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| Unfinished "High Jumper" by Martha Slavin |
Every painting that I do is a new experience with watercolor. Sometimes techniques I've learned help me to progress; sometimes painting is like I've never touched a brush before. I keep taking more watercolor classes. I find that different instructors who have different ways of working help me see that there is not just one solution to a problem. Watercolor, like any other art form, teaches you how to fail. By taking classes from people with various styles, I'm learning to find my own way of painting while I incorporate some of their valuable lessons.
From Leslie Wilson, I've learned to paint the connections between shapes, moving from one shape to the next one right next to it so that I don't leave big spaces in-between that become hard to fill later on. I've learned to paint while holding my brush upside down, to create hard and soft edges around shapes, and not dab at the paper too much.
In contrast, Carolyn Lord and Charles Bukowski contain each shape in a hard edge while mingling colors within the shapes. They both soften edges by using similar values next to each other.
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| Abutilon by Martha Slavin |
Michael Reardon starts by wetting his paper and then washing a layer of watered-down Cobalt blue across the top which mingles with the Permanent Yellow Deep that he paints towards the bottom. He keeps some of the white paper pristine. I've adopted this method to help me take the first step when confronting the "Blank White Paper."
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| "Buvver" by Martha Slavin |
Ted Nuttall layers paint, letting each layer dry, and uses dabs of paint to add multiple colors to his portraits. His class helped me to add colors such as turquoise to the shadows on a face.
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| "Girlfriend - 1928" by Martha Slavin |
Cindy Briggs and Brenda Swenson offer classes about creating art journals and I use their designing-the-page techniques when I travel and sketch.
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| Carmel Art Journal by Martha Slavin |
Each of these artists uses a different palette of colors, different paint boxes, different kinds of brushes, and different brands of paint and paper. I found two common connections between them all: they use quality materials and they create a foundation for their painting by doing careful underdrawings.
Patience is the other constant that I have tried to learn from classes. These artists don't rush their work, they make corrections to their drawings ahead of painting, they step back and look at their progress, and they let the paint dry. Patience has been the hardest technique for me to master.
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| Illustration for a Fantasy Novel by Martha Slavin |
Without taking classes, I would continue to color inside the lines, a technique that is often used in illustrations (think of children's books). I find this way of painting reassuring. I can complete a section and move on. But then, if I don't try other techniques, I will remain where I am without growing from the practice.
Check out these websites for workshops and artwork:
https://www.carolynlord.com/works
From Michelle by FB: Absolutely LOVE your yearning to continue to grow with watercolor and EVERYTHING! Your paintings are fantastic! I’ve always been afraid of watercolor!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Michelle. As a fellow artist, your comments mean a lot.
Deletefrom Terri on FB: I especially loved this writing and all of your paintings. It’s so interesting to know that you are still learning new techniques. I’m such a beginner but I do like to learn from different artists.
ReplyDeleteDear Terri. thank you for commenting. And keep working on your artwork!
DeleteFrom Linda on FB: The “High Jumper” is the best I’ve seen. It looks finished to me. What a capture! Wow!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda!
ReplyDeleteFrom SE on FB: What an intrepid explorer you are as an artist! Thanks for your blog!
ReplyDelete