Still Life On Yupo

Pears on Yupo.  Watercolor.
Just under 11 x 14 inches.

My kids sell magazines as a school fundraiser, and I've ended up with an ongoing subscription to Better Homes and Gardens.  I never read it.  I don't know what I was thinking--quite possibly, I was having a decorating fantasy, but that has not happened.

Having said that, though, the blues and oranges of the most recent issue caught my eye.  If you don't subscribe yourself, you can see here.  I thought I'd try and continue working on some still lifes in the same palette.  (Fruit is much more forgiving than creamers!)

And, since I had Yupo handy, I just went ahead.  My palette is permanent yellow deep, quin purple and manganese blue hue.  The yellow looks gold on the yupo--on traditional watercolor paper it's more orange--in fact, it's the orange the last time I painted pears.  Weird, huh?

I'm still trying to get the feeling of Yupo--it handles so differently than paper.  Everything is a little squidgy, and I find I have to be much more conscious of my brush strokes.  (The strokes you can see in the purple background?  Intentional.  Yay, me.)  One huge advantage--it doesn't curl or warp. Second?  Yupo is much less expensive than 300 lb paper.