Vodka? You've gotta be kidding



P'ri Hagafen
21 X 14
Framed
$250



Sunflower Bouquet
14 X 20
Framed
$250

When I awoke Saturday to 4 inches of snow and a weather report that promised snow, sleet and freezing rain, the last thing I wanted to do was drive to Louisville. But that is exactly what I did because I had the paintings above to deliver to the Kentucky Watercolor Society.

My reward was an opportunity to chat with Rita Stout, the chair of the show, about some unusual techniques for watercolor painting: blowing paint onto the paper through an atomizer, sanding watercolor pencils on to a wet surface, using vodka to transfer an inkjet-printed photo to watercolor paper.

Vodka? What? Rewind that conversation. Surely I heard wrong.

Rita was already browsing the KWS lending library for Karlyn Holman's Watercolor -- The Spirit of Spontaneity, which describes the technique. I felt destined to try this technique since I recognized the book as one I had just bought at Border's closing sale in Bloomington.

Here's how it works:

Step 1

Step 1: Print the image you want to include in your painting on an inkjet printer. I used photographs of some of my original watercolors. Because I was working on Artist Trading Cards, I printed them out as wallet-sized images but you can use any size you want.


Step 2

Step 2: Turn the printed image face down on your watercolor paper. Use a stiff brush to apply the vodka to the back of the printed image. The sheet will become transparent as the vodka is applied, making it easy for you to decide how much of the image you want to transfer.

Step 3

Step 3: Lift the paper and you'll see a reversed image of the original. If the image has numbers or letters, you will need to "reverse" the image with your photoediting software program before printing.

Now you can use watercolors, caran d'ache, watercolor pencils or acrylics to embellish the image.

I liked the results so much that I poured a splash of vodka into a cup for my 13-year-old -- something I never thought I'd hear me saying -- and had her try the transfer while I took the photos seen here.

Enjoy!