Snail

• Subject: Snail
• Medium:Watercolour
• Completion Date: March 23, 2006
• Completion Time: 40 hours
• Dimensions: 10'' X 8''
• Background: Night sky

The textures and the challenge of  how to achieve them were the main incentive for painting this snail portrait.  Firstly I applied a subtle wash across the shell then I marked out the patterning on the shell by blocking out with a fine application of masking fluid, following the curves carefully.  I added wet-on-wet watercolour washes before the masking fluid was removed thus revealing the highlighted markings.

The point of a sharp scalpel was used to break the surface of the paper on the snail’s neck, antennae and tail to create a glistening effect.  Applications of candle wax to block sections of paint were applied and sections of the watercolour paper were distressed using a razor blade, creating textures on the leaves.  The intense background washes were sprinkled with table salt to achieve a granular appearance.