary flowers :-)

I am practicing with different media on Yupo adding pastels and colored pencil:

These flowers have a more solid feel than the earlier ones.

Oy, after I finished this painting I read that pastels on their own don't do well on Yupo.

Purely by accident these pastels are for the most part layered over paint and/or colored pencil so I hope they will adhere after I apply fixative.

Yupo-ing...with flowers

I am making Yupo into a verbal because for me the painting experience is one all on its own :-)

Imaginary flowers are wonderful to paint and draw so I was happy to dive into the Fairy Tale #2 assignment (2014: Year of the Fairy Tale online class) that centered on imaginary flowers (yay).

Dip brushes of various kinds and sizes into paint and begin Yupo-ing (some splashing of paint might have occurred too...)

Allow the paint to dry (well mostly) and then refine the images with pencil.

Et voici, first Yupo flowerscape:

Imaginary flowers

Yupo :-)

Yupo "paper" takes some getting used to mostly because it isn't made of natural materials; it's made entirely of polypropylene. Here are experimental paintings based on earlier graphite drawings.

Watercolor and graphite. Scratches made with sandpaper:

Parrot

Only watercolor and graphite:

Tortoise

Yupo is a dream to draw on. And I love the smudgy effects I can achieve with a simple "B" lead. Watercolor can be wiped away with a wet rag even after the paint is dry...whoa :-)

Lots more to learn about and explore with this "paper".