CHARLES REID’S 5 DESIGN ESSENTIALS ARTISTSNETWORK.COM
Find the
Story in the Scene A Tested Approach for Creating More Compelling Compositions
10
WAYS TO PERK UP YOUR PAINTINGS W TH PEOPLE! WITH p. 64
THE WEATHER REPORT
Top Artists on the Best Conditions for Painting
OCTOBER 2019
YOU HAVE THE VISION
Kathy Hiner, kathyhinerart.com
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Contents
OCTOBER 2019
Features
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RESTRAINT & SIMPLICITY Joel Popadics’ misty atmospheric landscapes offer an alluring interplay of shapes and perspective. BY JOHN A. PARKS
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ON-SITE TO BEHOLD A plein air painter places more value on depicting a moment in time than on capturing accurate detail.
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BY DAVID HOWELL
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5 WAYS TO STRENGTHEN A COMPOSITION Follow Charles Reid’s practical and sublime advice on how to leverage composition to build a successful painting.
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PAINTING THE POETRY OF NATURE North Asian artists Hsin-I Kuo and JinSong Zhang share their unique takes on inspiration, expression, style and more.
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NATURAL WONDERS Sharon Pitts relishes the unpredictability of watercolor in her richly colored views of Earth’s bounty. BY AMY LEIBROCK
BY ISABELLE V. LIM
ArtistsNetwork.com
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OCTOBER 2019 Columns 4 EDITOR’S NOTE What do you and Albert Einstein have in common?
6 HAPPENINGS An artist explores the supernatural. PLUS: Alice Schille gets her due. BY MCKENZIE GRAHAM
12
ANATOMY OF A PAINTING Amelia Long honors a cherished Paris landmark. BY JERRY N. WEISS
14 CREATIVITY WORKSHOP Two artists capture their decades-long friendship through watercolor. BY LAURIE GOLDSTEINWARREN AND DORI BETH JOSIMOVICH
58 BURNING QUESTION What weather conditions most inspire you to paint? COMPILED BY ANNE HEVENER
60 WATERCOLOR ESSENTIALS Approach your next painting through the eyes of a stage designer.
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60
BY STEVE GRIGGS WITH SUE MARTIN GRIGGS
64 BRIGHT IDEAS Let figures help to narrate the story of a landscape. BY SAGNIK BISWAS
72 OPEN BOOK Use your sketchbook to test-drive color options. BY JEAN MACKAY
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ON THE COVER Charles Reid’s 5 Design Essentials 36 Find the Story in the Scene 60 The Weather Report 58 10 Ways to Perk Up Your Paintings With People 64 Evening Shadows of Prague (detail; watercolor on paper, 21x14) by Ron Stocke
@ARTISTSNETWORK Watercolor Artist (ISSN 1941-5451) is published six times a year in February, April, June, August, October and December by F+W Media, Inc., 10151 Carver Road, Suite 300, Blue Ash OH 45242; tel: 513/531-2222. Single copies: $7.99. Subscription rates: one year $21.97. Canadian subscriptions add $12 per year postal surcharge. Foreign subscriptions add $18 per year postal charge, and remit in U.S. funds. Watercolor Artist will not be responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or artwork. Only submissions with a self-addressed, stamped envelope will be returned. Volume 26, No. 5. Periodicals postage paid at Blue Ash, OH, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send all address changes to Watercolor Artist, P.O. Box 421751, Palm Coast, FL 32142-1751. F+W Media, Inc. Back issues are available at northlightshop.com or by calling 855/842-5267. GST R122594716. Canada Publications Mail Agreement No. 40025316. Canadian return address: 2835 Kew Drive, Windsor, ON N8T 3B7.
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Watercolor artist | OCTOBER 2019
THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF WATERCOLOR SENNELIER WATERCOLORS
FABRIANO ARTISTICO
RAPHAËL BRUSHES
CRETACOLOR PENCILS
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Editor’s Note
A
ny mention of Albert Einstein, and the image that comes to my mind has him standing at a chalkboard or perhaps sitting in his study amidst piles of books and papers. That’s why I find this photo of him, outside, enjoying a walk, especially appealing. The famous physicist, after all, had a strong connection to nature, finding in its “magnificent structure” the stimulus for his scientific exploration. Whereas an artist might seek to express this fascination
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In Memoriam: We were saddened to learn of the passing of Charles Reid, a master of watercolor, on June 1. In addition to Reid’s numerous achievements as an artist, he also devoted much of his life to teaching. He offered workshops around the globe, and also wrote 11 books and many articles to share his painting passion and expertise with others. We’re happy to share an excerpt from one such book on page 36.
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Watercolor artist | OCTOBER 2019
Watercolor Artist magazine is a registered trademark of F+W.
PHOTO BY CARA HUMMEL; ALBERT EINSTEIN: ERNST HAAS/GETTY IMAGES
in a painting, Einstein sought to express it in the art of a mathematical formula. In this issue, we visit with artists whose creative output is also inspired by nature. For New Jersey artist Joel Popadics (page 20), the effects of light and atmosphere are central to the exploration. These are also drivers behind the work of English artist David Howell (page 28), who travels the world, finding his inspiration in a range of scenery— from ancient streets in Saudi Arabia to the picturesque shores of southeastern England. On the other hand, New York artist Sharon Pitts (page 50), Taiwanese artist Hsin-I Kuo (page 42) and Chinese artist JinSong Zhang (page 42) are drawn to more intimate views of nature—a tangled bird’s nest, a lotus pond, flowers from a backyard garden. For all of these artists—and Einstein, too—the common denominator is an enchantment with the natural world and a need to respond to or make sense of its wonders with an act of creativity. WA
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Happenings
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Hills Become the Sun (watercolor and graphite on paper, 6½x4) COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST
Ægishjálmur (9) (watercolor and graphite on paper, 7½x5½) PRIVATE COLLECTION
To Hide Something (watercolor and graphite on paper, 6½x4) COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST
Stave for the Unspoken Charm (18) (watercolor and graphite on paper, 7½x5½) COLLECTION OF ZAHAR VAKS
/ MAKING A SPLASH /
Jesse Bransford Entranced by the history of folk magic traditions, artist Jesse Bransford (jessebransford.com) visited a friend in Iceland, excited to explore the region’s well-known culture of the supernatural. The two went to the Museum of Icelandic Witchcraft and Sorcery, where the artist found inspiration for years of research. “We took a big risk given the weather and went to the Strandir Coast,” he says. “It was early spring, and the entire region was empty. You could feel the spirit of the natural order there. The work that emerged came out of that folk magic and is very much indebted to those traditions.” Soon, publisher Fulgur approached Bransford about making his interpre-
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Watercolor artist | OCTOBER 2019
tive paintings into a book, and that’s how The Book of Staves was created. Bransford used the Hávamál as the “organizing principle,” since the poem narrates a series of spells. The artist illustrated them in the tradition of the historical manuscripts he’d been studying. “Symmetry and geometry are at the heart of all visual art,” he says. “Many cultures eschew the pictorial in favor of pure geometry.” Bransford’s choice of watercolor was strategic. “Watercolor has a relationship to paper that’s akin to the spells and manuscripts I was looking at,” he says. “The small scale really allows the subtle color shifts that watercolor can create to come to the fore.”
New + Notable / STUDIO STAPLES / Dehn Spring in Central Park Scarf [$55] This scarf prominently displays a reproduction of Adolf Dehn’s 1941 watercolor Spring in Central Park, featuring a view of New York City that includes the distinctive architecture of the Hampshire House and the Essex House. store.metmuseum.org
Albrecht Durer Watercolour Markers [$30-180] These markers, made in Germany, come in packs of five, 10, 20 or 30. The odorless markers include two nibs—a flexible brush and a stable fiber-tip nib with a 1-2 mm line width. They’re lightfast and won’t bleed through your paper. faber-castell.com
/ ON THE SHELVES / Whistler in Watercolor [$45] The result of collaboration between Lee Glazer, Emily Jacobson, Blythe McCarthy and Katherine Roeder, the book, Whistler in Watercolor, explores James McNeill Whistler’s reinvention through watercolor in the American market. Charles Lang Freer collected more than 50 watercolors by the artist, eventually bequeathing them to the Smithsonian in 1906. This is the first systematic study of these artworks, and includes figures, landscapes, nocturnes and interiors. yalebooks.com
Paint Yourself Positive [$25] Watercolorist Jean Haines has sold more than 94,000 books to date, and it’s easy to see why. Her approach to painting is a holistic one, incorporating mind, body and spirit, and her instruction isn’t just intended for professional artists. In this book, Haines will show you how painting in watercolor can enrich your life and lift your mood. searchpress.com
ArtistsNetwork.com
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Art sts OVER 60 Magazine
ART COMPETITION
Early-Bird Deadline: October 1, 2019
WE’RE LOOKING FOR ARTISTS AGE 60+ working in two dimensions in any art media. Submit your work and you could see it featured in the May 2020 issue of Artists Magazine!
10 WINNERS will be featured
prominently in Artists Magazine and will receive $250 EACH in cash prizes. For complete guidelines and to enter, visit
artistsnetwork.com/ art-competitions/over-60. ART FEATURED Marian Vida | Diverse Visions Tom Martin | It’s mostly this Richard Parker | Overherd Lin Souliere | Ancient Forest
Happenings / MUST-SEE SHOW /
Expressive Ink: Paintings by Yang Yanping and Zeng Shanqing
Control by Zeng Shanqing COURTESY OF THE ARTIST
Art Institute of Chicago Through November 10
In this exhibition, Yang Yanping and Zeng Shanqing’s first in a major American art museum, the artists’ pre- and post-cultural revolution paintings will be on display. The married artists were a part of the generation of Chinese creatives stifled by Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution from 1949 to the late 1970s. International influences were banned, and the work and expression of China’s artistic community were heavily regulated. Yanping originally was trained as an architect and worked in oil, but has since adopted the traditional Chinese media of ink on paper, focusing primarily on lotuses and landscapes. The Art Institute of Chicago notes that her work is “rooted in traditional Chinese painting but indisputably modern.”
On the other hand, Shanqing’s work is often figurative with horses—commonly accepted subjects in early revolutionary China. And yet, the artist was still subjected to several years of hard labor during the Revolution. According to the museum, Shanqing’s “contorted forms, sometimes in the fetal position, hint at the trauma of his earlier years.” artic.edu
ArtistsNetwork.com
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Happenings / MUST-SEE SHOW /
In a New Light: Alice Schille and the American Watercolor Movement
Discover the best art tips & techniques, videos, books, magazines, and inspiration.
Come explore our shop www.artistsnetwork.com/store/
COLLECTION OF ANN AND TOM HOAGLIN
Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio Through September 29
Mother and Child in France (watercolor on paper, 23½x19½) by Alice Schille
Columbus, Ohio-born artist Alice Schille is celebrated this year in honor of her 150th birthday—and her contribution to the American watercolor movement during a time when women often were left out of the fine art conversation. She was highly celebrated in the 20th century for her aptitude in watercolor, her world travels to Europe and Africa, and for introducing young Midwestern artists to European styles like Cubism. Nannette Maciejunes, the Columbus Museum of Art executive director, says, “She’s an important figure in art history, and we’re proud to be reintroducing her to the American public.” WA columbusmuseum.org.
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Anatomy of a Painting
The Long View An English landscape artist travels to Paris and paints one of its cherished sites. By Jerry N. Weiss
W
ith the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, relations between France and Great Britain began to thaw. The cultural benefits were almost immediate. Soon after the French defeat at Waterloo, British artists exhibited at the Paris Salon, and French painters sent their work to London. Art historian Patrick Noon has written that “a profound engagement between two previously unsympathetic schools of painting resulted in innovations that would radically affect the course of modern art in Western Europe.” Undoubtedly, the most famous example of cross-pollination was the epiphany that French painter Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) experienced in front of a painting by British artist John Constable (1776–1837). As in the war recently past, the British had the upper hand. Their art—particularly in the watercolor medium— was considered more advanced. One of the many British artists who visited France after the wars was a gifted amateur named Amelia Long (née Hume), Lady Farnborough (1762–1837). Her parents were art collectors who sat for their portraits by Romney and Reynolds, and her
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It appears that Long painted the broad sky before adding the distant cathedral. Once the upper portion was dry, Notre-Dame’s towers were laid in.
Notre-Dame From the Ile St. Louis (1819; watercolor on paper, 7x10¾) by Amelia Long
husband was a founder of the National Gallery. A noted horticulturalist, Long was the favorite student of watercolor prodigy Thomas Girtin (English, 1775– 1802), whose style influenced her work. From him, she learned the practices of applying broad washes, adding color to her sketches on the spot and using water reflections in her compositions. She also followed his example of choosing large, coarse sheets of paper, working with a limited palette and leaving incomplete passages. Long visited France at least by 1817, when she was painting in Normandy. Two years later, she painted Notre-Dame From the Ile St. Louis. While she’s best known for her English landscapes, it’s safe to venture that she never painted a more successful evocation of atmosphere than she did with this watercolor. WA Jerry N. Weiss is a contributing writer to fine art magazines and teaches at the Art Students League of New York.
Long’s panoramic view of Paris is reminiscent of similar compositions by her teacher, Thomas Girtin, whose work Long and her husband admired and collected.
GIVEN BY MRS. M. V. MACGEORGE/ VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM
Notre-Dame de Paris has long been a favorite subject of artists. Ground was broken for the cathedral in 1163, and building was largely completed by 1260. The grandeur of its Gothic design, flying buttresses and monumental twin towers made it a symbol of French pride—and the most popular attraction for visitors to Paris. “I believe,” wrote philosopher Jean de Jandun in the 14th century, “that this church offers the carefully discerning such cause for admiration that its inspection can scarcely sate the soul.”
Notre-Dame, placed in the distance, is seen backlit. Although the cathedral towers over city rooftops, its blue shadow mass connects it to neighboring buildings. Notre-Dame’s reflection in the Seine anchors the composition and seems to emanate naturally from the arched bridge in the middle distance.
A limited palette aids in the impression of atmospheric unity. Foreground tones are warmer and chromatic while distant colors are paler and cooler in temperature. The simplified color scheme and breadth of handling impart a spirit of freshness to Long’s painting.
The bridge is a most important element, traversing the center of the painting and providing a strong tonal accent. Closer to us, a series of small boats animates the view. The composition is constructed upon alternating vertical and horizontal shapes; broad planes of land and sky are complemented by urban architecture. In the foreground, the sweeping diagonal of the riverbank leads us into the scene.
ArtistsNetwork.com 13
Creativity Workshop
Two Friends, Two Paths Watercolor serves as the conduit for decades-long camaraderie and creativity. By Laurie Goldstein-Warren and Dori Beth Josimovich Artists Laurie Goldstein-Warren and Dori Beth Josimovich have forged a 20-year friendship through their mutual love of watercolor. The duo talks about how they support each other and—though their artistic practices differ—how they “see” each other through their creative work. Laurie: We met two decades ago at a plein air paintout in West Virginia, where we both lived at the time. The spark of friendship was immediate, and we continued to paint together weekly at each other’s home studio for years.
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Dori Beth: During this time, we also attended several art workshops together and belonged to the same art groups and guilds. We even competed in the same local art shows. Although competition can sometimes come between friends, we were—and continue to be—each other’s biggest supporter and cheerleader. Laurie: When I was accepted into Aqueous, my first international exhibition, in 2005, Dori Beth and her husband, Peter, accompanied me and my family to Pittsburgh for the event.
Laurie and Dori Beth painted these portraits as gifts for each other. Laurie painted Dori Beth in My Friend (left; watercolor on paper, 22x17), and Dori Beth painted Laurie in My Confidante (right; watercolor on paper, 22x15).
Dori Beth (left) and Laurie (below) work from their home studios 526 miles apart, but collaborate on ideas and provide advice that spans the physical distance.
Dori Beth: My family moved to Michigan 10 years ago, but Laurie and I have continued to maintain a strong connection across the miles. We make it a point to find time to paint together whenever one of us travels close to the other’s home. Laurie: Between visits, we also share and critique our current work through social media, emails and phone calls. We’ve influenced each other’s art, yet we each have our own voice in our paintings. Dori Beth paints with the heart of a colorist. She’s prolific and works loosely and quickly. I compose and paint my works with an emphasis on values. I’ve slowed my pace over time, now focusing on just one painting at a time. Dori Beth: We’ve learned so much from each other over the years. It’s a friendship that nurtures not only our creativity, but our souls. Laurie: Every artist should be so lucky to have a friend who offers creative and personal support and encouragement. I count Dori Beth among my greatest watercolor treasures.
See the duo’s watercolor interpretations of each other in the following two demos. ArtistsNetwork.com 15
Dori Beth’s demo
Laurie
Step 1 S
Step 2
I make a detailed drawing and apply masking tape to the highlights of the eyes. I then apply a light wash to the background using Hemalite burnt scarlet brown and Antwerp blue. I do this so the blank canvas doesn’t seem daunting. I then add a wash of the same colors over the hair and skin, using less blue.
I use Hemalite burnt scarlet brown, alizarin crimson and quinacridone gold (mixed with lemon yellow) to cut in around the face and to outline the eyes (detail). This helps me define the features as I work.
Step 3
Step 4
I continue working on the features, dropping in black, brown and purples to shape and define the eyebrows. I also use Antwerp blue, purple and alizarin crimson for the dark shadows on the neck. I add pinks to complete the lips, eyes and nose, and to flesh out the arms and cheeks. I apply quinacridone gold to the hair; the paint will shine through the layers even after I apply darker glazes.
I paint a wet-into-wet glaze of brown and purple over the hair. I then detail the hair and jacket. After removing the masking from the highlights of the eyes, I soften the areas using water.
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Final After covering the face with paper as a mask, I use a mouth atomizer to apply darker color to the background in Laurie (watercolor on paper, 22x24½). Dori Beth Josimovich has been painting for more than 20 years, primarily in watercolor. Through her art, she continues to explore new subjects and ideas, both from reality and her imagination. She has a strong following of students in her weekly watercolor classes held in her home studio. She resides in Southwest Michigan with her husband, Peter, and youngest daughter Piper.
TOOLKIT SURFACE
• Arches 140-lb. cold-pressed paper PAINTS
• Winsor & Newton: quinacridone gold, Antwerp blue, alizarin crimson, ivory black, opera pink, red, lemon yellow • Daniel Smith: Hemalite burnt scarlet brown • Cheap Joe’s: royal amethyst purple MISCELLANEOUS
• Gator Board, staples, Holbein mouth atomizer, Pebeo drawing gum
ArtistsNetwork.com 17
Laurie’s demo
Dori Beth TOOLKIT SURFACE
• Fabriano Artistico 140-lb. coldpressed paper PAINTS
• Daniel Smith: quinacridone gold, quinacridone rose • Winsor & Newton: lamp black, cobalt, Antwerp blue MISCELLANEOUS
• masking tape, masking fluid, Pebeo drawing gum, Holbein mouth atomizer
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OCTOBER 2019
Step 1
Step 2
I make a detailed drawing based on value shapes, joining like values together in one shape regardless of color.
Before I atomize the background, I mask off the subject and seal the edges of the masking tape using masking fluid. One of the benefits of atomized backgrounds is that I don’t have to use masking fluid to keep background color off the subject.
Step 3
Step 4
After I apply layers of atomized background, I remove the masking fluid.
I paint the dark values first.
Step 5 After each application of dark values dries, I apply the next lightest value over it.
Try this at home CREATE A PAINTING OF A BELOVED FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER. Send a JPEG (with a resolution of 72 ppi) of your finished painting to wcamag@fwmedia.com. Use “Creativity Workshop” in the subject line—or follow @ArtistsNetwork on Instagram and share your painting there: #everywatercolor_friends.
Final After removing the remaining masking on the background, I touch up any edges, softening some with a misting of water. I also touch the dark background paint onto some edges of the subject in Dori (watercolor on paper, 30x22). WA West Virginia-based Laurie Goldstein-Warren (warrenwatercolors.com) has been painting in watercolor for almost 20 years and enjoys experimenting with new techniques. She has exhibited her awardwinning work in the U.S., Japan, Turkey, Greece, Canada and China. She received the High Winds Medal at the 150th Anniversary Exhibition of the American Watecolor Society. She also has been invited to exhibit and demonstrate at the International Watercolour Masters Exhibition in 2020. Currently, she travels and teaches workshops across the U.S. Her professional associations include signature membership in the West Virginia Watercolor Society, Transparent Watercolor Society of America, National Watercolor Society and Watercolor West, and a Gold Medal Fellowship in the Northwest Watercolor Society.
ArtistsNetwork.com 19
JOEL POPADICS TAKES A LESS-IS-MORE APPROACH THAT LENDS AN ENIGMATIC AMBIENCE TO HIS ATMOSPHERIC LANDSCAPES. By John A. Parks
20 Watercolor artist |
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O
ne of the strongest ways in which a painting can intrigue is through restraint—the sense that information is being withheld and that drama is being underplayed. Hints and suggestions often engage the viewer in a way that complete disclosure and spectacular displays never do. This is Joel Popadics’ strategy. He renders landscapes with a quiet simplicity, paring shapes and forms to the point of transparent clarity and then painting them with subtly judged values. With this approach, it’s scarcely surprising that the artist is at his best in foggy weather, in which complex elements are reduced to luminous outlines and the details largely vanish. Shrouded in mist, the landscape takes on curious properties where recognition can be difficult and forms can loom enigmatically.
Following the Allure of Fog & Mist Popadics’ paintings brilliantly evoke the atmosphere as they engage in the formal interplay of shape, identity and the deep aerial perspective created by forms enveloped in fog. “I love fog and mist,” he says. “I’m attracted to their serenity and peacefulness. I love to set up my easel and be enveloped in these elements. Fog reminds me of an old black-and-white Sherlock Holmes movie in which the action is set in mist—something that added extra suspense to the film. “On an artistic level, I like how it simplifies and obscures detail,” the artist continues. “It reduces objects to simple shapes and adds a sense of mystery to my work.” As much as Popadics finds atmospheric weather conditions exciting, he says that painting outdoors in foggy weather presents its fair share of challenges. “The damp air can really slow down the drying time,” he says.
A Maine Morning (watercolor on paper, 22x28)
ArtistsNetwork.com 21
“If my car is nearby, I’ll dry the paint by using the car’s heater; otherwise, I’d just be standing around, literally waiting for paint to dry.” While the artist’s paintings of fog and mist present his approach in the strongest terms, his handling of other weather scenarios deploys a similar strategy of simplification. Details are heavily edited, and the paintings work by the power of restraint and suggestion as much as by their clarity of rendering. “I think great realism captures the impression of nature’s effects,” Popadics says. “It shouldn’t be merely an inventory of detail. I think the best statements of light and shadow are simple. To me, paintings overloaded with detail are tiresome. When a painting is a little under-
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OCTOBER 2019
The sketch (at left) for Surf at Acadia National Park (above; watercolor on paper, 22x28) shows the evolution from plein air study to painting.
worked, the viewer gets to participate in the picture, too. A well-placed stroke or two, instead of 20 or 30, that describes something convincingly, is masterful.”
Chasing Goals & the Golden Hour Popadics generally collects his images directly from nature, working outdoors in all weather. “When I began as a landscape painter, I assumed a location
LEFT Noank Harbor (watercolor on paper, 14x20) BOTTOM Boats & Pier (watercolor on paper, 14x22)
The Joy of Watercolor
would magically inspire me,” he recalls, “but that wasn’t the case. Often, I found myself wandering aimlessly around looking for something that lived up to my expectations. After an hour, I’d go home. “I soon realized that if I kept searching for the ‘perfect’ scene, I’d never get anything done, so I set goals for myself instead,” he says. “I took an inventory of what I did well and looked for areas that needed improvement. For example, if my sycamore trees lacked the proper texture, the next time I ventured out, I’d paint the first sycamore I encountered. Now, every time I go out, I have a problem
to solve and am able to get right down to work. This way I’m always learning, and I’m much more productive.” Popadics’ discipline in painting extends to his choice of time and light. “I try to get out in the early morning or late afternoon during the golden hour,” he says. “At that time, the landscape is colorful, and the shadows are long. Midday, the light is flat, and all the color is washed out of the landscape. I have an app on my phone that notifies me when the golden hour will occur based on my location. It’s very handy.” While Popadics remains open to all manner of landscape views, he finds
Popadics enjoys the chance happenings that watercolor offers. “John Singer Sargent is quoted as describing watercolor painting as ‘making the best of an emergency,’ ” says the artist. “I agree. Painting in watercolor often feels like an aerobatic routine where everything has to be done in a certain order and if there’s just one misstep, it’s all over. That kind of tension has its advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, it makes me focus more intensely, but on the other, it can be defeatist.” Although watercolor has its challenges, Popadics remains a huge champion of the medium. “Watercolor brings a feeling of air, spontaneity and joy to my landscapes,” he says. “When a watercolor is done well, there’s a freshness about it that radiates light and atmosphere. I’m a bit of a control freak, and the medium is unpredictable. Watercolor reminds me to let go and express myself freely. Many times I begin a painting and think, ‘Oh my, this isn’t going to end well !’ But to my delight, the washes dry in a serendipitous way. I have a moment of Zen when I paint a sky and the wet paper is just right. If all goes well, I feel like the creator churning up clouds. It’s exhilarating, and this feeling shows up in the work.”
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“Watercolor brings a feeling of air, spontaneity and joy to my landscapes. When a watercolor is done well, there’s a freshness about it that radiates light and atmosphere.”
himself often returning to particular situations. “I’m content to set up my easel along the edge of a body of water,” he says. “Lakes, streams and oceans are all among my favorite things to paint. I’m happiest on an old weathered dock or pier overlooking a marina filled with boats.”
Moving From Outdoors to the Studio The evolution of Popadics’ studio paintings begins outdoors. “I spend an hour or two painting on location,” he says, “but after that the light changes. I get down as much information in my watercolor sketch as
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possible. Many plein air painters finish up what they do on location, put it in a frame and show it. I do that, too, but I prefer to hold on to my outdoor work, especially if it’s from a place where I might not return—perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime trip. And then sometimes I go outside just to paint for practice.” The artist works up his finished watercolors based on these plein air sketches. “I’ve accumulated a rather large stack of sketches over the years,” he says. “I use them as references for skies, trees, boats and other subjects in my paintings.” In his studio, Popadics begins a painting by selecting a watercolor sketch done on location as the basis for the larger work. “I then work up a few small thumbnail sketches,” he says. “After I decide on a particular thumbnail, I’ll do a 5x7-inch pencil drawing where I work out my composition. From this pencil sketch,
ABOVE Belfast Reflections (watercolor on paper, 14x20) RIGHT Pilings in the Harbor (watercolor on paper, 22x28)
I’ll do a contour drawing on a larger piece of watercolor paper.” This final drawing serves as a simple outline for placing some of the main elements. “It’s not too complicated, as I prefer to save the energy for the painting,” Popadics says. “If I draw too much, I become a ‘filler-inner’ when I paint.”
Keeping an Even Touch Once the drawing is complete, Popadics is ready to paint. “I generally start with the lightest area in the painting, usually the sky,” he says. “I soak the entire sheet of paper with water and use a wet-into-wet technique. I really want to dazzle the viewer with this—to make it appear easy, as if created by happenstance.”
Once the sky is working to his satisfaction, the artist turns his attention to the other parts of the painting. “Next, I mass in the elements of the landscape,” he says. “After all of the paper is covered, I’ll mass in the shadows. I’m able to judge my values better—and I’m less likely to overwork the painting—if all of the white paper is covered. I don’t want my watercolor to look labored and muddy, so I try not to do too many layers—just the local color, its shadow and the darkest accent. I may intentionally leave a small part of my picture a little underdone and let the frame finish the work.” Although watercolor is usually a speedy medium, Popadics takes his time when completing his paintings.
Tips for Beginners. “Drawing is really important for the beginner; draw as much as you can. Making art is a numbers game; the more you make, the better you get. There’s an old saying in painting: ‘It takes a hundred to make one proper.’ “I really believe that’s true. Keep your initial expectations realistic; if there’s one little section of the watercolor that turned out well, consider it a tremendous success.” —Joel Popadics
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“I leave paintings that are in progress all around my studio,” he says. “I’ll have as many as five or six in various stages. Sometimes I’ll look at a piece for days or weeks, determining what needs work. I don’t always know when it’s finished; sometimes I’m still painting as I’m framing the darn thing.” Popadics’ approach to brushing is in keeping with the restraint and simplicity of his vision. He doesn’t go in for dramatic brushstrokes or spectacular watercolor techniques, such as dripping or splashing. Instead, he uses an even touch across the work with sufficient action to keep the surface lively and engaging but not so much as to draw unwarranted attention to the handling.
Embracing the Atmospherics The strength of Popadic’s approach is on view in Pilings in the Harbor (on page 25), in which a luminous gray sky sheds an ethereal light on a limpid, misted sea. The rocks in the
foreground are rendered in high contrast with simple shapes while the boats in the distance resolve to shimmering gray silhouettes. The painting as a whole evokes the eerie calm and stillness of a foggy morning. In other paintings, atmospherics and simplification become more complex. In Ground Mist, Shelburne Farms (below), for instance, cattle are rendered as fairly sharp silhouettes against a bank of mist. Behind this, the air clears to reveal a delicate tree line while above, an early morning sky radiates a warm orange light. Here the artist uses fine control of soft and hard edges to alternate clear outlines with more suggestive passages. The way in which atmospheric effects can evoke feelings is explored in Temple of Hephaestus (at right), a painting the artist made on location in Greece. Working on a gray October day, he found the brilliant Greek light to be soft and damp, enveloping the temple in a delicate shroud of thin mist. The trees are reduced to soft, almost-flat elements while the detail is picked up again in the foreground via the stone steps. The painting suggests some of the powerful feelings of a deep historical past that the artist felt on his visit.
Creating a Sense of Connection In the end, it’s this emotional response by the viewers and the resulting sense of connection that drives Popadics. “I think that as artists, our highest purpose
ABOVE Temple of Hephaestus (watercolor on paper, 10x14) LEFT Ground Mist, Shelburne Farms (watercolor on paper, 22x28)
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John A. Parks is a painter, a writer and a member of the faculty of the School of Visual Arts in New York.
Meet the Artist
KATE FAUST
is to pursue and capture beauty in our work,” he says. “Collectors and art appreciators have told me how peaceful my paintings make them feel, and I take that as the greatest compliment. I want viewers to have an emotional reaction to my work. I want them to feel as though they’ve experienced a similar effect or to recall a particular moment in time.” In Popadics’ paintings, the artist and viewer combine forces to share powerful and positive feelings about times, places and the joys of being in the world. WA
Joel Popadics (watercolorpop.com) was born in New Jersey and studied illustration at the School of Visual Arts, in New York. He subsequently worked for three years as an assistant to the renowned illustrator James McMullan. After working as an illustrator for some years, Popadics ventured into fine art. His work has been shown in museums, galleries and group exhibitions across the U.S., and his paintings are represented in many public and private collections. He’s the recipient of numerous national awards, including the Edgar A. Whitney Memorial Award from the Hudson Valley Art Association; the Grumbacher Gold Medal from the California Watercolor Association; and the Silver Medal of Honor (twice) from the New Jersey Watercolor Society. He currently serves as vice president of the American Watercolor Society and is a past president of the New Jersey Watercolor Society. An avid teacher, the artist leads workshops across the country and teaches a weekly class at the Ridgewood Art Institute, in Ridgewood, N.J. ArtistsNetwork.com 27
On-Site to Behold FEW THINGS IN AN ARTIST’S LIFE CAN RIVAL THE JOY OF DISCOVERING A CAPTIVATING SCENE, SPENDING TIME TO OBSERVE AND UNDERSTAND IT, AND CAPTURING ITS UNIQUE, EPHEMERAL ATMOSPHERE THROUGH PAINT. By David Howell
I
grew up in the countryside, and from an early age I was particularly aware of the changing weather and seasons. As my interest in painting developed, that awareness of my surroundings progressed into analyzing colors and tones and the effects of different times of the year and times of any individual day. I learned that nothing stays the same. I’m primarily a landscape and marine painter, and whenever I’m outside, I see potential pictures. For me, painting isn’t about super-accurate detail but much more about the appeal of a particular moment in time and location. I want the way I feel about the subject to be apparent to the viewer. Atmosphere is very much a part of that, and it’s invariably influenced by the weather, the season and the time of day, all of which I want to capture in my painting. A lazy summer landscape will have a very different feel than a hastily sketched winter subject. I don’t adhere strictly to topographical accuracy, which I feel should never get in the way of a good painting, and there are times when I shuffle elements of the composition about or leave something out altogether. What’s essential is to take the trouble to spend time with the subject. Today we’re fully equipped with various digital devices that can easily record a location or event, and many painters find cameras a convenient way to record
Venice is a beautiful and unique city, but it can get extraordinarily busy, particularly with the tourist throng around Piazza San Marco and the Rialto. Across the Grand Canal, however, it gets quieter—and even quieter still—if you go in the winter. The colors are softer and the light is more interesting then, as in Rio di San Barnaba, Venice (watercolor on paper, 12x14), a painting of the canal and church of San Bar naba.
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a subject and then work from the photograph. But there’s a danger, in that relying too heavily on photography can actually stop you from taking the time to look. If you don’t take the trouble or experience the occasional discomfort of working outside, or at least spend time looking out in the open, you’ll never see all there is to see in terms of color, tonal relationships and the little details that make all the difference to your composition.
Working From Life Most cameras can’t cope with the tonal extremes that the average landscape presents. Cameras invariably overexpose the sky and/or underexpose the area below the horizon line. That means that skies will lose color and tone, and shadows and darker areas will be too dark. Taking the time to stand and stare—or to sit down to sketch or paint—will tell a very different story: softer contrasts and color where you wouldn’t expect it. Taking this plein air approach allows you to see so much more, and painting is about seeing—or, even more—about what you want other people to see. Working on the spot does bring a host of problems that have to be solved. It means sometimes having to cope with heat or cold, with onlookers and occasionally wildlife. It frequently isn’t easy—but then painting isn’t meant to be easy, and work produced under somewhat
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trying circumstances often turns out to have a vibrancy and sparkle about it that’s lacking in a carefully worked studio piece. In the right outdoor conditions, there’s nothing nicer than settling down to paint for a few hours, but often the location or the conditions aren’t very accommodating. If the weather is too bad for painting, it’s worthwhile just taking time to stand and observe. (If you want to take a photo too, that’s fine, just don’t let it be a substitute for looking.) Try to analyze the colors, the tones and the shapes so that you can remember them hours later. Then ask yourself: Why this scene? What is it about the location and moment that attracts me? What’s the point of interest? How do I turn it into a painting?
To Start With a Sketch I live in the wilds of England’s North Yorkshire countryside, and my home
I regularly go beating for the local shoot with a dog and a sketchbook. Apart from the fact that I love working a dog, this is an opportunity to be out in the woods and surrounding countryside in winter conditions. I painted Stearsby Beaters (watercolor on paper, 14x20) in the studio from a very basic sketch of beaters and dogs standing around in the snow awaiting instructions. It was very cold, and the afternoon sky was an extraordinary color. I went back the following day to get more detail on the tree shapes.
So often, subjects appear when least expected. I had arrived in the rain, on a motorcycle, at my hotel for the night in Loches, in the Loire region of France, and headed to a restaurant in search of a beer and something to eat. Loches in the Rain (at left; watercolor on paper, 10x10) was the view through the window of the dining room, and with the fading light, it turned into a murky, misty panorama. I used crayon and pencil for the preliminary sketch (below), as it was simply too wet for attempting anything else. I loved the almost monochrome colors, and the way the light and weather simplified the details of the houses with the church tower dominating the scene. The following morning was bright and sunny, and the view looked completely different with none of the atmosphere created by the previous evening’s weather.
is surrounded by farmland and forest. It’s a stunning location, beautiful in the summer, raw and tough in the winter, and fascinating in between. It constantly changes, so I need to adjust colors and tones from day to day. Shadows move and skies and colors change according to the light, the time of day and the weather. This variability is why I always create a small sketch before painting en plein air—to capture the original inspiration. Even when I have the time and supplies to paint for hours, I start with a little pencil drawing, even if it’s just a two- or three-minute sketch. This sketch enables me to work out the composition, establish lights and darks and, most importantly, identify the direction of the light. It’s critically important at this point to determine the location of the point of interest, because two or three ArtistsNetwork.com 31
I lived and worked in Saudi Arabia in the 1970s and 80s and spent as much time as possible exploring and painting in both the desert and mountainous regions. I found the landscape absolutely compelling. Modern communications and increasing prosperity had brought huge changes to the region, but there were still Bedouin (nomadic peoples) and camels in the desert, and it sometimes seemed that little had changed for centuries. This studio watercolor, The Trail From Sa’dah, Yemen (watercolor on paper, 15x23), is based on sketches and photos from my time there.
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hours later it may look completely different. The sun will move around and the shadows with it. It can be a great frustration to see a view you’d like to paint, wait a few days, and then find that the colors have moved on, leaves now cover trees that were bare last time you saw them, or a golden stubble field has been plowed. If circumstances allow, I’ll make a color sketch, either with pen and watercolor or, less frequently, with colored pencil. I use a retractable brush, a small 12 half-pan Winsor & Newton Bottle Box (so-called because it has a built-in water reservoir) and PITT waterproof pens from Faber-Castell. This combination is the ultimate in portability. Everything slips comfortably into a pocket alongside a ring-bound sketchbook.
Equipment Tip Whenever possible, I work sitting on a Walkstool, a three-legged collapsible stool that sits higher than the average stool and which I find very comfortable. It allows me to work with the painting on my lap and the paint box on my left arm, with a water container on the ground. This approach is comfortable enough that I can work for hours at a time.
Crafting the Image Composition is vital—it’s the difference between a painting that’s OK but not special and one that stands out. A painter has to understand that painting is all about producing something that looks good to the viewer rather than a topographically accurate rendition of the scene. In other words: Be prepared to cheat a little. You don’t have to paint a row of pylons just because they’re strung across your subject; leave them out if you prefer it that way. Similarly, if there’s a herd of cows under a group of trees, but it’s out of your line of sight, that doesn’t mean that you can’t put it in to enhance your picture. Ultimately, what matters most is the painting.
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First, I determine why I want to paint a particular scene; I decide what’s important and look for a central feature from which to build a composition. In a landscape, this could be a group of trees, a distant church, fence posts or a herd of cattle. I’m a great believer in the golden- section approach to composition, which, in its simplest terms, means that the point of interest should be roughly one-third of the distance from the left or right
edge of the painting—and even better if it’s also one-third from the top or bottom. Like all rules, this one can be broken, but, in general, adherence to this principle improves composition, allows the viewer’s eye to travel into the picture and assists with the illusion of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface. Don’t be distracted halfway through the painting with another point of interest; stick with the original plan.
Painting Process Once I’m ready to paint, I like to get color onto the paper as quickly as possible. I go without any preliminary drawings, and use a big brush to create broad washes, with a view to setting the scene and getting the feel of the place in color. When I do the occasional demonstration, there’s nearly always a sharp intake of breath as I dive into action, along with some concern about the amount of water that’s sloshing about (sometimes requiring evasive action by the closest members of the audience). This isn’t bravado. I’ve found that a bold start, rather than a lot of careful drawing, encourages a looser watercolor. It isn’t unknown for me to put a painting under the tap to soften colors and the surface. I’ll usually employ a big squirrel hair mop or petit-gris brush for this
I’ve been teaching at Dedham Hall in Essex for years. It’s surrounded by coastal subjects, but, when teaching, I focus on the students’ work rather than my own. The End of the Line (at left; watercolor on paper, 19x19) is a happy memory of an occasion when I was able to spend an hour or so working after the students had headed back to base. I’d spotted the potential of this little group of old boats and wrecks at Felixstowe Ferry earlier that afternoon, and I produced a 12x8-inch pen-and-watercolor sketch (above), finishing the larger watercolor later in the studio.
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There’s a flat, low-lying region in the southwest of England known as the Somerset Levels, where the land regularly floods in the winter. The sketch for King’s Moor in Flood (watercolor on paper, 11x15) was done on a winter’s day, with heavy rain clouds and a lot of water on the moor. I loved the fence sticking out of the water and the willow trees in the mid-distance, which balance the reeds on the left. Inevitably, in this wet moorland landscape, there are birds.
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stage, and while the washes are still wet, I’ll work more color in with a big sable brush so that the basic structure of the painting begins to come together. There’s a downside to this sort of approach because there does come a time when the painting needs to dry before getting on with the next stage. If there’s a lot of water involved, this can take some time. In the studio, this is time for a coffee; with an on-the-scene audience, it’s a time for questions. Then it’s on with the composition, establishing tones and color. I use big brushes—rarely smaller than a size 12 and often a 16 or 20 sable. Using big brushes effectively encourages bold, loose work rather than getting too fiddly. Objects such as mooring lines and telegraph wires will require the use of a rigger brush, but getting bogged down using small brushes is bad news.
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While all this is going on, I’ll have my original sketch in front of me, but I accept that there comes a point at which a painting takes on a life of its own. The final result will never be quite the way that I planned it, but usually near enough.
About Atmosphere Atmosphere is a matter of color, tone and intensity. Capturing it is essentially being able to paint things as they are, rather than as you think they should be. As ever, this requires observation—spending time looking
and analyzing, and it’s one of the reasons that I’m such an advocate of spending time with the subject on the spot. For instance, a cold, wet winter landscape may reveal interesting colors in lichen and dead grasses and fascinating variations in grays into the distance. It’s always worth the effort of getting cold and wet to see what’s happening in the sky. With a marine scene, there can be a surprising variety of color. The color of the sea will change according to the weather conditions, what’s under the surface and what the sky is doing. I’ve recently been working in Brittany, in
Northwestern France. The sea colors there range from deep, cold blues to cerulean and emerald in varying intensity. Off the coast of my native Yorkshire, on the other hand, the sea on a cold winter’s day is more likely to be rough and gray or even brown. Again, observation is vitally important to get colors and tones as they are rather than as you think they should be. Considering my emphasis on color and tones, it’s hardly surprising that I have a selection of paints that I know will produce any color I want pretty well. Familiarity over many years means that my process of color mixing is intuitive. My basic palette consists of 12 colors: a warm and cool version of the three primary colors plus six earth colors (see “Essential Palette,” at right). I carry all of these in my smallest paint box. If I’m using a larger box, I’ll add cerulean blue for a colder blue, Prussian blue for an even darker and colder blue, and brown madder usually sneaks in. That’s about it. These colors will work anywhere, whether in the Arabian desert or paddling around in the mud on an East Anglican marsh. I don’t usually have greens on board—I prefer to mix my own, often directly on the paper. I start by painting some blue, adding a little bit of red, and then adding yellow in varying quantities. It’s the complementary color principle in action. I travel a lot. Last week I was in Brittany in France, painting along the coast. A couple of months ago I was working in India. My paints go with me wherever I go. As I’ve grown older, I’ve found that locations I reveled in painting years ago have changed beyond all recognition. Little creeks and harbors have been developed into marinas; deserted beaches now have hotels; even Venice has the obscenity of cruise liners squeezing through the Bacino di San Marco. I guess some would call it progress, but it’s hard on the scenery. With a little effort, however, there are places to be found where you can work in peace, and where the 21st century doesn’t make itself quite so apparent—places where it’s worthwhile to slow down and look deeply, to study the landscape and the light, and to use your paints to tell the story of what you see. WA
Essential Palette COOL:
• cobalt blue • cadmium lemon • alizarin crimson WARM:
• ultramarine blue • cadmium yellow • cadmium red EARTH:
• yellow ochre • raw sienna • raw umber • light red • burnt sienna • burnt umber
Meet the Artist David Howell (davidhowell.co.uk) is a professional painter based in the U.K. who works in watercolor, oil and pastel. The artist’s favorite subjects are landscapes, marinescapes, horse racing, field sports and anything else that takes his fancy. He travels widely but is just as happy to be tramping around familiar territory, watching and recording changing weather and seasons. He exhibits with various U.K. galleries and at national-level exhibitions. He’s a popular teacher and the author of both books and magazine articles on painting. Howell is a member and past president of the U.K.’s Royal Society of Marine Artists.
To learn more about Howell’s painting techniques, read his books, Painting With Watercolours and Painting With Oils (both Crowood Press), which are available in print and digital format at crowood.com. He’s also the subject of “Just Watercolour,” a video available from apvfilms.com.
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5 WAYS TO
STRENGTHEN A COMPOSITION CHARLES REID DEMONSTRATES PRACTICAL STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO ENSURE YOUR PAINTING BEGINS WITH A STRONG AND STRIKING DESIGN.
Boats at the Center for Wooden Boats—Seattle
Before you paint a scene, decide what interests you most. What first caught your eye? What part of the scene will be difficult to paint or will detract from the overall composition? Skip that part if possible, or find a way to de-emphasize it. If there’s an object you’d like to move, check the values and colors around it first. Avoid moving objects to areas where the background values would be too similar. Remember that light-valued objects, in particular, need to be surrounded by darker values that will help define their forms. 36 Watercolor artist |
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1. KEEP IT SIMPLE Andrew Wyeth was a master of simplification. I looked at a book of his paintings of Maine and realized that he usually painted only one subject, using just two contrasting values. Sometimes the large light shapes dominate; sometimes the large dark shapes dominate. When you look at a Wyeth painting upside down, you can see a wonderful abstract design of two simple shapes with contrasting values. With Wyeth in mind, I’ve taken a student’s well-painted but complicated painting (at right) and sketched one of its subjects separately (below). I never make pencil compositions when planning a picture. Instead, I create small color sketches like the one shown. They help me plan my colors and values more effectively than pencil.
House at Gundy’s Harbor In this painting by one of my students, we can see a bridge and rocks, a shed and truck, and a house on a hill. These smaller groups would have worked better as separate paintings.
KEEP IT SMALL The bigger the picture, the harder it is to simplify. When working outside, limit yourself to quarter sheets of paper. Simplify, and then simplify some more. Can you make a picture with only two simple shapes—one of connected darks and one of connected lights?
Simplifying the House Remember that details get lost and colors fade with distance. In this reworking of the house on the hill, I’ve either lightened or lost details such as the shutters to create a sense of distance and to avoid cluttering the mostly white building. I’ve darkened the ground on the horizon at the right, the chimneys and the cupola, and the cast shadow next to the house to stress its whiteness.
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2. CREATE A VALUE SKETCH Capture the “Big Idea” in a Value Sketch I made this value sketch for a morning demonstration at Mirror Pond in Bend, Oregon. Value can make or break a composition. Painting a thumbnail sketch using one color—capturing the “big idea” of the composition—helps establish the most obvious contrasts of lights and darks, and keeps you from getting confused by smaller, subtler variations within the values. Try to keep all the darks connected.
Include More Subtleties in the Color Version Your color version need not be an exact copy of the monochromatic value sketch (at left, above). Once you’ve found the values, you can paint what you want to see and include more subtleties (at right, above). Think of the land and its reflection as a combined shape as you paint wet-into-wet. After it dries, find a subtle separation between the land and its reflection.
Sky Colors
Light Greens
Basic Tree Color
Tree Reflections
Rock Formations
cerulean blue, warming toward the horizon with alizarin crimson and cadmium orange
cerulean blue, cadmium yellow pale or cadmium lemon
raw sienna, viridian, new gamboge and cobalt blue
ultramarine blue or viridian with raw sienna and/or raw umber
carmine or alizarin crimson, cerulean blue or cobalt blue, and raw sienna or yellow ochre
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3. AVOID OVERWORKING I never make preliminary drawings in pencil since the object placement isn’t as important as the placement of color and value shapes. It sometimes
happens that my preliminary color sketches turn out better than the final product. We artists sometimes try too hard in our finished paintings.
Reference Photo The bright sunlight created strong cast shadow shapes. On an overcast day, you wouldn’t see shadows like these, so you may end up painting windows and small details.
Preliminary Sketch Compare this sketch to the finished painting (below). I like the warmer spots of color behind the buildings and the warmth under the roofline in this version, but the water is too confused and busy. I wish I’d had a larger, darker, simpler shape for the water, and more of the light-value walkway.
Finished Painting Catalina Yacht Club looks too cool, but aside from that, I’m satisfied. I simplified the water into an overall middle value. The light shape of the walkway and the dark shadow and cast shadow shapes in the buildings almost meet my goal of 75 percent large simple shapes.
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4. LIMIT VALUE CHANGES Minimize the number of times you change values in a painting. If you see four or more values, squint to see if you can combine some of them so that your composition will be more unified.
Value Is Critical Color isn’t as important as value in Log—Greens Farms. This is one of my early paintings in which I concentrated on values, and on losing and finding edges. There’s almost no color variation, but it’s a striking painting. The white paper gives such a wonderful contrast to the middarks in the log, the trees and the house in the background, as well as the dark value of the patch of grass revealed by the melted snow.
Values Support the Story
COURTESY OF AMERICAN HERITAGE
I used simple values to support the “story” of Missouri River Boat. I wanted the riverboat, the cow, the rough men manning the boat and the elderly lady in the cabin to contrast with the young woman gazing toward the future and her new life in Oregon. The young woman is a large shape, and the only figure with a light value. She becomes the center of interest because she’s unique. Wyeth’s wonderful compositions offer so much inspiration. He divided them in half, making the bottom part dark and the upper part light. I followed this rule here, but concentrated mainly on the relative sizes of the two shapes of light and dark in relation to the entire picture space. Establish the big, simple shapes first; they’ll grab the eye. Then add the interesting smaller happenings within the big shapes to tell your painting story.
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5. CONNECT SHAPES So many students separate elements in their paintings according to the subject. In reality, yes, a boat is one thing and water is another thing, but painting isn’t about reality; it’s about perception. Distinct objects may be perceived as one shape when their values are similar. One of my “usually true” rules is that a painting with 75-percent large shapes and 25-percent small shapes will be more effective than a painting with 25-percent large shapes and 75-percent small shapes. Busier, fussier paintings tend to be less effective. A good way to make larger shapes is to connect areas of equal value. WA
Simplifying the Value Shapes In this initial sketch, I concentrated on the white boats and their white reflections. There were obvious connections between the shapes, regardless of the different subjects.
Complicating the Scene We all want too much when painting a finished piece. I was intrigued by the water ripples in The Center for Wooden Boats—Seattle, but I wish I’d left the water as simple as I’d made it in my sketch. The shapes here are more separate, each object more distinct. Because the shapes are broken into smaller pieces, the scene is busier.
This article is based on an excerpt from Charles Reid’s Watercolor Basics, a new North Light Classic Editions 10th Anniversary book, to be released in December.
Meet the Artist Charles Reid (1937–2019) passed away in June 2019. The awardwinning artist specialized in watercolor. He taught classes and workshops, and exhibited his work in both the United States and Europe. Visit charlesreidart.com for more information. ArtistsNetwork.com 41
PA I N T I N G T H E
Poetry of Nature FOR NORTH ASIAN ARTISTS HSIN-I KUO OF TAIWAN AND JINSONG ZHANG OF CHINA, WATERCOLOR IS THE PERFECT MEDIUM FOR CONVEYING THE BEAUTY AND MYSTERY OF THE NATURAL WORLD. by Isabelle V. Lim 42 Watercolor artist |
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ainting is one of the oldest, continuous artistic traditions in Asia and, consequently, it’s also a form of art that has long been dominated by men. More recently, however, women artists in Asia—especially those working in watercolor—have been making successful forays into the painting field. Artists Hsin-I Kuo and JinSong Zhang are two such examples. The two women enjoy a similar cultural background, speak the same language and share a love of the watercolor medium. Their artwork, however, offers distinct expressions of their own individual visions, inspired by nature, and then cultivated within their own inner worlds. I had the pleasure of meeting the artists in their home studios and spoke to each of them about their art-making lives, their creative processes and their painting methods in watercolor.
ABOVE Lotus Pond and Koi (watercolor on paper, 30x41) by Hsin-I Kuo RIGHT Spring Greeters (watercolor on paper, 12x8¼) by JinSong Zhang
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ON INSPIRATION
Kuo: I strongly believe that inspiration is revealed quietly when the mind is free and unaware of the environment. In the past, I sought out subjects and objects—such as colorful, discarded beverage cans— to paint. Later, I came to realize that the subject lacked a personal quality. The stunning chaos and bright colors weren’t connected to my own inspiration. The lotus ponds, on the other hand, may be ordinary, but my imagination is speaking when the viewers peer into this creative space.
Hsin-I Kuo Kuo is a native of Taichung, located on the western side of central Taiwan. The city is a gateway for exploring the country’s mountainous interior. Kuo attended the National Taichung University of Education, earning an MFA in 2016. She lives in Taichung in a three-story building. She converted the second floor into her painting studio. There, Kuo keeps two 6½-feet-long working tables to support two oversized paintings that may be in progress at any one time. “The tables can be joined easily for paintings that are longer than 6 feet,” Kuo says. “Or, I can paint the whole piece upright by leaning it against the wall.” The artist’s work focuses on lotus ponds, a compelling subject that has inspired her art-making for more than six years. “I never get tired of painting the lotus ponds,” Kuo says. “Whenever I start a new piece, it’s just like meeting a new friend and happily making a fresh connection.” She looks to nature to find beauty but turns inward to create artwork that communicates on a deeper level. “We must be humble in the face of nature,” she says. “To compose a painting, I connect my eyes with my inmost heart to dig deeper.”
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Zhang: I’m inspired by nature. I observe vivid natural imagery in different moods and lighting. Every morning, I linger happily in my home garden to watch the many buds and blossoms greet the morning sun. The dewdrops on the petals and leaves are
so inspiring. This vitality calls me out to paint. This intimate observation of the petals and leaves enhances my floral paintings. My studio has abundant natural lighting with windows that open out to the garden for inspiration. The blooms I paint originate in my garden, but it’s my inspiration that keeps the subject fresh.
ON CHOOSING WATERCOLOR Kuo: Watercolor fits my personality well. Other water-based materials are compatible with watercolor, so I often mix Chinese ink, and other colored inks and dyes, in my work.
Zhang: The medium expresses my concepts well. It’s a friendly medium for the language of art and a lovely tool for communicating with people.
JinSong Zhang Zhang was born in Hefei, the capital of the Anhui Province, in China. Zhang holds a B.A. in textile and apparel design from the Soochow University and also completed a postgraduate degree in media arts in the International School of Software at Wuhan University. She currently lives and paints in Suzhou, in China’s Jiangsu Province. Zhang’s love of the watercolor medium began when she studied watercolor in college. The flow of paint on paper—with colors merging and blending magically—shares a kinship with silk painting, of which she’s a master. “One can never predict the flow of the watercolor on the paper,” Zhang says, “but when the visual effects create luminosity and brilliant lights, these are unalterable.” Zhang has many painters interested in learning from her. She welcomes students to her home studio on a regular basis. And, a national publisher in Beijing has compiled her art and tutorials into three books that are selling well throughout China.
LEFT In Quietly Waiting (watercolor on paper, 30x41), Kuo describes the lonely red flower as “dancing above its imperfect surroundings.” Her concept arose as a metaphor to describe a loneliness that calls out for some loving attention. “The color blue in the painting represents melancholy and coldness,” Kuo says. “The warm red is meant to show the joy of being the protagonist in the painting. The contrasting play between hues provides visual vibration and energy.”
ABOVE Of her watercolor, Persimmons Ruyi (watercolor on paper, 21x30), Zhang says: “In Chinese culture, both Ruyi and persimmons possess auspicious meanings. Ruyi means ‘as you wish,’ and persimmons represent fortune, because of their ripened golden hues. For my setup, I filled a typical Chinese bamboo basket with fruit and placed everything on a sheet of white silk. The blue glass bowl provides a complementary hue to the orange tones. The painting process was smooth and joyful, as I know the fruits by heart.”
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ON EXPRESSION
Kuo: We all have our own ways of communicating. Painting is an art, and is just another channel for artists to realize their hearts and to share with others. Often, I hear comments that my paintings are “tight.” I might be explaining everything more clearly than in traditional watercolor, but it’s my personal way of expressing myself. The reason I paint on a large surface is for the challenge. Few watercolorists have escaped this size limitation. Large paintings offer broader excitement as there’s no fixed pattern and no limitation.
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Zhang: What I care about most is how to translate the character and charm of my floral subjects into my paintings. I paint from a live still life setup and some photo references. The still life setup allows for direct observation which encourages more honesty in terms of color and color temperature. I like to convey my ideas with bold marks and an expressive approach to color. I lay down a dark background with color washes. This process allows me to see the highlight details and the lightest sections. Then, I try to keep the other layers thin and pure.
It’s important to be able to control the water and the interactions of cool and warm tones. I find that’s the way to see and convey the effects of the strong light.
ON COLOR
Kuo: Colors can alter a viewer’s mood or feelings about a painting. Although I paint a single subject matter, each piece has its own individual connotation. In order to invite the rich atmosphere of the lotus pond, the impression of cold and warm colors must merge cohesively. I want my lotus ponds to convey calm, so viewers want to observe longer.
LEFT Blue and White Bowl (watercolor on paper, 21¼x30) by JinSong Zhang BELOW The Catch of the Reflection (watercolor on paper, 44½x22) by Hsin-I Kuo
Zhang: I prefer the impression of bold colors although these must obviously match well with the authenticity of the flowers. I love all colors.
ON STYLE
Kuo: I don’t have a particular style, as I take different plans and approaches whenever a creation commences. There’s no standard tactic in terms of technique. All problems are solved during the creative process.
Kuo: My paintings are derived from my personal vision, perspective and understanding. The thematic floral paintings are based largely on the flowers in my home garden, which are mostly Chinese varieties. There are millions of floral artists out there, and we’re painting some similar subjects. I admire this acclaimed work, but I don’t allow my works to be influenced. I express every single brushstroke from my own heart.
Kuo’s Toolkit PAPER
• Arches 140- or 300-lb. or Waterford 140-lb., mounted on acid-free foam board BRUSHES
• Variety of medium-sized round brushes PAINT
• Sennelier, Daniel Smith, Maimeri, Mission MISCELLANEOUS
• Masking fluid (used sparingly as needed)
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“Every morning, I linger happily in my home garden to watch the many buds and blossoms greet the morning sun. The dewdrops on the petals and leaves are so inspiring.” —JINSONG ZHANG
ON SHARING ART AND TECHNIQUE
Kuo: There are no shortages of opportunities to exhibit in Taiwan and abroad, and I choose from these invitations carefully. Zhang: I teach fundamental sketching and watercolor techniques in my home studio as well as design classes at the Institute of Construction and Communication, in Suzhou. I accept a number of invitations to hold workshops and demonstrations around China.
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As for exhibitions, I participate in selective shows in China, and recently my paintings were showcased with a group of Chinese watercolor artists in Austria. Going forward, I’d like to focus more on my painting. Entering national competitions is always a rewarding goal.
ON CULTURAL DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN EAST AND WEST
Kuo: Cultural diversity and art are the treasures of humanity. There’s no geographical distinction between East and West as long as we speak the
Zhang’s Toolkit PAPER
• Arches 140-lb. in 22x30 and 15x22 BRUSHES
• Variety of round brushes from DaVinci Artissimo and Martini, good-quality Chinese brushes PAINT
• Paul Rubens, Schmincke
ABOVE Lotus Pond Theater (watercolor on paper, 40x60) by Hsin-I Kuo LEFT Elegant Chrysanthemum (watercolor on paper, 10¼x15) by JinSong Zhang
truth of beauty and goodness. I embrace humanity. Zhang: Western art is inspired by nature and humanity while Eastern art is based largely on visual observation. Western painting strongly displays an individual artist’s inner feelings while Eastern painting represents the direct imitation of the artist’s vision and perception. In China, most professional artists create their artwork according to a theme set forth by the national art exhibitions and competitions. It’s an art culture that celebrates technique over creativity. Because of the connection of the internet, however, things are changing
gradually. I can testify to this from my own teaching experience; my students welcome my suggestions to express their inner expression rather than simply painting what they see. They seem to enjoy the process more and are very eager to learn.
ON THE POPULARITY OF WATERCOLOR
Kuo: There’s an active trend to paint with watercolor in Taiwan. Collectors are looking seriously into collecting watercolor paintings. My works are collected by both Taiwanese and international art lovers. The convenience of internet networking strengthens the communication among artists across the globe. It’s important to share Eastern symbols and to celebrate the Taiwanese identity with the world; however, each artist enjoys an independent identity that reflects the uniqueness of his or her own culture. Zhang: Watercolor is actually the most practiced art medium in China. It’s
common to find watercolor departments in the universities. The internet, which links the world together; Chinese translations of books from foreign publishers; visits by international artists—these all inspire and motivate Chinese artists. They’re keen to develop new skills and techniques, and to integrate traditional Chinese watercolor into contemporary styles. The unique combination has become popular, which is welcome not only in China but across the world. The Chinese collectors who put a high value on traditional watercolors are becoming more relaxed with their investments, collecting more new and modern watercolor artworks. WA Hong Kong-based artist and writer, Isabelle V. Lim ( isabelleart.com), has painted in watercolor since childhood. She also works in pastel and has earned Master Pastelist status in the Pastel Society of America and the Société des Pastellistes de France, and Master Circle status in the International Association of Pastel Societies. ArtistsNetwork.com 49
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Natural
Wonders SHARON PITTS PAINTS THE NATURAL WORLD IN A STYLE THAT MAKES THE MOST OF THE VARIETY OF COLOR AND SHAPE IN NATURE. By Amy Leibrock
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haron Pitts’ first memorable art experience occurred in third grade. When her teacher asked the class to draw a spring picture, the image of a butterfly popped into Pitts’ head, so she took out her paper and crayons and went to work. A colorful, intricate drawing soon filled the entire page. “My teacher looked at it with her eyeballs widened, and all the kids sitting near me stared at it,” she says. “I remember how special that made me feel, and that feeling never went away. I still get that feeling when I’m working.” Today, Pitts paints the natural world—trees, flowers, nests, leaves—in a style that’s representational but with abstract qualities. Vivid color draws the viewer into tangles of branches, petals and leaves that burst off saturated backgrounds. And although the artist has remained true to nature themes, it’s primarily the process of art-making rather than the subject matter itself that has sustained her throughout her career. She approaches each painting as an experiment and rarely has a clear idea of how she wants each to look when it’s completed. “I’ve learned to value the unexpected in the process,“ says Pitts, who teaches watercolor technique classes at the Montclair Art Museum, in New Jersey, and in travel workshops around the world. “I often tell my students that watercolor is for the adventurous. Don’t be afraid to go out of your comfort zone.” To Pitts, watercolor is like a partner who pushes her to discover new things. “I watch how watercolor flows, how it merges, how it dries,” she says. “What might have been considered mistakes become opportunities to try something unplanned. In many ways, creativity comes from moving to Plan B.”
Gustav’s Forest (watercolor on paper, 11x11)
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WORKING FOR ART After encouragement from other art teachers throughout her schooling, Pitts majored in art at the University of Illinois, Chicago, focusing on painting, photography and sculpture; she worked her way through art school by taking temporary office jobs. She was offered permanent jobs along the way, but art remained her top priority. “I remember always being aware of the fact that it would be an extremely big mistake if I didn’t make sure to keep the arts part of my life,” she says. As a student and young artist, Pitts painted primarily in acrylic. After marrying and having her first child, she read that the artist Paul Klee worked in watercolor when his children were young because the medium was more mobile and flexible than acrylic or oil. Pitts was familiar with watercolor from color-study work in college, so the new mother bought watercolors, paper and brushes and started playing. “Almost immediately, I remembered how much I loved the transparent look of watercolor,” Pitts says. “It’s a very independent-minded medium; it really wants to do what it wants to do. I love working back and forth between letting it do what it’s going to do and trying to control it.” Watercolor has been Pitts’ medium of choice ever since. She painted florals for a while, which allowed her to explore design and color. Other favorite subjects have included cowboy boots, Hawaiian shirts and kimonos. But after suffering the loss of her younger son when he was 18, Pitts suddenly wanted to paint trees. “After he
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died, I found my art evolving into these tree paintings without even considering them,” she says. “They just came to me. Painting them gave me a certain feeling of comfort.”
GETTING LOST IN THE PROCESS Pitts starts many of her paintings en plein air, often at gardens near her home in New Jersey. “I find fascinating things all around me,” she says. Just seeing a branch outside her window gets her thinking about how she’d draw and paint it. After beginning work outside, she brings the painting back to the studio. “I start adding a little and playing around with the background, exploring a couple of ideas from my imagination. Then I might look at some photos to see if there are other ideas that I might be able to add,” she says. Each painting draws inspiration from a combination of real life, photos, imagination and ideas from previous paintings. Pitts isn’t interested in making an exact copy of nature. “I don’t find that interesting, and I don’t think I’d paint if that were the case,” she says. Pitts used to rely heavily on an initial drawing, but she works more loosely now. She only draws if she thinks she might lose her way in a complex subject, like the nest paintings she has been painting in recent years. She found the subject of Nest I, Van Vleck (above) during one of her local garden sessions. Transfixed by a nest entangled in a large branch cut from a tree, she asked permission to take
the nature vignette back to her studio. Once there, she wrestled with propping it up so she could paint it. She determined it needed to be painted in a fairly large, horizontal format, so she cut a 25x45-inch of Arches cold-pressed paper from a roll. She then clipped the paper to foam core, propped it on an easel and started to draw the loose intertwined pile of leaves and twigs. “It was a real challenge,” she says. “Once I got the drawing down, I took a deep breath.” To prep for painting, Pitts creates separate palettes of individual colors—one for blues and one for greens, for example. She then lays the paper flat on the studio table. To begin Nest I, Van Vleck, Pitts painted one long twig and then another, ensuring that each was dry before painting the next. After the paint has dried, she often puts the piece back on the easel and asks herself: “How is it developing? Is it coming into balance? Are the colors I want in it featured?” She goes on to explain, “I answer those questions in my mind, place the painting back on the table and execute what I think the piece requires. And then I go through this process again until it begins to take shape.” To create the balance she desires, Pitts focuses on color. “If I want a nest to be really vibrant with a touch of whimsy, I might start with a bright orange,” she says. She’ll mix the orange, start with it in one area and work
ABOVE Nest I, Van Vleck (watercolor on paper, 25x45) RIGHT At the Iris Garden (watercolor on paper, 22x30)
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LEFT Vortex Nest, II (watercolor on paper, 36x36) BELOW Golden Leaves (watercolor on paper, 11x11)
until the orange is balanced throughout the painting. Then she might mix a toned-down yellow and repeat the process, following it with a rust color. “I observe how the brighter colors look with the duller colors, and then I might introduce another bright color, say, a rose,” she says. “I might decide to revisit the orange and rose again because I don’t paint all the orange at once and all the rose at once.” Once she achieves the balance and colors of the subject, she adds the background, most often in a contrasting color to the subject’s dominant colors. After Nest I, Van Vleck was completed, Pitts was surprised by how wildly colorful and exuberant it was. “I’d never painted anything quite like this nest,” she says. “There was something about it that refreshed my work in a way that I’d never experienced before.”
EVOLVING IDEAS After Pitts painted several more nests from life, she was able to create additional works strictly from memory and imagination, such as Vortex Nest, II (above). Many of her series evolve in this way—from the real to the imagined. “I can’t put every idea I get into every painting, so I’ll save them for subsequent ones,” she says. Take Pitts’ tree trunk paintings. The first one the artist painted was a commission of a real setting featuring a foreground of trees through which a bay and a distant island can be seen. As Pitts was painting that scene, she considered other ways to depict it, and the background became more mystical and abstract in subsequent paintings. In Mystery of Trees I (opposite), for example, the trees became a screen that reveals a more distant, experimental background. “I was trying to paint the trees so that they looked good together, but each had a unique personality,” she
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says. When the trees were dry, she painted the background in vertical slivers from the top down. “I started with a dark blue mixed with a tiny bit of super dark green,” she says. “When I got two-thirds of the way down and everything was still wet, I added in a little green to make the transition from sky to landscape, and then I moved on to the next sliver.”
BECOMING ONE After completing hundreds of paintings, Pitts still isn’t quite sure where her ideas come from, but she’s quite sure that art is in her being. Her advice for artists looking for ideas and inspiration? “Take a walk, look around and listen to that soft inner voice,” she says. “Ideas come in through the side door, perhaps not fully formed or completely understood, and sometimes ideas that are initially unrelated become one idea.” Amy Leibrock is a Cincinnati-based freelance writer and content manager.
Turn for a demo Meet the Artist Sharon Pitts (sharonpitts.com) holds a B.A. in plastic and graphic arts from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and has studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Barnes Foundation and Montclair State University. Her work is featured in collections throughout the United States and in numerous exhibitions. As a workshop instructor, she teaches at the Yard School of Art, Montclair Art Museum, in Montclair, N.J., and gives workshops around the world. She’s a member of Allied Artists of America and Studio Montclair, Inc., and is listed in Who’s Who in American Art.
Mystery of Trees I (watercolor on paper, 40x60)
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demo
A Swirl of Color The strategic placement of complementary and analogous hues adds a sense of vitality to the composition. Toolkit PAINTS
• Pitts prefers different brands of paint for different colors, which she tracks in a notebook. BRUSHES
• The artist likes rounds, especially Isabey. “There’s something about the weight, the amount of paint they can hold, the points, the various sizes and shapes—I love that brand,” she says. She’ll use small brushes for details, but isn’t afraid to use larger brushes. “I love to pick up a big No. 12 and use just the point of it. It changes the way I paint, and it makes my work fresher and more fun.”
Step 1 I used a 3H pencil to sketch the basic layout, ensuring the lines weren’t too specific. I added masking fluid to save delicate linear areas and shapes and then slowly began painting along and among the lines of the sketch.
Step 2
Step 3
I sketched additional areas where necessary to strengthen the composition. I then painted sections around the nest, emphasizing balance of color.
I continued building up lines and shapes, observing how the primary elements began to emerge from the secondary elements.
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Step 4
Step 5
I used complementary colors in areas that I wanted to emphasize and bring forward; I applied analogous colors where I felt the areas needed to be subdued.
To maintain definition, I painted wet next to dry for lines and shapes. Note how the colors and shapes affect one another and contribute to the flow of the subject.
Final Step
Once I determined that the composition had a strong presence, I painted the background in Nest II, Tuscany (watercolor on paper, 22x30). WA ArtistsNetwork.com 57
Burning Question
What weather conditions most inspire you to pick up brush and paint?
Michael Reardon Cool, foggy or rainy weather calls me to the studio to paint. In fact, around my house, such weather is known as “a painting day.” The high humidity means the paint dries very slowly, leading to washes that flow smoothly and wet-into-wet applications that blend effortlessly. I have to admit that I even keep a hygrometer near my desk. When the relative humidity gets down near 60 percent, I take it as a sign to wrap up the painting and move on to pencil studies. I often remind students that there’s a reason that the British do watercolors and the Navajo do sand paintings. While watercolor can be done in drier conditions, it’s much more pleasurable and effective on drippy days.
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Gloucester Atypical (watercolor on paper, 12x16) by Frank Eber
Eric Wiegardt When painting en plein air, I like a slightly overcast day; it allows me to set up anywhere I choose without having sunlight directly on my paper or palette. Direct sunlight on my painting makes it difficult to judge value and color relationships. If I’m simply gathering photo references, however, a bright sunny day can be quite inspiring.
Frank Eber When painting outside, I find that the best weather condition is cooler temperatures with either sunny, partly cloudy or cloudy skies and, preferably, no wind! It can be very difficult to do decent washes when it’s either too hot or too windy. I also really love painting on days with moderate fog.
Ron Stocke I like painting in early morning or late afternoon when the temperatures are warm enough that the washes dry, but not too quickly. I love a strong light source that dissolves the edges and changes the color of my subject. I use the shadows that are cast by backlit objects to create mood and help direct the viewer’s eye.
“
While watercolor can be done in drier conditions, it’s much more pleasurable and effective on drippy days. — MICHAEL REARDON
”
Kathie George A bright sunny day is far and away my favorite sort of day for painting. In particular, morning sunlight or the late afternoon golden light really makes my mouth water. It’s the shadows, you see. The contrast between the sunlit areas of my subject and the shadows that are being cast are so much fun to paint. I love that cell phones are built with such wonderful cameras nowadays. When I don’t have my brush, I’ll be snapping photos like crazy from which to work later in the studio. ArtistsNetwork.com 59
Watercolor Essentials
A
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One Fleeting Moment (watercolor on paper, 15x11)
Setting the Stage Consider these four key elements when preparing to tell a visual story. By Steve Griggs with Sue Martin Griggs
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hat would a movie or play be without a carefully planned set to create a backdrop to the story being told? When set designers prepare for a play or movie, the first thing they do is map out the scene. They pay attention to the energy and vibe as well as to the essential details that best create the backdrop and draw the audience into the story. Without a compelling backdrop, the story is incomplete. So it is for visual art. When I paint, I don’t try to depict exactly what my eyes and brain register. Instead, I interpret, evaluate and manipulate the two-dimensional scene to find an intriguing set of shapes and details that will allow for the most interesting story to be told. I start by creating sketches to use as reference, changing the focus, elements and shapes to find the combination that will enable the story to emerge. To determine which elements of the scene will create the most interesting painting, I consider several factors: space division, format, composition and painting execution. To demonstrate, I’ll walk you through my creative process for One Fleeting Moment (at left).
SPACE DIVISION I begin by imagining the actual scene before me (A) as a page, and I look for specific divisions among the elements. There are a multitude of divisions (B) that can be created from one scene.
B
C
I observe the space between buildings, trees, light poles, cars, mountains, etc. Typically, I can find at least one division that shows sky or some form of background. Another division shows the middle ground featuring buildings or geological forms, while another indicates the foreground, often featuring people, animals or foliage. The key is identifying and simplifying the large shapes from which to build. All other design decisions, such as background and center of interest, depend on how the space
D
divisions are laid out. Design elements enhance the movement of the primary actor or ensemble in the scene I’ll paint.
FORMAT Once I’ve determined the space division I want to highlight, I can then select the format, or orientation, that will best showcase my intent for the scene or for the creative element I most want to accentuate, such as the interaction between individuals or the scale of a scene.
Our brains typically default to the landscape format because they’re conditioned to the horizontal orientation of TV, movie and computer screens. But when I’m choosing the format for a painting, I consider how to use format to make the scene more dramatic, interesting or compelling. Key to this process are strong compositional and tonal elements that enhance my idea. With this in mind, I choose from one of five formats: square (C), landscape (D), elongated landscape (E), portrait (F) or elongated portrait (G). ArtistsNetwork.com 61
Watercolor Essentials
E
F
G
SCENE ANALYSIS When I’m painting a cityscape on site, the scene is almost always dynamic. People are walking, cars are moving and there’s a constant flow of activity. Because of this, I don’t have stationary actors with which to work. I solve this problem of moving figures by developing my own figures and groups of people and placing them where I feel they belong (H). Of course, stationary elements are present in the cityscape, too— buildings, awnings, trees, parked cars—and they aid the design by
H
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I
J
acting as visual anchors. I also look for elements that will enhance the story through strong verticals, such as poles, sign posts and windows. In addition, I note pockets of color that will help accentuate the perspective and direct attention to the center of interest.
PAINTING EXECUTION At this point in the process, I’ve made the structural design decisions that create the vision for the painting and am ready to lay in the initial background applications by introducing both warm and cool washes (I; detail). With the structural decisions firmed up and the background washes down, I’m able to exercise creative freedom as I develop the painting. Using darker values, I move the painting toward the viewer and around the center of interest (J; detail). To complete the piece, I introduce flourishing marks, highlights, dry brushstrokes and details that enhance the drama and bring out the compelling story (K).
K
By the time I add final details to the painting (L and on page 60), I’ve created a backdrop that draws in the viewer. The stage has been set, the actors are in place, and all that’s left is for the viewer to tap into memories, feelings and emotions to complete a personal and dramatic story. WA
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Steve Griggs (stevegriggswatercolor. com) is a nationally known, awardwinning artist and workshop instructor from Colorado. Sue Martin Griggs, also known as The Artist Whisperer, is his life and business partner.
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Bright Ideas
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lacing people in paintings can enhance the visual experience for viewers, helping them sense life within a scene and become a part of the story being told. The myth that painting people in watercolor is difficult can be dispelled with some practice and courage. Consider these 10 practical tips for adding figures to your landscape paintings. 1. Position the figure in relation to or in context with the subject. A figure shouldn’t distract the viewer from the main subject; instead, it should enhance the visual experience. The viewer often identifies with the solitary figure in the landscape and thus connects with the painting, so the importance of a relevant figure shouldn’t be underestimated. 2. Depict dynamism. Unlike other elements in a landscape painting, figures are dynamic subjects. When drawing them en plein air, they need to be rendered quickly because their postures and expressions are fleeting. Simplify their shapes; what matters most is their essence and gesture. Details of facial features and clothing are often superfluous. 3. Use proportion effectively. To provide a sense of realism, keep in
The prominent figure in A Lonely Street (watercolor on paper, 14¼x10¼) draws the viewer into the landscape.
Peopling the Landscape Follow these 10 easy tips for adding a little life to your paintings. By Sagnik Biswas 64 Watercolor artist |
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“
A figure shouldn’t distract the viewer from the main subject; instead, it should enhance the visual experience.
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mind that the human figure is 1 part head: 6 parts torso—and that the head of an adult is proportionally smaller than that of a child’s. 4. The placement of the head and the position of the shoulders are the most critical components. They can denote what specific task a figure is performing. Once these gestures are captured, painting the rest of the body is relatively easy. The lower part of the body can be created by the drag of a wet brush unless you need to convey movement or a specific activity, such as kicking a ball. 5. Let the color of one part of the body run into another. Doing so can create a more credible visual experience. We may not realize it, but when we observe things around us, adjacent colors tend to merge.
ABOVE In Up the Stairs (watercolor on paper, 14¼x10¼), I depicted the group of people as a unit. LEFT Most of the figures’ heads fall on the line of vision in Towards Light (watercolor on paper, 10¼x14¼).
6. Keep perspective in mind. Besides the gesture, the other important aspect of portraying realistic figures in a painting is the principle of perspective. Considering that most landscapes are drawn at eye level, all of the figures’ heads, whether near or distant, must fall in one line: the line of vision. As figures appear closer to the foreground, they increase in size, but the heads still remain touching the line of vision.
7. Consider locale when working on skin tones. When painting skin tones in tropical or warm-weather countries, burnt sienna is very effective. For coldweather countries, jaune brilliant can be useful. In both cases, orange can be used to warm the skin tone (in sun); burnt umber or Van Dyke brown can cool it (in shade). Using a complementary color such as blue to denote shade may gray down the flesh tones, causing them to lose their natural warmth and vitality. 8. Accessorize the figure. Go beyond the figure to add a sense of realism and vitality to your landscape paintings. Include items such as walking sticks, scarves, open umbrellas, rucksacks, books, packages, sunglasses and smartphones to convey the environment and setting. ArtistsNetwork.com 65
Bright Ideas Similarly, the inclusion of animals, such as dogs and cats, can go a long way in accessorizing the figure. 9. Depict a group of people as one shape. Instead of painting individual figures, it’s easier—and more visually impactful—to show them as a unit. Less is always more. Avoid the “fence” effect, in which all figures appear at equal intervals, much like the posts in a fence. Also, vary the distances between figure groupings. 10. “Ground” the figure. Use shadows and reflections to connect the individual to the ground on which he’s standing, walking or sitting. WA As an architect, it was Sagnik Biswas’ dream to study Roman architecture, but once he visited Uffizi, he fell in love with painting, a hobby which has now withstood the seven-year itch. “My watercolors are like a personal memoir of my myriad travels,” he says, “that tell stories of people, architecture and places.” Visit paintpaperbrush.com for more.
66 Watercolor artist |
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LEFT Shadows ground the walking figures in Turning the Corner (watercolor on paper, 14¼x10¼). BELOW A guidebook, smartphones, purses, sunglasses and hats add a sense of real life to A Point of View (watercolor on paper, 11x15).
artist’s marketplace WORKSHOPS
Tom Lynch
ALABAMA
1/14-1/17/20, Tucson. Contact: 630/851-2652 Tomlynch@msn.com or www.TomLynch.com
Tony Couch, AWS
Jan Sitts
10/7-10/10/19, Huntsville. Contact: 678/513-6676, toncouch@mindspring.com
AS OTHER ART ORGANIZATIONS CONTACT ME, I WILL POST PROPOSED DATES FOR UPCOMING CLASSES. 11/4-11/6/19, Sedona. Sedona Arts Center. 5/4-5/6/20, Sedona. Sedona Arts Center. 11/2-11/4/20, Sedona. Sedona Arts Center. Contact: Jennifer, 928/282-3809
Huntsville Museum of Art 9/23-9/27/19, Huntsville. Brian Bomeisler, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. 9/28-9/30/19, Huntsville. Brian Bomeisler, Intensive Painting/ Color based on the publication by Dr. Betty Edward, Color: A course in mastering the art of mixing colors. 10/7-10/10/19, Huntsville. Tony Couch, Watercolor Painting. 11/7-11/10/19, Huntsville. Qiang Huang, Painting Dramatic Oil Landscapes. 2/7-2/8/20, Huntsville. Leslie Wood, Art Journaling: Visual Storytelling. 3/19-3/22/20, Huntsville. Michael Story, Mastering Skies & Reflections in Oil, Acrylic or Pastel. 5/14-5/17/20, Huntsville. Donna Bland, Figurative & Landscape Painting in Acrylic or Oil. 6/5-6/6/20, Huntsville. Linda Ellen Price, Spontaneity in Your Painting. 8/20-8/22/20, Huntsville. David Kessler, Bigger, Faster Looser Abstract Painting. 9/18-9/19/20, Huntsville. Gary Chapman – CHARCOAL: Expressive Mark Making: A Painter’s Approach to Drawing. Contact: Laura E. Smith, Director of Education/Museum Academy, 256/535-6372 lsmith@hsvmuseum.org or hsvmuseum.org
ARIZONA Robert Burridge 10/25-10/27/19, Sedona. Loosen Up with Aquamedia Painting. 3-day Painting Workshop (Friday-Sunday). Sedona Arts Center. Contact: 888/954-4442 or 928/282-3809 10/29-10/31/19, Sedona. Contemporary Abstract Figure. 3-day Painting Workshop (Tuesday-Thursday). Sedona Arts Center. Contact: 888/954-4442 or 928/282-3809
Karlyn’s Gallery 12/2-12/6/19, Tucson. Tanque Verde Ranch. Contact: MISA, 715/747-2054, misa@madelineschool.com
Eric Wiegardt, AWS-DF, NWS 11/18-11/22/19, Scottsdale. Wiegardt’s Plein Air Watercolor Workshop. Contact: Scottsdale Artists’ School, Trudy Hays, 480/990-1422 thays@scottsdaleartschool.org
CALIFORNIA Art In The Mountains
10/7-10/11/19, Arroyo Grande. Robert Burridge 5-Day Instructional Studio Workshop. 5-day Workshop in Bob’s Studio (Monday-Friday). 10/17-10/20/19, Arroyo Grande. Robert Burridge Studio Mentor Workshop. Come paint with Bob in his Studio (includes individual mentor time, demonstrations and personal theme development). 3.5 days Workshop/Mentor Program, limited to 7 enrollees. Contact: Kate@RobertBurridge.com
Tony Couch, AWS 3/9-3/12/20, Cambria. 3/30-4/1/20, Folsom. Contact: 678/513-6676, toncouch@mindspring.com
Andy Evansen September 2019, PAPA paint out/exhibition. 10/18/19, NWS International Exhibition. 10/20/19, Catalina Island. The Wild Side Exhibition. Contact: aevansen@gmail.com or www.EvansenArtStudio.com
9/9-9/13/19, Santa Barbara. David Taylor, Moving Forward and Capturing the Moment. Watercolor - plein air, intermediate to advanced. Contact: Tracy Culbertson, 503/930-4572 info@artinthemountains.com or www.artinthemountains.com
Tom Lynch
Robert Burridge
Art In The Mountains
8/14-8/17/19, Arroyo Grande. Robert Burridge Studio Figure Painting Workshop/undraped model. Come paint with Bob in his Studio (includes individual mentor time, demonstrations and personal theme development). 4-day Workshop/Mentor Program, limited to 6 enrollees. 8/22-8/25/19, Arroyo Grande. Robert Burridge Studio Mentor Workshop. Come paint with Bob in his Studio (includes individual mentor time, demonstrations and personal theme development). 3.5 days Workshop/Mentor Program, limited to 7 enrollees. 9/5-9/8/19, Arroyo Grande. Robert Burridge Studio Mentor Workshop. Come paint with Bob in his Studio (includes individual mentor time, demonstrations and personal theme development). 3.5 days Workshop/Mentor Program, limited to 7 enrollees. 9/11-9/15/19, Arroyo Grande. Robert Burridge 5-Day Instructional Studio Workshop. 5-day Workshop in Bob’s Studio (Wednesday-Sunday).
11/4-11/7/19, San Diego. Contact: 630/851-2652 Tomlynch@msn.com or www.TomLynch.com
FLORIDA 4/3-4/5/20 and 4/7-4/9/20, Miami. Alvaro Castagnet, The Pillars of Watercolor, plein air, watercolor, intermediate to advanced outdoor painters. Contact: Tracy Culbertson, 503/930-4572 info@artinthemountains.com or www.artinthemountains.com
Jaimie Cordero 9/9-9/11/19, Coral Gables. “Tropical Light & Shadow.” 3-Day Workshop featuring dazzling tropical flora in Watercolor. Contact: Jaimie, 786/303-5293, WDJaimieC@aol.com Register at: https://squareup.com/store/aquarelle-studios-inc
Tom Lynch 1/29-2/1/20, Palm Coast. 4/2-4/5/20, Daytona Beach. 4/6/20, Daytona Beach. 6/8-6/11/20 Tallahassee. Contact: 630/851-2652 Tomlynch@msn.com or www.TomLynch.com
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artist’s marketplace GEORGIA Jaimie Cordero
Tomlynch@msn.com 630-851-2652 www.tomlynch.com 2019 WORKSHOPS August 13 – 19 September 9 – 13 September 27 – 29 October 8 – 11 November 4 – 7 November 14 – 17 November 22 – 24
Reno, NV Ingram, TX Spokane, WA Waxahatchie, TX San Diego, CA Raleigh, NC Nashville, TN
2020 WORKSHOPS January 14 – 17 Jan. 29 – Feb. 1 April 2 – 5 April 6 April 17 – 20 May 13 – 16 June 8 – 11 June 22 – 26
Tucson, AZ Palm Coast, FL Daytona Beach, FL Daytona Beach, FL-PA Greensburg, KS Gainesville, GA Tallahassee, FL Lac du Flambeau, WI
Available For Workshops In Your Area
Visit www.ArtAcademyLive.com Your Online Source For Art Instruction 24/7
9/5-9/7/19, St. Marys. “Celebrating the Light & Shadow of St. Marys.� 3-Day Workshop with Photography tips, Composition strengthening, Plein air sketching, and Color Layering in Watercolor. Contact: Jaimie, 786/303-5293, WDJaimieC@aol.com Register at: https://squareup.com/store/aquarelle-studios-inc
Tony Couch, AWS 4/20-4/23/20, St. Simons. Contact: 678/513-6676, toncouch@mindspring.com
Tom Lynch 5/13-5/16/20, Gainesville. Contact: 630/851-2652 Tomlynch@msn.com or www.TomLynch.com
KANSAS Tom Lynch 4/17-4/20/20, Greensburg. Contact: 630/851-2652 Tomlynch@msn.com or www.TomLynch.com
MAINE Tony van Hasselt, A.W.S. 9/16-9/20/19, Boothbay Harbor. Let Tony show you favorite spots in his own “backyard�. Coastal scenes, rickety docks, a farmers market, lighthouse and more. Demonstrations, lots of individual painting time and assistance. Work in watercolor or acrylics. Few openings remain. Contact: www.vanhasseltworkshops.com
MASSACHUSETTS Casa de los Artistas, Inc. – Masla Fine Art – ArtWorkshopVacations.com Robert Masla Studios North Contact: 413/625-8382, www.MaslaFineArt.com or www.ArtWorkshopVacations.com Join Masla this summer and fall for drawing and plein air painting Mentoring Weekend Workshops at the edge of the Berkshire Mountains, at Masla Studios North, in picturesque rural AshďŹ eld, MA. Weekend includes fabulous picnic lunch and some materials. Workshops are for beginners to advanced painters. Experience Maslas’ award winning teaching style while you enjoy a beautiful relaxing weekend in the country. Small groups with lots of individual attention. 8/31-9/1/19, “Drawing and Painting the Landscapeâ€? Saturday & Sunday, (10am – 5pm), Plein Air and the Studio with Watercolor, Acrylic or Oil, demos in all.
MICHIGAN Tony Couch, AWS 9/16-9/19/19, Frankfort. Contact: 678/513-6676, toncouch@mindspring.com
Chris Unwin
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ROBERT BURRIDGE
• Burridge Studio App • Free Online Newsletter • Free Weekly BobBlast • Current Workshop Schedule • Workshops in Bob's Studio
RobertBurridge.com
68 Watercolor artist
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Watercolor Workshop Weekly on Wednesdays. West BloomďŹ eld, MI 48322 Contact: Chris Unwin, 248/624-4902 ChrisUnwin@att.net or www.ChrisUnwin.net
MINNESOTA Andy Evansen 10/9-10/12/19, Workshop at Evansen Art Studio. Contact: aevansen@gmail.com or www.EvansenArtStudio.com
MONTANA Eric Wiegardt, AWS-DF, NWS 10/3-10/6/19, Kalispell. Wiegardt’s Painterly Watercolors. Contact: Montana Watercolor Society, Jean Hand Triol, 520/709-7709, jeantriol@smooshface.com
NEVADA Tom Lynch 8/13-8/19/19, Reno. Contact: 630/851-2652 Tomlynch@msn.com or www.TomLynch.com
NEW MEXICO Steve Griggs 9/30-10/2/19, Santa Fe. Art Workshops of Santa Fe. Contact: Miriam Joseph, 505/890-5000 miriamjoseph@josephhomes.com or https://artworkshopsofsantafe.com/steve-griggs
NEW YORK Hudson River Valley Art Workshops 9/1-9/7/19, Retreat Week. 9/8-9/14/19, Margaret Dyer. 9/15-9/21/19, David Taylor. 9/22-9/28/19, John MacDonald. 9/29-10/5/19, Skip Lawrence. 10/6-10/12/19, Lisa Pressman. 3/15-3/21/20, Kimberly Santini. 3/29-4/4/20, Margaret Evans. 5/3-5/9/20, Robert Burridge. 5/17-5/23/20, Kellee Wynne Conrad. 5/27-5/31/20, Patti Mollica. 6/7-6/13/20, Kim Johnson-Nechtman. 6/14-6/20/20, Joel Popadics. 6/21-6/27/20, Seth Haverkamp. 6/27-7/1/20, Desmond O’Hagan. 7/12-7/18/20, David Smith.
artist’s marketplace 7/19-7/25/20, David Dunlop. 8/16-8/22/20, Seth Apter. 8/30-9/5/20, Margaret Dyer. 9/6-9/12/20, Retreat Week. 9/13-9/19/20, Elizabeth St Hilaire. Contact: 888/665-0044 info@artworkshops.com or www.artworkshops.com
NORTH CAROLINA John C. Campbell Folk School 8/16-8/18/19, Virginia Urani, Get Your Feet Wet With Watercolor. $354. 8/18-8/24/19, Gay Bryant, Watercolor II—Improving Your Painting Techniques. $630. 8/25-8/31/19, Billie Shelburn, Dynamic Highland Landscapes (Scottish Heritage Week). $630. 9/6-9/8/19, Redenta Soprano, Illustrating Botanicals in Watercolor Pencil. $354. 9/15-9/21/19, John Mac Kah, Oil in Plein Air: The Painter’s Craft. $630. 9/22-9/28/19, Louise Farley, Painting Outside the Lines. $630. 9/29-10/4/19, Annie Pais, Composing Dynamic Watercolors. $564. 10/6-10/12/19, Mary Jane Volkmann, Plein Air Painting in Fall. $630. 10/25-10/27/19, Marcy Chapman, Sumi-E Ink Painting. $354. 10/27-11/2/19, Robin Popp, Oil Painting – Landscapes without Fear. $630. 11/10-11/16/19, Margaret Scanlan, Watercolor Painting for All. $630. 11/17-11/22/19, Carolyn Molder, Appalachian Winter in Pastel. $564. 11/22-11/24/19, Billie Shelburn, Watercolor – Fast, Loose Ink & Wash. $354. 12/4-12/7/19, Alan Young, Painting in Dry-brush Watercolor. $424. Contact: John C. Campbell Folk School Brasstown, NC 800-FOLK-SCH or www.folkschool.org
Kanuga Watermedia Workshops 4/18-4/24/20, Hendersonville. Held at the Kanuga Conference Center in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. We offer 5 full days of instruction by 11 awardwinning instructors. Painting is always a learning experience. Our goal is to help painters sharpen their critical awareness and discover painting gratification. Class sizes range from 12 to a maximum of 24 students. Each student selects one instructor for the entire week. New this year Open Studio for those who wish to paint on their own. Meals and lodging are included. (Commuter option available). Contact: 615/202-0281, KanugaWW@gmail.com or kanugawatermediaworkshops.com
Tom Lynch 11/14-11/17/19, Raleigh. Contact: 630/851-2652 Tomlynch@msn.com or www.TomLynch.com
Jan Sitts 11/11-11/14/20, Matthews. Award-Winning Artist Workshop. Contact: Shirley Harris, 704/607-6046, 4shirleyart@gmail.com
Workshop DVDs Complete 4 Day
Watercolor Workshops
OREGON Art In The Mountains 8/5-8/9/19, Bend. Herman Pekel, Be Brave and Have Fun. Studio and plein air- watercolor. All levels welcome. 8/12-8/16/19, Bend. Iain Stewart, Sketchbook to Studio. Watercolor - studio. All levels welcome. 8/19-8/23/19, Bend. Fealing Lin, Portrait and Figure in Watercolor. Watercolor - studio. All levels welcome. 8/26-8/29/19, Bend. Michael Reardon, Watercolor Techniques. Watercolor - studio. All levels welcome - some experience helpful. Contact: Tracy Culbertson, 503/930-4572 info@artinthemountains.com or www.artinthemountains.com
TENNESSEE Tom Lynch 11/22-11/24/19, Nashville. Contact: 630/851-2652 Tomlynch@msn.com or www.TomLynch.com
TEXAS Tom Lynch 9/9-9/13/19, Ingram. 10/8-10/11/19, Waxahatchie. Contact: 630/851-2652 Tomlynch@msn.com or www.TomLynch.com
Jan Sitts 10/9-10/12/19, Granbury. Granbury Art Association. Contact: Diana Littlejohn, 817/578-1842 5/25-5/28/20, Flowermound. Studio Art House. Contact: Anita Robbins, 972/207-1275
UTAH Tony Couch, AWS
The Runaway, Bev Jozwiak, AWS, NWS
See Bev Jozwiak’s Video Clips and Video Clips of these artists
Chris Unwin, NWS Nita Engle, AWS Alexis Lavine, NWS
11/4-11/7/19, St. George. Contact: 678/513-6676, toncouch@mindspring.com
VERMONT Eric Wiegardt, AWS-DF, NWS 10/21-10/24/19, Landgrove. Wiegardt’s Painterly Watercolors. Contact: The Landgrove Inn, Tom Checchia, 802/824-6673 vtinn@sover.net or www.landgroveinn.com
ChrisUnwin.NET
WWW.
ArtistsNetwork.com 69
artist’s marketplace Steve Griggs Watercolor Workshops
WASHINGTON Tom Lynch WATERCOLOR WORKSHOPS
9/27-9/29/19, Spokane. Contact: 630/851-2652 Tomlynch@msn.com or www.TomLynch.com
Jan Sitts 9/5-9/8/19, Coupeville. PaciďŹ c Northwest Art School. Contact: Lisa Bernhardt, 360/678-3396
WEST VIRGINIA Jaimie Cordero
Frankfort MI, Sept 16-19 Huntsville AL, Oct 7-10 3T 'EORGE UT, Nov 4-7
Cambria CA, March 9-12, 2020 Folsom CA, March 30-April 1 St. Simons GA, April 20-23
Learn at home Books and DVDs www.tonycouch.com
(678) 513-6676 I
11/8-11/10/19, Hedgesville. “Fall Colors in Watercolor.� Celebrate the rich tapestry of Fall Colors in this West Virginia workshop. Includes Color Layering, Tips for Great Photographs, and Plein Air Sketching. Contact: Jaimie, 786/303-5293, WDJaimieC@aol.com Register at: https://squareup.com/store/aquarelle-studios-inc 10/7-10/10/21, Morgantown. “Luminescent Light & Shadow in Watercolors.� 4-Day Workshop. Create dazzling watercolors, learn the secrets of color combining, and preserve the light with expressive translucent shadows. Contact: Byron Witt, 304/291-5900, bwitt26@comcast.net
WISCONSIN Art Workshops of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM September 30 - October 2, 2019 The Watermill - Tuscany, Italy - May 2 - 9, 2020 Alpha Painting Holidays - Wells Somerset, England May 18 - 21, 2020
Andy Evansen
ADVERTISER’S INDEX
Karlyn’s Gallery
Andy Evansen............................................... 67 Available for a workshop in your area: 303-941-9246 steve@stevegriggswatercolor.com https://stevegriggswatercolor.com
Aquarelle Studios And Galleries................ 68
Canson........................................................ IBC Creative Art Workshops..............................69 Crow Hill Gallery ..........................................70 F+W........................................................ 5, 8, 10 General Pencil .............................................. 10
JOHN C. CAMPBELL FOLK SCHOOL folkschool.org BRASSTOWN
Hudson River Valley......................................71 Huntsville Museum Of Art...........................70
6/22-6/26/20, Lac du Flambeau. Contact: 630/851-2652 Tomlynch@msn.com or www.TomLynch.com
INTERNATIONAL BELIZE Eric Wiegardt, AWS-DF, NWS 1/18-1/26/20, Caye Caulker. Watercolor Plein Air Workshop. Contact: Wiegardt Studio Gallery, 360/665-5976 watercolors@ericwiegardt.com
CANADA Robert Burridge 9/30-10/4/19, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Loosen Up with Aquamedia Painting. 5-day Painting Workshop (Monday-Friday). Vancouver Island Art Workshops. Contact: Mary, 250/714-8080 info@vancouverislandartworkshops.com
CHINA Andy Evansen
Jan Sitts ..........................................................71
11/21-11/27/19, Shanghai. Workshop. Contact: aevansen@gmail.com or www.EvansenArtStudio.com
Jerry’s Artarama ............................................9
ENGLAND
1-800-FOLK-SCH NORTH CAROLINA
8/6-8/9/19, Washburn. Karlyn’s Gallery. $395. 8/20-8/23/19, Washburn. Karlyn’s Gallery. $395. 10/8-10/11/19, Washburn. Karlyn’s Gallery. $395. Contact: 715/373-2922, orders@karlynholman.com
Tom Lynch
Art in the Mountains ................................... 68 Blick Art Materials....................................... BC
Weeklong classes in painting, drawing, mixed media and more.
9/27-9/29/19, Madison. Workshop. Contact: aevansen@gmail.com or www.EvansenArtStudio.com
Steve Griggs
John C. Campbell Folk School....................70
Jeanne Carbonetti
Kanuga .........................................................69 Karlyn’s Gallery ............................................69
Expanded Website Featuring Sales Gallery for Watercolor Paintings Store for Books, DVDs & Prints www.crowhillgallery.com 802-875-3763
5/18-5/21/20, Wells, Somerset. Alpha Painting Holidays. Contact: Matt Clark, +44 (0) 1934 733877 joinus@alphapaintingholidays.com or http://www.alphapaintingholidays.com
HOLLAND Casa de los Artistas, Inc. – Masla Fine Art
Legion Paper .............................................. IFC Masla Fine Art ...............................................71 Mid-Southern Watercolorists......................71 Niagara Frontier Watercolor Society .........71 Robert Burridge Studio .............................. 68 Savoir Faire.....................................................3 Stauer..............................................................11 Steve Griggs..................................................70
Robert Masla Studios South Contact: 413/625-8382 www.ArtWorkshopVacations.com or www.MaslaFineArt.com Join Casa Founder/Director, Artist Robert Masla, in conjunction with the SpringďŹ eld Museum of Fine Arts and Royal Talens, (manufacturers of Rembrandt and Van Gogh paints) on a sketching and painting tour through Holland on the barge Fiep. Only a limited number of 2 bedroom/ private bath cabins are still available on this all inclusive unique artist lead tour. Ports include Amsterdam, Haarlem, Delft, Leiden and Gouda. Among the many attractions; we will be visiting the Van Gogh and Rijk & Frans Hals Museums, the famous Keukenhof Gardens, a tour of the Royal Talens factory, sketching windmills and painting the canals from our boat, as well as painting the tulip ďŹ elds in full bloom! Lots of painting demos, art discussions and personal instruction and feedback. Contact: Jeane Fontaine at The SpringďŹ eld Museums Travel Program to register: 413/314-6482
ITALY
Tom Lynch.................................................... 68 Tony Couch...................................................70
Master Artist Workshops
Tony van Hasselt...........................................71
Huntsville, AL | 256.535. | hsvmuseum.org
Wiegardt Gallery ..........................................71
70 Watercolor artist
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Art In The Mountains 3/21-3/28/20, Sorrento. Mary Whyte, Portrait, Figure and Landscape, studio and plein air watercolor, all levels welcome. Contact: Tracy Culbertson, 503/930-4572 info@artinthemountains.com or www.artinthemountains.com
Steve Griggs 5/2-5/9/20, Tuscany. The Watermill at Posara. Contact: Lois Brecken, +44 20 7193 6246 info@watermill.net or https://thewatermill.net
artist’s marketplace
Jan Sitts
MEXICO Casa de los Artistas, Inc. – Masla Fine Art Robert Masla Studios South Contact: 413/625-8382 www.ArtWorkshopVacations.com or www.MaslaFineArt.com A Unique Tropical Paintcation with the Best Instruction in the Best Location. All inclusive artists retreats - tropical oceanside paradise Robert Burridge, Frank Eber, Paul Jackson, Tony van Hasselt, John MacDonald, Robert Masla, Jim McVicker, Dave Santillanes, Randall Sexton, and Lian Quan Zhen. Serene fishing village 10 miles south of Puerto Vallarta. Call for early registration discounts. Visit our website for more details, schedule, slide show, free instructional videos and… 1/4-1/11/20, Robert Masla, Richard Masla and Guests, Painting, Yoga and Dance in paradise with Casa Director/Co-founder. 1/11-1/18/20, Lian Quan Zhen, Watercolor Painting Color Blending and Pouring – Plein Air and Studio. 1/18-1/25/20, Paul Jackson, “Luminosity on the Playa”, Watercolor Plein Air and Studio. 1/25-2/1/20 & 2/1-2/8/20, Robert Burridge, “Abstract Acrylic & Collage Workshops in Mexico”, choose 1 or 2 weeks! 2/8-2/15/20, Dave Santillanes, Capturing the Atmosphere Painting in Plein Air and the Studio. 2/15-2/22/20, Frank Eber, Bring your painting skill to a higher level, painting “Atmospheric Watercolors”. 2/22-2/29/20, Tony van Hasselt, Tropical Escapaint & Creating an Artists Watercolor Travel Sketchbook. 2/29-3/7/20, John MacDonald, Drawing and painting in plein Air and the Studio. 3/7-3/14/20, Jim McVicker, Painting Paradise in Plein Air and the Studio. 3/14-3/21/20, Randal Sexton, Expressive Brushwork En Plein Air, Plein Air and the Studio.
Mixed Media Workshops TONY Plein Air
BOOKS AND DVD’S
VAN HASSELT
A W S
Watercolor Workshops
It’s not too late - so join the fun! Sept: My Boothbay Harbor. ME Feb: Escapaint in Sunny Mexico
vanhasseltworkshops.com
Texture, Color Feeling Book available jan@jansitts.com www.jansitts.com
Tony van Hasselt, A.W.S. 2/20-2/29/20, Boca de Tomatlan. Escape the cold to join this Tropical Escapaint in watercolor and sketchbook journaling. Be inspired in this safe and peaceful little fishing village south of Puerto Vallarta. Excursions to nearby sites and the Bay of Banderas. All inclusive, tuition, meals and accommodations. Contact: www.vanhasseltworkshops.com
SPAIN Karlyn’s Gallery 9/12-9/28/19, La Finca Del Nino. Karlyn and Bonnie Broitzman. A full two weeks of painting and sharing great food and friendship. Contact: 715/373-2922, orders@karlynholman.com
Eric Wiegardt, AWS-DF, NWS 9/14-9/28/19, Barcelona & Costa Brava. Watercolor Plein Air Workshop. Contact: Wiegardt Studio Gallery, 360/665-5976 watercolors@ericwiegardt.com
CRUISE ASIA Art In The Mountains 4/15-5/1/20, Asia. Singapore, China, Vietnam, and Japan, Watercolor: Fun and Free, studio, painting days are ‘at sea’ days only. All levels welcome. Contact: Tracy Culbertson, 503/930-4572 info@artinthemountains.com or www.artinthemountains.com
CRUISE TRANSATLANTIC
HUDSON RIVER VALLEY ART WORKSHOPS Learning, Laughter, and Friendships in an Inspiring, & Inviting Environment
Art In The Mountains 10/20-11/8/19, Europe. Karlyn Holman, 9 Countries from Denmark to New Orleans. Painting days are ‘at sea’ days only. Contact: Tracy Culbertson, 503/930-4572 info@artinthemountains.com or www.artinthemountains.com
CRUISE Karlyn’s Gallery 10/20-11/8/19, Copenhagen, Denmark To New Orleans, USA. Trans-atlantic cruise on Norwegian Star Cruise. Contact: Art in the Mountains, 503/930-4572 info@artinthemountains.com
CALL FOR ENTRIES DEADLINE: AUGUST 24, 2019 Niagara Frontier Watercolor Society Fall 2019 14th International Exhibition of Transparent Watercolor. October 13 - November 8, 2019 at the Kenan Center House Gallery in Lockport, NY. Juror and judge: Iain Stewart. Awards: $6,000 and merchandise. Entries accepted online beginning July 8, 2019. For a prospectus, entry procedure, visit our website www.nfws.org. Questions? Contact Carol Siracuse at 716/867-9044 or csir@me.com. Submission deadline: Midnight, August 24, 2019.
DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 8, 2019 Mid-Southern Watercolorists’ 50th Annual Juried Exhibition March 13 - June 27, 2020 at the Galleries at Library Square, Little Rock, Arkansas. Anticipated awards totaling more than $5,000. For prospectus and entry details visit the Mid-Southern Watercolorists’ website or send a SASE to Exhibition Chair, c/o Mid-Southern Watercolorists, P.O. Box 55762, Little Rock, AR 72215. Website: www.midsouthernwatercolorists.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/MidSouthernWatercolorists
Call Toll-Free 1-888-665-0044 Retreat Week Sep 1-7, 2019 Margaret Dyer Sep 8-14, 2019 David Taylor Sep 15-21, 2019 John MacDonald Sep 22-28, 2019 Skip Lawrence Sep 29-Oct 5, 2019 Lisa Pressman Oct 6-12, 2019 Kimberly Santini Mar 15-21, 2020 Margaret Evans Mar 29-Apr 4, 2020 Robert Burridge May 3-9, 2020 Kellee Wynne Conrad May 17-23, 2020 Patti Mollica May 27-31, 2020 Kim Johnson-Nechtman Jun 7-13, 2020 Joel Popadics Jun 14-20, 2020 Seth Haverkamp Jun 21-27, 2020 Desmond O’Hagan Jun 27-Jul 1, 2020 David Smith Jul 12-18, 2020 David Dunlop Jul 19-25, 2020 Seth Apter Aug 16-22, 2020 Margaret Dyer Aug 30-Sep 5, 2020 Retreat Week Sep 6-12, 2020 Elizabeth St Hilaire Sep 13-19, 2020
artworkshops.com ArtistsNetwork.com 71
Open Book
Color Testing The watercolor art of Jean Mackay (jeanmackayart.com) reflects a sense of wonder in the natural world. “My sketchbook is central to my process,” she says. “I carry it with me frequently to observe, record and appreciate what’s happening around me. One day it may be birds, the next it’s roadside wildflowers, and the next it’s mushrooms.” Because Mackay carries a limited palette of watercolors for field sketching, she likes to know exactly how the colors perform. “This painting of a cardinal provided an opportunity to experiment with warm and cool reds,” she says, “before deciding which ones would become part of my paint box.”
72 Watercolor artist |
OCTOBER 2019
YOUR TURN! Use your sketchbook to do some color trials and tag us with your favorite page. @ArtistsNetwork on Instagram: #everywatercolor_color
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