Helen Brown • Watercolor Batik - preparing to paint

This month, I have been assigned to blog on the High Desert Art League blogspot site. I thought I’d share about my painting process for watercolor batiking. Starting with supplies:

• Here’s the paper I use:

It is rice paper. Any kind of rice paper will work, but I like Ginwashi Rice paper. It has little stick-like flecks in it. The paper is amazingly strong for how fragile it looks! As you can see by the photo, you can see through it.

• I buy regular old paraffin at the grocery store and melt it in my little crock pot (see photo). I bought this crockpot at Goodwill for $5. I use regular wax paper and IMPORTANT: I only use inexpensive brushes with the wax. Between the heat and the wax, the brush is ruined in a couple of paintings.

• Then I set up my paper like this photo below. I tape a piece of white paper to my board (unless the board is already white). On top of that, I tape a piece of wax paper. I then work with my rice paper on top of that. If I can’t see where I’ve put the wax, I slip a piece of black construction paper under the wax paper because the wax will show up better over the black.

Now I am ready to draw on the rice paper and begin my painting!

Watch this site for my next steps...

To see some of my finished work, go to the Tumalo Art Company in Bend, Oregon's Old Mill District, three stores down from REI.  I am one of the featured artists there during the month of November (2013).

Helen's website