The Quicksilver Workaholic

Dragon, Medium Rare, originally uploaded by Cathy (Kate) Johnson.

I'm working on updating Watercolor Tricks & Techniques, as I've said here before--much has changed in 20 years. I needed to include some of the new novelty mediums, so I decided I might as well have fun with it--I'm fond of dragons! You can click on the image to go to Flickr, where are there are lots of notes to tell what was used where...

By the way, almost all of these mediums really require a dedicated palette (I use a styrofoam plate), a dedicated brush and a dedicated water supply. They get into your paints and migrate into the ferrule of your brush and come out where you didn't really want a fancy effect! I tried iridescent medium last year, and I STILL have shimmers in my Kremer Pigments palette.

Here, I've used the iridescent medium, texture medium, two kinds of liquid mask, granulating medium, and lifting medium...mostly novelties, but interesting. Of all of these (besides liquid mask, which I've used for years), the lifting medium may find its way into my regular bag of tricks...