There is nothing simple about Cerulean or caerulean blue. You can even spell it two ways! True, it is a desirable colour as it is the colour of a Maritime sky in the spring – how poetic. Just looking at my Arches bright white 300lb paper I can “see” how the sky will look. I know in my mind which pigments to mix to get the perfect color. And the dominant color blue – cerulean of course!
Although in the back of my mind I felt an inkling of caution I choose to completely ignore it. You know, the little voice you sometimes hear. And as I lovingly applied the first large wash. I still ignored the inkling.
As the paint started to dry, I remembered. I remember what completely frustrates me about the lovely cerulean. It granulates as it dries. Great for a knit sweater or for a cloudy or a foggy sky. But not for the true blue Maritime sky in the spring with not a whisper of a cloud.
And so, what did I do? Why I applied another wash of course. And you know what it did? Yep, it granulated. So you know what I did? Turned the paper sideways and did it again - thought I could somehow swith the grain. And you know what it did…. (insert definition of insanity here...“Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.” ― Albert Einstein)
So five washes later. To the point where I was not waiting for it to completely dry and well, the paper puckered and the effect was more pronounced… and some of teh paint started to lift and still I was not about to give up.
I figured our how to fix it. I used a bit of cobalt blue, cerulean blue and transparent acrylic mixing white! And I think I fixed it. The last wash evened out the tone and I feel ok to move forward... more to follow soon....
I am not a quitter!