#28: Water, Water Everywhere
Why not take a peek?
Instructions
1. Notice water in your environment, especially how it collects, moves, and interacts with light.
2. Experiment with using wet-on-wet media (pigment into water on paper), or wet-on-dry (water brushed on water-soluble pencil).
3. If you’re feeling really wild, try marbling.
4. Mess it up and try again.
Preamble: The Power of Water
Living in New York has meant getting accustomed to “hurricane season” much like living in Los Angeles acclimated me to “brushfire season” and “earthquake weather”. I started writing this post weeks ago, in the days after Hurricane Henri brushed past the East Coast, and today, we are still dealing with the lingering effects of Hurricane Ida. Sadly, the frequency and intensity of storms (and wildfires and drought) will only increase as climate change expands—we’re guaranteed to witness extreme examples of the power of water (or the lack thereof). If you have extra cash, here’s a list of organizations that are worth checking out around New Orleans in relief efforts. It’s also worth remembering that Henri was preceded by Grace, which pummeled Haiti just two days after a massive earthquake. Here are some resources on giving aid there.
After-the-fact donation is important, but so is taking action to mitigate climate change. Access to—and protection of—clean water is an important part of that. Here’s a useful overview of the protests around Line 3, part of the tar sands pipelines that endanger water and extend the fossil fuel industry with drastic emission consequences. I’ll also shamelessly plug the organization that my brother works for as a source of local information in your area, Food & Water Watch. And if you’re into podcasts, Mothers of Invention is a tremendous source of inspiration. We’re going to need it. Okay, back to the program.
Water Works
It’s been raining a lot recently. It’s amazing how much my mood can be influenced by the weather—duh, sunlight means vitamin D means happier. My Irish/Scottish DNA should be a little more tempered to cloudy days, but my childhood spent in Los Angeles bristles at the clouds. C’mon, Tony! Toni! Tone! was right.
But I’m not alone in this sentiment (shocker, I know), nor the urge to fight against that feeling. As one of my favorite meditation teachers, Tuere Sala put it recently:
“We can’t decide what mood we wake up in, or how much energy the body has—so if we create a concept of ‘how it’s supposed to be’ and then judge every moment against that, we’re only creating a whole lot of suffering for ourselves.”
Or, as the Oatmeal puts it:
Image: The Oatmeal on weather
So are there ways to use the natural moments of moisture (aka the essence of wetness, as per Zoolander)? I remember as a kid staring out the window when we’d be driving in the rain, and noticing how the droplets would hold steady, bump into each other to grow, and eventually WHOOSH off the window. (To be honest, I wasn’t as intrigued once I got a GameBoy)
The cycle of water to vapor and back is pretty fascinating—watching water is an easy way to get into the present moment—noticing where it collects, how it moves, and how it transforms into steam and ice.
Making Stuff with Water
I’ll admit it, I’ve never liked water-based media, especially watercolor. I don’t understand how to “make it look the way I want it” or to “look good”. Or maybe, I don’t understand that you can’t control it totally.
One breakthrough moment in actually enjoying water happened in one of my rare high-school art classes. As we were cleaning our brushes, we realized that the water from the sink was hard (or filled with super-funky/hazardous minerals, who knows, shout out to the Los Angeles Unified School District!) so we could drop pigment on top and it would sit on it. Then, drop a paper on top, pull it off, and presto, marbled paper.
Turns out you don’t need funky water, but can use corn starch and pigment or other materials.
Image: tutorial on marbling paper from Highley Varlet
After messing around with it and failing a bunch, I figured out that you need rather intense pigment (food coloring or similar), pretty strong paper (I used watercolor paper) and a LOT of time for it to dry.
So take some time to notice the water around you—hopefully it’s from mundane things like steam from some coffee, condensation from a shower, or sprinkles from a dry spot indoors. Then, make something inspired by it.
And whenever and however you can, help in the fight for universal access to clean water for all humans.
Music
Speaking of staring out the window and cloudy days, here’s a great loop from the Simpsons laid over a great song by HOME.
**** The bottom part *****
Check us out on Instagram @lookandmakeart — tag this prompt with #lookandmake28
Want to share what you did? YAY! Email with your name as you want it to appear. Archives of some or all messages will live on lookandmake.art
Have a prompt you want to share? DOUBLE YAY! Contact me.
You made it to the end. Thank you.