Shout Out to Rubber Cement

This picture was in the last post-

You may have been wondering, "What's the glue for?".  I think I called it glue, and it is commonly used as a glue,
but actually, it's rubber cement.  And I use it as a masking agent.  It works like this:

1.  I apply the rubber cement over the area I want to protect. 

2.  Let dry.

3.  Then I apply as much paint and as many washes as I want.  The rubber cemented area resists the paint so it creates a hard edge where the two meet.  Also notice how the paint beads up when stroked across the rubber cement.  

Yup, that's a toothbrush in my hand. It's perfect for splattering paint!

4.  After the painting is completely dry, I remove the rubber cement with this tool oh-so-cleverly called a "rubber cement pick-up".  You just drag it across the page and it cleanly pulls up the rubber cement.  If you enjoyed peeling dried Elmer's glue from your fingers in elementary school (like I did, please tell me I'm not the only one) then you'd really like this part.

5.  Sometimes I leave all the hard edges but in this painting I went back and softened most of them using a clean, wet brush.  I also added one final, tiny splattering.

Bada-bing, bada-boom!

"Ready to Rock" watercolor on paper by Holly B. Johnson ©2012