Trees outside my window, January 9 Watercolor on Arches #300 hot press
Some days you just want to slop paint on paper. I woke up with a yen to work wet on wet (I normally work wet over dry).
My friend Cynthia Brannvall once said to me that she liked art that suggested rather than described, so that she could make up her own story. I try for that in my work, but my literal mind often wants to control my hand. I love how sometimes watercolor will puddle into suggestions, the less help from me, the better.
Note to self: play more.
This is part of a series exploring one 1-hour painting (nearly) every day in January as part of Leslie Saeta’s series, Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days. To see my experience with the entire series, click on the category, 30 in 30, at right.
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Pescadero Beach, January 6 Landscape sketch in oils. Sometimes we all must fail.
Monday I was fortunate to attend a landscape painting class taught by Halcyon Teed. The weather was balmy, the light exquisite. I was excited to be there.
But painting that day was like trying to run through sand; a slog all morning. It’s been a while since I painted in oil, and I just couldn’t re-friend my colors. My thought at the end of the day? Fail.
I’m showing you this stinker because I think it’s important to fail. And it’s important for those of you, dear readers, who may be knotted up in your own artistic struggle, to see other artists fail. (And if you’re a successful artist, well then, feel free to snigger.)
So often when we look at the work of others, all we see are the successes, the award winners, the masterworks and show pieces. We don’t see the fumbles, the embarrassments, the groaners. The awkward marks and homely scumbles that get rubbed out before anyone can comment.
I think it’s a false picture. It’s an artistic version of the Facebook effect. Everybody is a mo’ bettah painter than I am. And when I’m scrabbling away at frustration, all that perfection from others is demoralizing.
“The first thing you have to do is pick up the brush. Then, make as many mistakes as you wish. Every stroke is just practice.”
That’s a good mantra to paint by. Part of the reason I’m playing the 30 in 30 challenge is because I want to pick up that brush everyday and make as many mistakes as I can. Spending a specified amount of time each day painting thoughtfully is also creating a lot of work, and the more work I make, the less precious it becomes. I’m better able to sort through the clinkers and find the shiny stuff.
It’s kind of like playing scales on an instrument; sometimes they’re just scales, sometimes they’re noise, but occasionally, they’re music.
Once in a while, I may make a painting.
This is part of a series exploring one 1-hour painting (nearly) every day in January as part of Leslie Saeta’s series, Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days. To see my experience with the entire series, click on the category, 30 in 30, at right.
If you think this blog might be of comfort to someone, please share it
January 4: Shell in window Watercolor on Arches #300 hot press
I needed a change from cyclamen and orchids, so I chose a conch shell that reminds me of my years living in the tropical seas. During the chilly mountain winter I sometimes miss the torrid tropical heat.
This complicated subject really begs to be a long, painstakingly arduous still life. All the while maintaining the freshness of this hour-long sketch. Super exciting!
The secret to creating the glow of sun through shell is in making your dark values deep enough to contrast with the lights, all the while avoiding the chalkiness that sometimes comes from dark watercolor pigment. This means I had to lay down multiple translucent layers of progressively darker paint. I use Arches #300 paper because it soaks in the moisture and dries faster than the thinner papers. Try it; it’s worth the expense.
This is part of a series exploring one 1-hour painting (nearly) every day in January as part of Leslie Saeta’s series, Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days. To see my experience with the entire series, click on the category, 30 in 30, at right.
If you think this blog might be of comfort to someone, please share it
This is part of a series exploring one 1-hour painting (nearly) every day in January as part of Leslie Saeta’s series, Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days. To see my experience with the entire series, click on the category, 30 in 30, at right.
Pencil sketch Arches #300 hot press watercolor paper
I began this painting with a quick drawing, trying to pencil in the shapes and shadows on the flowers before I started painting. This initial drawing took 30 minutes. I’ve also switched back to Arches #300 hot press watercolor paper, as I prefer the way it takes water and pigment (and it doesn’t buckle and curl like lightweight paper).
Watercolor-30 minutes Arches #300 hot press watercolor paper
When I started adding paint, the pencil shading did make it a little easier to figure out what I was doing. The image above is what the painting looked like after 30 minutes of painting.
Watercolor-60 minutes Arches #300 hot press watercolor paper
I couldn’t help myself, and when my hour was up, I went back for 30 more minutes to clean up the painting, scrubbing out some messy areas and restating the shadows and highlights. I used Windsor Newton Opera Rose for the brilliant pink, although I realize that’s an extremely fugitive color (Handprint, the blessedly exhaustive web catalog of watercolors disagrees with the fugitive rating of this paint, and says, “I see absolutely no reason to avoid this splendid pigment.”) It’s an awfully pretty color, and really helps with the light-struck areas in the painting, but I would not use it on a painting meant for exhibition until I’ve done a lightfastness test.
All of these flower paintings so far have been done from life, with sunlight as the light source. Since my studio window faces southwest, the sun is constantly moving, which is part of my process to force myself to capture an image quickly.
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I don’t normally go for internet challenges; what seems like a good idea at the beginning of the month often feels like torture by the end of the month.
But since I’d already made my own challenge to paint regularly during the month of January (barring any offers of full-time employment!), I have decided to participate in Leslie Saeta’s Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days.
January 1, 2014 Watercolor on #140 Arches
Most of my paintings take many hours to complete; I’m slow and I’m fine with that. But I’m also going to try to complete one small painting a day in one hour. Why one hour? I want to figure out how to draw something quickly, make design decisions on the fly, and describe something in color accurately and without over thinking. I want to experiment, and have some fun with paint.
January 2, 2014 Watercolor on #140 Arches
There might be a lot of posting this January. If a painting is ugly, should I still post? Should experiments see the light of the internet? What do you think?
If you think this blog might be of comfort to someone, please share it
Mockingbirds at midnight 