"Daily" Painting 3 -- Loneliness of a Whiny Goose

Loneliness of a Whiny Goose
watercolor on canvas
10 x 8"

This small painting is a type of a watercolor on canvas, but I used artist grade watercolor crayons to paint him.  I saw him on a trip we took to Charlestown, MD, on the Delmarva peninsula.  He's a Toulouse goose. I'm very fond of this type of geese because their slightly tubby shape and white underside remind me of toddlers in diapers.  That day, this guy's normal crew (OK flock) weren't with him, and the way he was squalking for attention and snacks so reminded me a whiny 2 year old that I knew I'd have to paint him some day. It still makes me smile when I see this image and I think of that day -- and that goose.

I used Caran D'Arche Neocolor II Aquarelle Artists Colors on this piece.  They are artist-quality watercolor crayons from Switzerland.  Finding these crayons was serendipitous.  My sister Nancy (a hand-crafted jewelry maker) was scheduled visit us when we were in Ireland last year.  Since she and I spend time making jewelry when Arny and I visit her, I had offered to show her oil painting when she visited me. She told me that she instead wanted us to work with this type of watercolor crayons.

Nancy had seen some jewelry pieces that incorporated designs with watercolor crayons and was intrigued by them for her own art. I, however, had never used watercolor crayons, didn't have them, and didn't know how to find them in Ireland.  But, being a good sister and hostess, I spent a long time trying to find them, and going on websites to learn about how to use them.  Unfortunately, we didn't work on them together because she didn't come, but it wasn't a waste because these crayons are a great  add-on to my artistic toolbox.

These watercolor crayons can be used alone or with other watercolors, acrylics, and/or ink or markers. A wet brush turns a few swipes of a crayon into a color wash.  Colors can be placed to create a varied,  layered effect.  They can be applied in a more impasto fashion, and they can even scraped to create more effects.  Like with other watercolors on canvas, paintings made with watercolor crayons also need to be sprayed with  clear acrylic to preserve and protect them.

I'm including my whiny little guy in an auction on in my Gallery on the Daily PaintWorks Website.  Check out my Gallery, and bid on it if you want to.   I'd love to hear your feedback, and if you want, I can do a tutorial on using these watercolor crayons to create paintings.