Fun with dots

This watercolor art activity is a belated entry for the Tinkersketch prompt of 'polka dots.' 

I started by making watercolor circles on a piece of watercolor paper. The largest dot is about an inch and a half wide. 

I wanted to add overlapping, transparent dots to this base. I tried some experiments with tissue paper, but it just wasn't transparent enough. So, I painted some dots onto tracing paper. The watery paint warped the paper, making the pigment gather in the valleys of the dots. Kind of interesting, but not what I was looking for. So I added some larger swaths of paint, using a fairly dry brush. 

After the paper was dry, I cut out the dots. You can see how ridged they are, below; I ended up not using them at all. 

Then I cut circles from the flat fields of paint. Much better! 

I arranged the dots on top of my dotted watercolor-paper background, and once they looked "right" to me, I picked up each one, brushed the back with matte Mod Podge, and smoothed it in place. Do not try to brush Mod Podge on top; since this is watercolor paint, you'll just smear color all over the place.

I like the results. I could have kept adding more layers, even. I had been trying to limit my color palette, but it seems to be hard for me to keep from straying to other sections of the color wheel! 
​xo