Artist Studio
I like to plan the painting with the end in mind: what do I want it to look like when it is finished? I never start a painting thinking, “Gee, I wonder if I can paint that tree? Or that surf?” That is too limiting!
I tried to have a well concieved center of interest and I started with a good idea of where and how I was going to use white paper to really give a crisp feeling of light. Remember a good starting thought is white is light in watercolor. I know there are tints and other solutions but it is a good starting point. Here are my 6 paintings all of them are painted on 200 lb cold press Waterford paper.
The lesson was to try to create the feeling of depth using atmospheric perspective, which basically means things that are far away are cooler and less intense and have less texture. As you move closer to the front of the picture plane the colors are more intense, there is more texture and more detail. This is a over-simplification but it is fairly accurate.
The focus of this painting was to capture the lovely greens in the trees and their reflection in the water. I invented most everything to make the painting happen, what a joy to paint when the subject matter evokes a feeling of intimacy.
I painted these 3 watercolors for a scene in Rockland, Maine and I kept changing it to get a better more light filled composition. I will post them first to last and I think you will see that the first image is pretty dark and the movement in the painting is pretty harsh. In the
Continue Reading “In The Studio: Three watercolors same image”
This painting was a demonstration for one of my watercolor classes. I kept the background really cool and nondescript and used a large flat brush to apply the cerulean blue and cobalt violet background. I used a really small rigger brush to paint everything else. I used the rigger every way I could think of trying explain that the use of different tools creates more opportunities for unique solutions. This light is captured with the bright foreground and dark cast shadow. Try a different brush and make your paintings more expressive.
My friend Caroline gave me a wonderful photo of a river in Western Maryland and I painted several pieces from the one image. This painting is focused on using scraped and saved whites on the birch trees to direct the viewer into the darker places in the painting. I tried to use really loose brushwork to capture the jumpy movement of the water as it ran across the river rock. This painting is all about movement. The poem is sort of a hybrid of a Haibun, two Tanka poems with a piece of prose in the middle. Enjoy
This painting is about trying to get a lot of focus on the sky, and to create the glowing evening color. I wanted to have a nice movement with the light lifted cloud pattern that floats up and around in the dark violet clouds. The foreground I used a rich dark of ultramarine blue, Permanent Rose and Burnt Sienna, with a hint of light green which is applied with a one in flat brush.
A pleasant walk to nowhere
Along a peaceful country road
Morning’s blue mountains
call
Can I lighten up your load
This demonstration had two components in the lesson the first was the concept of contrast and the second was using a rigger to create wonderful textures. All successful paintings are build on contrasts: contrast of value, color, shape, size, line and every element of design. This means contrast warm against cool, dark against light, soft
Continue Reading “In The Studio: A new watercolor demonstration”
I can’t fish, I just don’t like hurting worms or fish but probably it’s because I never catch anything. I don’t seem to have the patience but I love the serenity of watching people do it. Whether they are on the side of a pier, in the river or on the banks of the Potomac, I just get lost in the quiet and peacefulness of the activity. This painting is all about the beauty of early morning fishing and how small humans are in comparison to nature. It is all about perspective and acceptance.
In this painting I am really trying to focus on the sunset without it becoming a cliche. I kept everything dark and without description and then built the paint up in the sky to bring the light forward. This is a view of our lake at sunset and the poem is a reflection on duality and choices between negative and positive. Its what we choose to focus on.