Hello, everyone,
And welcome back to emanate artworx! Today, I'd like to share a short art experiment I did recently. It features two colorful doors with surrounding accents.
What is it about doors that makes them intriguing?
Maybe because they are generally familiar, but might lead us to the unknown. Perhaps its the symbolism of new beginnings. Or maybe they just have an aesthetic appeal. Whatever it is, the door photography of the internet snagged my attention 👀 and struck me with this notion.
Door 1
Door 2
Drips pre-dab and wipe
Art Corner in use
The Inspiration
The idea for this experiment was to combine crayon and watercolor (they create a really pretty texture effect!) to make a fantasy-inspired doorway and just have fun working with the materials. It's important to keep the fun in creating, or else it can become a burden, and then what's the point?
The Steps
The first layer was a light-colored wash. Then, coloring with crayon, being careful to leave some of the paper's texture untouched by the wax. Lastly, a more saturated wash (glaze?) of watercolor, to fill in the parts of the paper where the crayon missed...and a little dab and wipe to remove that beautiful drippy excess.
The Analysis
Originally, I was thinking one doorway would be light and cheerful, and the other one more subdued and somber. But in the end, 😅 oops. Both were actually pretty colorful! That's what these kind of exercises are for, exploring and having fun enjoying the experience 😌.
Personally, the green-colored door looks better to me because of its more intense, saturated hue, and the purple-ish ground looks really neat. I like how the water color worked on that part.
The Future
Sadly, I'm not sure yet how to translate this material combination into a polished piece that could be portfolio-worthy. The watercolor I used is archival quality, but the crayon is good old Crayola 😆. And the paper is a regular, everyday mixed media sketchbook paper.
Maybe colored pencil would be a better more enduring option, since it's kind of waxy too. Oil pastel seems too thick and heavy to work with watercolor, but who knows? Or, if the whole thing was sealed with permanent fixative or protectant, maybe the Crayola would endure 🧐. Only with more testing could we really be sure! I'll keep this one on the shelf for now.
When I have more time away from my day job, I would so love to paint this kind of subject, along with rural landscapes and other interesting subjects in a plein air setting. Until then, 🥲 internet refs.
What do you think? Do you enjoy perusing door pictures? What's your earliest art memory?
Thanks for reading! 😘 See you next time,
Ema
