Anyways I was a little astonished at the result. The finished painting seemed to have the pop that I've not seen from using Xuan. Perhaps the photo paper was designed to reflect more intensely from the ink or pigments? Same reason they make projection screens with different gains for a variety of venues. The paper I used was HP premium plus photo and proofing gloss. I'm not trying to endorse or advertise for HP, but I should let people know in case they want to play with it too. I suppose any photo paper would do the trick; I'll experiment with matte photo paper when I have a chance!
I thought I would paint something cute and cuddly; like Pekingese, or is it Shih Tsu. I certainly am pretty naive about the different breeds; as a kid I would generically grouped them as lion dogs, because they look like lions with manes. In fact I think the word Shih Tsu sounds very close to the phonetic sound of the word lion in mandarin. Perhaps it was a mis-communicated lost in translation. Oh for heavens sake, a mutt then.
I started out by claiming the rough shape and features of the animals.
I was using tea color and a dirty brush that was not totally devoid of ink. My sloppy trait!
Working to define the snout and the eyes a little better, and adding facial hair to help define a 3 dimensional topography
I tried to use plain water to wash off the ink a little around the snout and the eyes to create the pupils etc. It appeared that I needed to reinforce the highlights more by using titanium white. I also inadvertently let some water dripped onto the front leg of the dog on the left. As I was trying to remove that water, the surface peeled off like a face mask, resulting in a blank spot. Obviously how much water I allowed on the surface affected the final result. Too much water resulted in a peel off.
I then dressed up the dog on the right with titanium white mixed with tea color and vermilion, and improved the pupils and the nose
extending the work to the left
This is when I decided to get cute. I thought I would add just the slightest hint of shadow to the duo.
The slightest!
So I diluted my brush wash, dipped my big brush in the container, gave it a good whirl, allow the brush hair to soak up an ample amount of liquid, hoisted it from the container and flung the brush onto the photo paper. Just the slightest hint of a shadow!
I was so pedantic.
I thought I was doing a wash on Xuan.
I had forgotten that too much water on photo paper actually peeled off the surface if I laid a brush on it again. I was amnesic about the hole I created to the dog on the left.
When I tried to dab up the excess water, I created 2 peeled streaks on the photo paper; on top and under the 2 dogs. A hasty attempt to dry the area further actually ruined it more. A track of what seemed like eraser debris is formed. Whatever was the coating on the photo paper was now like soap scum on a bathtub. The only difference is I didn't know what kind of detergent to use to rid of it. I should have quit when I could.
In disgust I threw the piece onto the floor. I wanted to stomp on it.
After sulking for a couple of weeks I decided to hide my mistake.
I remembered the masterpieces of paintings or calligraphy of ancient times had all these seal chops on them, as they were passed from emperors to emperors, connoisseurs to connoisseurs. Those were stamps of approval. So why can't I do the same?!
I took out my chop collection and unabashedly sealed my own fate. [ pun intended ]
I should work in a junkyard as a salvager.
