Fixing watercolor

Who says you can't fix mistakes in watercolor? A damp nylon bristle brush will loosen some or most color, allowing you to soak it up with a paper towel. But it will never get all the way back to the original white, if you use staining colors as I do. And the paper that has been scrubbed will not take a second application of paint quite the same way, because the torn fibers on the paper surface wick the paint in unexpected directions. And the more you damage the paper surface, the worse it gets for subsequent painting. So really, it's much better to get it right the first time. But still, it's nice to have options when you don't.

Watercolor painting

If it feels like this takes forever, it's because it does.

Hey, I'm on Instagram!

Do you Instagram? I just started last week, and so far, so good... There will be a little overlap with Facebook, but I'm also posting more studio photos, works in progress, and some of the odd creatures who pose for me, plus the occasional studio cat. (Facebook's creeping monetization has made it increasingly difficult to reach people on that platform without paying to "boost" each post, so I'm hoping Instagram will be more egalitarian.) So look for me at: http://instagram.com/paulpitsker.

In praise of (condensed) clutter

I'm sure I've said this before, but the nice thing about a small studio is that everything is within reach without having to get up...

One more threesome

My third and final tongue-tangled trio on the drawing board...

Buzz back on the drawing board

Detail view of "Buzz" (watercolor still in progress)... I had to make some corrections to certain background elements after pulling this out to look at it for the first time in months. This is a habit I really must try to break.

Article in American Entomologist Magazine

This is almost certainly the first time my artwork has appeared in a scientific journal, in an article analyzing the effectiveness of a 2009 art exhibit in raising public awareness of invertebrate conservation issues (Brosius, T., L.G. Higley, and L. Johnson, 2014. "Promoting the Conservation of the Salt Creek Tiger Beetle Using the Visual Arts," American Entomologist, Volume 60, Number 1). The watercolor painting included in the article (shown below) is Spotted. (The plastic pony and his friend are just some props that live on my drawing table.)