Trying Yupo. Or, Where I Produce Amoebas

Yupo I.  Watercolor on Yupo.
Smaller than 9 x 12 inches.

Several years ago, I was wandering on Michigan Avenue near the Bean in Chicago, waiting to meet a friend for lunch, and I wandered into Ultrecht.  I ended up buying a bunch of things (an artist in an art supply store?  come on, of course I'm going to spend money), one of which was a pad of Yupo paper. Yupo, in case you've never tried it, is synthetic watercolor paper.  It's diametrically opposed to regular watercolor paper, which in my case, is 100% cotton.

I tried it once.  It was really.....different.

Then, recently, I've been thinking about it.  I've seen some super interesting paintings done on Yupo, and I wanted to try again.  Voila!  Amoebas!  Actually, I lie, although I know I tend to be flip, I like the painting, and I really like the way the paint moved across the paper.  It takes a lot of paint though. A LOT. And, I'm having trouble controlling the movement and shapes, which I'm going to assume is a practice issue.  This started out as a landscape.  Truly.

Paper--Yupo.  Paint--Daniel Smith Indigo, Phtalo Blue RS, Nickel Azo Yellow, Quin Burnt Orange, and then a touch of Quin Red.