Collaborative art - what and why? My recent experience.

left: my painting, centre: finished, right: @pngdoodles

I recently finished a collaborative piece with someone I met online (her instagram is @pngdoodles - check it out if you like astronauts). It's not something I've ever done before, but I'd definitely be up for doing it again. We both learned a lot from making art we wouldn't usually make, and from each other.

She works digitally, using procreate. I paint analogue, currently watercolour. Once we'd made contact (me commenting on her post about doing a collab), I couldn't stop thinking about possibilities. I now had access to someone who could draw astronauts! Space nerd brain went nuts! Octopus alien underwater astronaut space thing!!! (I seem to be in an octopus phase - they're fun to paint). Digital watercolour hybrid thing!! But how? It couldn't really be a back and forth. That wouldn't physically work.

I made a sketch of what was on the inside of my eyes, sent it to her with a request that she do the actual drawing and line art, and got back this outline that, well, I really wanted to paint. It couldn't have been better. (The octopus could probably have had eight legs). This was actually going to work.

Once I had the outline, I started to transfer it to paper using a grid. Started with pencil, then went over in pen. Both of those things (grid and line art) are things I never usually do. And the drawing was detailed. It took a while. I realised afterwards some of my measurements were out. Never mind. Problem for later.

I was slightly worried about starting to paint. It's too easy to ruin watercolour, and the drawing had taken some time. I painted ideas in my sketchbook, going for the background first. My favourite of these was the glowy jellyfish. So, after short communication, glowy jellyfish happened. And then blue did, layer by layer. By this stage, I was on a roll.

But then I was done. On to the subject. That was confusing. Where did the light come from? What colour were the tubes supposed to be? What colour was the octopus? We had discussed choosing colours blind. I'm glad we didn't, although that could have been really cool. It's a busy picture. It doesn't need confused colours as well. It was wonderful to see her process for finding light and shadow. It seems to involve a sun emoji and lots of blue and yellow scribbles.

Once she had done her own colour and shading, I started on my part. This is the biggest, most detailed watercolour I have ever done. I enjoyed it, once I'd taken that first leap. Octopus first. Octopuses are more my territory. Then the astronaut suit.

I was experimenting with technique all the way through. Watercolour is still relatively new to me. As a way of learning, I couldn't recommend collaborative art more. You have to try new things, unless you both work in a very similar way. It forces you out of your comfort zone, to work with and around another artist. I realised the value of having paper towel on hand (I already need at least three brushes in my hand to paint properly - one for colour, one wet, one dry and hopefully clean, although that one always ends up both wet and colourful), and layering shade. This piece has metallic elements. How to paint them? What should I do with the inside of the helmet?

Once the painting was finished, photography became important. I don't often take high quality photos of my art - setting up my camera and finding the right light seems a hassle each time, or I haven't had it with me. So this was a great way to force myself to start. At the time of writing this, I still haven't taken a photo of this painting that I'm really happy with. I have stitched everything together, but it'll be easy to change the photo if I get a better one.

We Transfer. Useful website. I received a high quality image of the digital artwork, put it in procreate along with my best photo, and started playing with merging them. I've ended up with the same idea as I had at the start - a grid, showing one and then the other, using layers. This is where my measuring came back to bite - some parts didn't line up. I stretched it a little into shape. It's still not perfect, but I kind of like that.

I've really enjoyed this project. From connecting with another artist, learning about and experimenting with a different style of painting, to the end result. It's been a wonderful way to spend the first week of a new year. I'd recommend it to other artists, and do one again myself. And if you hadn't realised anything like this existed, I didn't a week ago, so you're not alone.