First painting I made on the panel prepared with watercolor ground, was a pink waterlily, The Queen of the Lake.

I wanted to use the vibrant Daniel Smith watercolor tubes I had purchased earlier. I was so smitten by the awesome and bright Opera Pink that I wanted to make the pink waterlily painting first. I also used in the painting Daniel Smith Verditer Blue, Pthalo Yellow Green and slightly Isoindoline Yellow and a hint of Rose of Ultramarine.

The colors stayed nice and vibrant, no matter how many layers I was making. However, the ground posed a bit of challenge for layering as colors lift easily. Also any accidental drops of water will also pull paint off. So it was sometimes a bit of rinse and repeat to fix things but as a plus I could also on purpose redo some areas.

I used watercolor pencils (Albrecht Dürer) for last details. The pencil should not be pushed too much to prevent the surface from breaking and revealing white ground, or panel. Masking fluid and tape worked great with the panel, so no problems caused to the surface from use of either before or during painting. (used once surface was dry for application)

Overall, my style and use of watercolor (strong pigment and layering) is perhaps not that optimal for the panel + ground combination. More comments on my experiences in the next panel painting post.

Some of the materials, wip and close shot:

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edit. Before varnishing the painting with fixative and wax I also used soft pastels to tune some places (Varnishing trial).

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Other posts on the panel with watercolor ground:

• panel preparations: https://soilatuominen.art/2020/01/28/watercolor-ground-and-cradled-panels/
• and first experiences: https://soilatuominen.art/2020/02/02/watercolor-ground-first-contact/