Update

It has been soooo long since I last posted, and soooo long since I produced anything substantial in my studio! I'm not even going to try to make excuses. When artist's block strikes, the solution is to either teach a class or take a class. So, I signed up for a five-day workshop taught by Sandy Maudlin and hosted by the Fairborn Art Association. Yesterday was the final day, and I'm reporting in to you, my patient followers.

We were working on Yupo (a plastic-like "paper") with watercolor and liquid acrylics. There's a heavy learning curve, and the process was incredibly frustrating. You should have heard us whine and groan! Here's the beginning of my first painting:

All the dark blue is painter's tape that masks the parts of the painting that should be white. The paint bleeds under the edges, which is part of the process, and you have to plan for that. After the whites are taped, the entire surface (including taped areas) is covered with the first layer of color. There is no controlling the paint as it puddles, bleeds, and streaks.

When this layer is completely dry, apply another layer of masking tape to protect the areas that should be light in color. Then, apply another layer of paint. Then another layer of tape to protect the mid-tones, followed by another layer of paint. Repeat as many times as you can stand.

The frustration comes from tearing all those itty-bitty pieces of tape and the fact that more and more of the painting is covered by layers of blue tape. After a couple of layers, it's impossible to tell what should be covered or painted next. Unfortunately, I didn't photograph the stage after the tape came off. What you end up with does indeed look like a batik print, with paint that has bled through the "cracks" created by the tape.

If you did a good job with your planning and taping and layering, the painting will be close to completed when the tape comes off. Me, I ended up painting maybe 80%. At the end of the all the hours and hours of work, this is what I was left with:

Sandy was honest with her students. This technique is tedious, frustrating, scary, and extremely time-consuming. But the end product has a texture you can't get any other way.

Will I ever paint another painting using this technique? I seriously doubt it! I'm not that much of a masochist. For good examples of what can be achieved using masking tape batik, see Sandy's blog.

Tomorrow, I will show you my second painting, which uses an entirely different technique.