Am I crazy? Another teabag painting?

I said I probably would not do another teabag painting and here I am, just days later, posting another attempt! Couldn't resist. While working this past week, I kept thinking how, if I dropped the teabags from a good height, they'd splatter tea around and wouldn't that make great foam on waves!! (I often plan out paintings while working - LOL.) So, I had to try it.

And I just HAD to go big. I'll be rolling my eyes soon over that choice but I did it. And I did it outside because of the splattering mess. Another thought I had during the week was that if I used green tea bags, it'd be a paler, more watery colour that would blend in, rather than deep browns of regular orange pekoe tea, which is my usual blend. ("Red Rose" tea is my absolute favourite - the very British comment "only in Canada you say? Pity!" brand.)

To avoid the stinky part, I used fresh teabags, soaked in a pot of boiling water. ("Green tea" teabags.) Now, afterwards, I realize that I should have steeped the bags and changed the water several times to weaken them. I had a full size sheet (with about 1" torn from the side so it would fit on my masonite sheet of wood) taped down to the support. Outside, from a height of about four or five feet, I dropped each teabag. (Use tongs so you don't burn your fingers!) There is no drawing on the sheet yet. I'll work from the tea stains for that later. Several of the teabags split open, which I left as they landed. I had to then get it into the house fast because it had started to rain. Now that I think back, I should have left it out in the rain to add more but it would have ruined the splattered effects anyways so ....... It was still wet so I propped it up on the kitchen table. You can see the roll of masking tape. This was so that some of the wet drips would run. It was left to dry then the teabags removed.

Above, this is it with the teabags removed. I'm kind of disappointed that the teastains are as dark as they are. I was hoping for paler colours but I'll work around that. (Go with the flow.) Maybe these could be rocks at the base of a waterfall... It's one of those paintings that you need to prop up against the wall beside where you sit so that each time you sit, you can look at it and think. The more you look at it, the more you'll see and then, just go from there. Good plan, Deb.

The nice thing about this one is that it doesn't smell bad. ;o) I also did not add colour with the teabags on it, like the last one, because I just don't like the idea of my good paintbrushes in tea grounds. When dry, I scrubbed the spilled grounds off with an old tooth brush.

This weekend, which only leaves today and tomorrow, I simply MUST get the Plaisance Falls drawing done out and sent off, too!!!

Now, to shower and go buy my flowers to plant. Their beds are all ready and waiting......