Something Fishy

Sometime between the ages of 8 and 10 I took a course in watercolour painting at the Haliburton School of Fine Arts. Thanks to this course I discovered that I loathe and despise painting in watercolour.

This is not to say that I don't appreciate watercolour as a medium; on the contrary, I admire anyone who has the patience and skill to use watercolours well. In order to achieve the light, translucent effect, the artist has to give up a lot of control and allow the water to move the paint. Artists who use this medium will say that knowing exactly how much water is in your brush, or on the paper, at any given time comes from experience, but I'm quite certain its a magic trick. I mean, that's the only reasonable explanation.  

To say that I've avoided watercolour paints like the plague would be an understatement; to me they are the literal definition of "the worst."  My feelings toward watercolour paints might be a reflection of the amount of control I like to have while creating art and... it's a lot. I like to have a lot of control. 

So it might come as a surprise that I spent an afternoon testing watercolour markers. But do you know what watercolour markers have that the paints don't? Control! Hooray! Beyond having control over fine details, the markers also don't stain the paper the way that watercolour pencils can, they dissolve more completely. The downside would be that covering a large area is difficult; there will be no wet-on-wet washes with these markers... but if you aren't interested in performing some sort of ancient art ritual, then it isn't a big loss. 

I painted fish and they are floating in nothingness like the weirdos they are.  

The beginning of most watercolour rituals.. or so I'm told: