Loose Petals by Ken Powers
Ken Powers

Loose Petals by

This quickly rendered piece was an attempt to paint as quickly as I could with as large a brush as I could. The entire painting is painted with Raphael 803 #6 and #8 squirrel mop brushes which hold tons of paint and water but come to a fine point as needed. My heavy hand has a tough time controlling them but they are a blast to use. I also used mostly mixes of Sennelier watercolor paints and utilized Sennelier 140# cold-pressed paper for the substrate. Great textures were created combining these paints and paper. I am laughingly reminded of Eddie Van Halen’s Kramer guitar from the 80’s when I look at the backgrounds on my last three paintings as he used electrical tape to mask off lines on his instrument. I may jokingly call these my “Van Halen Floral Subseries.”

Best In Show – 2/13/2011 – Painter’s Universe HomePage

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Tags

watercolor, watercolour, flower, floral, ken, powers, loose

Comments

  • Sandrine Pelissier
    Sandrine Pelis...about 1 year ago

    I love this watercolor Ken, the colors turned out gorgeous and I like the abstract quality of the composition !
    I will have to check out Eddie van Halen’s guitar, I remember mostly Davis Lee Roth incredible outfits :-)

  • Thanks Sandrine! I don’t know why but the crossed stems in the backgrounds of my last couple paintings remind my of that guitar.

    – Ken Powers

  • JennyArmitage
    JennyArmitageabout 1 year ago

    Once again the background is lovely. Squirrels are fun to use aren’t they?

  • Thanks Jenny! I have a lot of fun using the squirrel mops but I am a bit heavy handed and need to learn to control them a bit more. It doesn’t stop me from getting them out occasionally though.

    – Ken Powers

  • Ann Mortimer
    Ann Mortimerabout 1 year ago

    This makes a nice design in the space, Ken. You’re getting more decorative in your approach?

  • Thanks Ann! Yes, a bit of a departure for me but I am constantly trying to experiment to see what I like.

    – Ken Powers

  • Marsha Elliott
    Marsha Elliottabout 1 year ago

    This is such a nice piece – so colorful & lively – I really like it alot!

  • Thank you Marsha! It almost got tossed about mid way through!

    – Ken Powers

  • JCailliau
    JCailliauabout 1 year ago

    Oh those big brushes are fun ! Beautiful work, Van Halen would be proud !

  • Thanks Joan! It is really amazing how versatile those large squirrel mops are. I use them so infrequently that I always forget about how fun they are!

    – Ken Powers

  • ian osborne
    ian osborneabout 1 year ago

    Stunning colours as ever Ken. I’ve got a couple of those same brushes, but only for large washes. Perhaps I’ll have a go with them!!

  • Thanks Ian! I only use them every once in a while but Sennelier sent me some more because I participated in one of their blind paint evaluations. I forgot how much I enjoy using them.

    – Ken Powers

  • Mary Sedici
    Mary Sediciabout 1 year ago


    ♣*Work Featured in
    Best in Show Forum
    Painters Univere Group’s HomePage – February 13th, 2011

    Mary*

  • Thank you very much Mary! I appreciate it very much!

    – Ken Powers