Monday, August 5, 2019,
Cottage Hobby House, 12th and M, Anacortes, WA
There is an art to the handling of a watercolor brush. A brushstroke should have grace and beauty, often telling the story in as few strokes as possible.
Learn basic brush handling and add to that the understanding of how to say more with less by developing skill with your use of your brushes.
In the last post, we only scratched the surface of working with the white of the paper in watercolor. Do do this you need to plan the shapes or paths of your values ahead of time.
Let’s explore some more techniques for learning to see the shapes of the lights, the mid-tones and the darks with which you design you paintings.
The shapes of the values are different from the shapes of the things.
What drew you to watercolors? When I wasn’t sure which media I wanted to pursue, I started noticing how time and again I was drawn to the watercolors in any exhibit. By comparison, the oils left me cold. The luminosity of watercolor captured me. Watercolor are luminous or can glow because the lights of the painting come through the colors from the white paper. The colors glow like stain glass windows.
The secret to wet on wet is regulating the amount of water and pigment on your brush in relation to the amount of water in the paper.
In coming across one of my student’s works in an unexpected setting, I was delighted to see she had incorporated a number of ideas I consider essential for a good watercolor.
This started me wondering which are the techniques I really expect students of mine to use. Or which are the ones when not used disappoint me?And I could see that, yes, there are certain hallmarks I consider important.
In the next few Technique Corners I am going to outline them.
Not particularly in order of importance we will start with Keep the Color Moving.
An intriguing idea came to me while reading Gish Jen’s The Girl at the Baggage Claim. Jen attempts to shed some light on the differences, which often lead to misunderstandings, between Eastern (Asian) culture and Western (Europe/America). Her goal was to come to a synthesis between the two.
I would like to share with you how this past weekend some of my students developed their own synthesis of focus with background.
Coming again, to be announced
Anacortes
We had a wonderful time today (7/9) and as I move this out of the line, we will be doing it again. We were invited back by the boatyard owners… so – let me know if you would be interested…
Boats are a elusive subject to draw. Once you have a drawing, they aren’t that difficult to paint. Over time, Caroline has developed a step-by-step approach to boat drawing that is close to fail safe.
It is best to learn how to draw them when they are stationary in dry dock. We’ll do that in the morning and continue with a painting in the afternoon.
The Good Stuff, 604 Commercial Ave, Anacortes
More classes will follow this introduction. Stay tuned
Do you need a review of the basics or are you just starting out in watercolor? New this year, we are offering two Thursdays at the Good Stuff in Anacortes where we will get you on your way toward adventures with watercolors with the knowledge and understanding to make it truly enjoyable.