One of the great benefits of working with watercolors is the wide range of brilliance you can build up through layers of color. One of the drawbacks is that once a layer has been laid down it can not be easily removed or painted over. Colors can be adjusted slightly, but if you want a nice bright layer of pure color you need to be sure that the end result will be successful.

A great way to try out a variety of options before making a final decision is by using a clear layer of acetate or mylar to experiment. Today we'll be using Grafix Wet Media Dura-Lar to find the background color that will work best for us.

We started with a watercolor sketch, before we can move any further the question of the background color arises, this is where the Dura-Lar comes in. We'll use three sheets to try out a number of colors for the background.

Simply lay your sheet of Duralar over your dry watercolor and brush on the color you had in mind. If you're not satisfied, grab a new sheet and try the next color...

Still not satisfied? Grab another sheet and go at it again (see how much time and frustration we're saving?)

Here you can see that the original is unaffected by all of the testing we're doing. This is also a great way to get an idea of how additional layers of color will look over your existing artwork (not just the background).

Using this method allows you to take some time to study how each option will affect the colors you've already chosen for your watercolor and the overall look of your finished piece.

Have fun experimenting!

Clear films have a variety of applications for artistic purposes, from cutting stencils to direct printing or painting. Acetate and Mylar are produced in different ways and each have unique benefits:

Acetate film is really a specific type of plastic material called cellulose acetate. Because Acetate is made from wood-pulp, it has certain attributes that are sometimes desirable and sometimes something you want to avoid.... depending on your application.

Attributes of Acetate Film:

    * Glass-like clarity
    * Good dimensional stability
    * Easily die-cut
    * Printable with conventional screen and offset printing methods
    * Available in Clear and Matte
    * Available in wide range of thicknesses .001" - .020"

Mylar is often used to generically refer to polyester film or plastic sheet. However, it is a registered trademark owned by Dupont Tejjin Films for a specific family of plastic sheet products made from the resin Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET). The true generic term for this material is Polyester Film or Plastic Sheet.

Attributes of Mylar/Plastic Sheets:

    * Archival quality
    * Dimensional stability
    * Consistent color
    * Clarity
    * Non-yellowing
    * Non-tearing

Artistic Applications for Acetate & Mylar:

    * Layouts
    * Color Separations
    * Laser Copies
    * Screen Printing
    * Overhead Transparencies
    * Protective Covering

See how we used clear plastic film to try out a variety of watercolor backgrounds.

The paintings and drawings of Marshall Arisman have been widely exhibited, both internationally and nationally. His work may be seen in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum, at the National Museum of American Art and the Smithsonian Institution, as well as in many private and corporate collections. His editorial illustration work has been seen in major publications all around the world.

Mr. Arisman's original graphic essay, "Heaven Departed," in which paintings and drawings describe the emotional and spiritual impact of nuclear war on society, was published in book form by Vision Publishers (Tokyo, 1988).

Chairman of the M.F.A. degree program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Marshall Arisman was the first American invited to exhibit his artwork in mainland China. His series, "Sacred Monkeys," appeared at the Guang Dong Museum of Art in April 1999.

We were thrilled  when a friend of the Learning Center, Kurt Hollomon, invited us along when he visited Mr. Arisman's studio on a recent trip to New York. Marshall was kind enough to welcome us in and spoke about his early years as an illustrator and how he found that by looking inward to his past life experiences the subject matter and point of view that would make his work most successful were there all along. Marshall also spoke with us about his current project, a series of oil paintings done on translucent layers and hung with space in between to allow interplay and shifts in the image as it is viewed from varying distances and angles. We look forward to the final results.

The Learning Center would like to thank Kurt for inviting us to tag along and Mr. Arisman for his hospitality. Below is a small selection of Marshall Arisman's vast body of work, you can see more by visiting his website here.