Remember I said in my earlier post Mumbai Diaries : Coffee, art and conversation how I said I had got hot pressed watercolor paper instead of cold pressed and that the colors didn’t merge because of the quality of the paper? Well, since I had got the paper I decided to make the best use of it. So, I went to Uncle Google to check what works best on hot pressed paper. And as always Google had a solution. It said pen and wash technique. So I went about reading more about it to see what it was. Luckily I had the pens required for it. I had bought them two years ago for Phad painting (a traditional Indian art form). I had done three such paintings and forgotten all about the pens. So, all I had to do was open my big Ikea box of art supplies. Its filled with things that I’ve collected over the years…8 or 10 to be precise – it has the children’s pastels, crayons, color pencils, carbon paper, ribbons and lots of other knick-knacks. Hubby had asked me to get rid of it when we moved countries but I couldn’t do it. I guess I am the classic hoarder. Those boxes proved to be a treasure during the lockdown. Well, with 2 birthdays, a mother’s day and a Father’s day happening in this period, that box had everybody including hubby diving into it. Birthday banners, invites, and DIY birthday gifts were made with the contents.

Coming back to my first painting using the pen and wash technique, here it is –

I realize I need to work on my lines and angles but that’s the fun – ‘The learning.’

Sometimes you get it right, sometimes you get it wrong but unless you do it, you’ll never know if you can and you will never learn.

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