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How to make rocks flow
I normally think of rocks as solid, immutable, unchanging. But in China last year, the rocks flowed…that is, the patterns and striations in the Li River and Yangtse River karst mountains seemed to flow like the river water. But how to paint that?
By using masking fluid on white paper, I managed to create some beautiful flowing paintings of water when I was trying to capture the movement and colors in the water around Iceland.
All the Sky’s a Stage, 16×12, $800
But now I was trying to make the flow show with the black ink, rather than the white of the paper. Well, why not try it on Yupo, that plastic “paper” that is so completely non-absorbent that the ink or watercolor just swims around on top?
I’ve done about 5 paintings on Yupo so far of the karst rock striations. Here are two:
Dragon Path, 14×10.5, $725
Dragon Flow, 12×9, $600
It’s almost impossible to get the ink to do exactly what you want, so you have to go with the flow (pun intended) and then tweak it afterwards. I’m especially happy with the way I managed to get the white to come forward and not just stay in the background.
If you didn’t know what this was, would you think it was water? Rocks? Something else?
Sueño del Mar
My watercolor, Sueño del Mar (Dream of the Sea), and I at the Vintage Art Gallery reception today. My painting is based on the birds of paradise flowers at a small Bed and Breakfast inn near Tamarindo Beach on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. As I did several paintings back in my studio, the flowers and leaves slowly morphed into fish. Tried to explain it in my blog post of March 30, 2014.
Ruth Hurd and Sueño del Mar, 24×18, $1000
The reception was well attended and I was happy to see friends and collectors. The show will be up until June 13, M-F, 9-4, so if you are in the neighborhood (2600 Netherland Avenue, Riverdale, NY 10463), please stop by. There are over 130 wonderful paintings, photos and sculptures … well worth the visit.
Ruth Hurd | BLOG 