Trash to treasure

I hate to throw anything out. Like most artists I have a box full of watercolor practice pieces or paintings that were never finished.  I love to use these paintings as the basis for something new.  I pulled out this one today and began to play.


1. I placed a cup on the paper and painted a thin wash of yellow around it.
2.  While the yellow paint was wet I dropped in some red. DRY

3.  I added another circle on the edge and painted the inside of it with some blue, red and burnt sienna.

4.  It needed a third circle so this time I dipped the cup into some blue paint and stamped it on the opposite edge.

5.  I doodled with a little more color to sharpen edges and create some linear patterns.  To get the multi-color lines I put a puddle of color along the edge of the circle and dragged a wet brush through it.

Spin                                                    7 1/2 x 10 inches
Watercolor on paper

While I'm not sure it's a treasure (there's a crease down the middle) I enjoyed the process of developing this little painting.  I loved watching how the under painting interacted with the pattern I designed.  This exercise is a great way to warm up for a big project.  Or maybe just to clear out my cast off box.