Mulled Wine & Watercolor

Late to the bandwagon, I finally succumbed to my friend's persistent suggestions and starting reading and watching, A Game of Thrones.  This has resulted in two things: repeated self-scolding for not listening to my friend sooner, and overwhelming cravings for mulled wine every time I venture into Westeros.   

The Drink: Spiced Mulled Wine
The Place: The Wet Stain Studio, Chicago
The Art: Watercolor, Copic Marker, and Micron Pen illustration on Strathmore Bristol Board.

Click Read More Below for tasty deets!

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I used a combination of recipes crafting my Mulled Wine, starting off with a bottle of Rex Goliath Cabernet.  However, in the future, I would recommend against cheap wine. While Rex might work well for sipping on its own or in an iced sangria, it was too thin to stand up to the added orange and apple juices, and the drink would have befitted from a richer, stronger wine.  However, the finished drink was deliciously spicy, simmered with whole cinnamon sticks, star anise, and nearly a handful of cloves.  I added apple cider, juiced and zested oranges, as well as sliced up several plums and let all the flavors cook into the mixture.  It was torturous waiting for all the flavors to mix overnight, but I suffered through, and only taste tested once . . . or, twice or so . . .

Although I initially splashed the Mulled Wine on a sheet of Watercolor paper, similar to the Coffee Stained Owl, the paper warped much worse this time around and bleed furiously when I tried to use colored pens on it.  So I mixed up a wine-inspired hue with my Dr Ph Martin Watercolor inks and allowed wet rings to form on a sheet of Bristol.  Unlike the heavy, porous watercolor paper, Bristol is thin and far less absorbent.  This causes the liquid to sit on top of the paper until the water evaporates away, creating rich dark edges around the stain and beautiful varied tones. 

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Using Copic Caoi markers and Micron colored pens, I started illustrating a female form based around the shapes and placement of the watercolor rings.  I decided to leave the watercolor rings very visible, as design elements, instead of hiding them or turning them into an illustration themselves.  I went for an art nouveau aesthetic, and used the idea of three as a repeating motif: three birds, three rings, three levels of hair swirling back and forth. 

Bristol is ideal for work with pens, and it is the paper I use most often for illustration work.  I opt for Strathmore ultra-smooth and it's never let me down.  It is also good for work with watercolor and marker, as it does not buckle or warp very much and allows a certain sectioned look due to its low absorbancy. 

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The finished, scanned, touched up version has a more vibrant look to it, but the scanning process can sometimes be a pain in the butt, requiring lots of patience and LOTS of wine, mulled or not~  I think this piece will be available as prints.  It is going to be a part of a series, so some similarly inspired pieces are due to follow. 

If you have more questions about the process, the pictures, or just really want my mulled wine recipe feel free to contact me or leave a comment on any post and I'll get back to you! 

Also, if you just wanna talk about Game of Thrones . . .
<3

-Ali
The Wet Stain

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