Power of the Sun

Once upon a time, I gifted a drawing to my boyfriend of a fat cat lazing in a huge cake. Being the wonderful boyfriend he is, it was displayed proudly on his refrigerator. After months and months of the sun pouring in on the construction paper drawing, the paper was a completely different color when it was time to take it down (only to move houses!)

Inspired by this transformation, I’ve done a few tests of the sun fading factor. Mostly, the tests were done with construction paper; but I also asked my boyfriend’s mother, Beverly, if watercolors faded. She is a talented watercolorist who painted a poster I designed for Without. I purchased some of the potential “fader” colors/brands she listed and tried to burn some designs into the paper for weeks, but none of them worked. I wonder if I’ll have to prepare the paint differently? Use less? Use more?

This is my favorite design so far that I made with construction paper. I don’t think it’s perfect—when I went on vacation, the skull was left to bleed into the paper way too much.

"Seasons"

I’m going to try this design again and possibly turn this particular piece into a mixed media venture.

To be continued…