I want to give credit to Old Holland for producing this lovely blue colour which I’ve used to great effect in the background of this painting. It’s Caribbean Blue and is available from their suppliers which you can find if you go to their website at https://www.oldholland.com/watercolours/

The splashing of paint onto a watery stretched canvas is a great way to get a marbled type of background, on to which a transluscent wing like that of a dragonfly sits perfectly.

In order to make this work you do need to stretch your paper, but that’s not difficult and just takes a few minutes, and an hour or two of waiting while it dries. Take a look at my video on the subject here Don’t on any account try to hasten things with a hairdryer, as it will almost certainly pull the paper out of the tape glue, but you can put it in the sun or near a radiator to keep it warm and therefore drying.