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Flowers! Gestural and Natural

6/28/2014

Hollyhocks From my Window

Of course there are many ways to go about painting flowers. But I find two are most effective for the way in which I paint using watercolor. The first is Gestural and the second is what I call 'natural'.

When I paint a flower I like to use one that I find in my garden and paint it in place. While I may not have access to the flower from my window I take several photographs from many different angles and then bring these into my studio. Once I have these photographs I make a choice whether I think the character of the particular flower lends itself more to a gestural interpretation or something more 'natural' or realistic.

For Hollyhocks, I love the wild abandon in which they throw their petals out from the stem. So I choose 'gestural'. Here I don't worry about realism or exactly where each petal will go but aim for the emotion of the flower. Watercolor lends itself to this extremely well. In the photo below I used watercolor canvas so I could pull the color off and create negative spaces.

Sometimes Irises have that same wild flurry of motion and the second painting below is done on watercolor paper and only captures the essence of the flower I was painting.

Iris Explosion

This week we'll be looking at how to control our paint to create a more 'natural' portrait of a flower. To do this, we have to have a good understanding of how a color has warm and cool variations. These variations of temperature will help us create our floral picture.

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Properties of Watercolor

6/19/2014

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labryinth

This week we explored the properties of watercolor.   These are often listed in catalogues for the tubes of paint they carry. Almost all of them we can discover by ourselves through experimentation.

1. Transparency: Some brands and colors are capable of being layered one on top of another to alter the color underneath. This property of watercolor is what gives it such a sheer, shimmering quality. While the manufacturer will tell you the transparency of a color, it is best to test this for yourself before trying to layer or 'glaze' colors.   Other colors are semi-transparent or even opaque.   The opaque paints completely mask the color underneath.   There are places for all of these in your work but you, as the artist, must know which will achieve the effect you desire. The best way of doing this is to run strips of color on top of others to test how they will react.

2. Lightfastedness: For this property you will probably have to take the manufacturer's word. This is how well the paint will hold its color vs. how quickly it will fade.

3. Permanent (Staining) vs. Ability to Lift: Some colors - most of the Phalos (as well as the Winsor greens and blue), and Alizarin Crimson will grab the paper and stain. This can be beneficial or a disaster. Other colors like the Quins and Permanent Rose will lift beautifully from the paper. There are several reasons you would like to have this happen so it is best to know exactly how each of the paints in your palette will behave.   You can test this easily by making a slash of color, then try to remove the color with water.   Some colors will even lift after they are dry, so test some after they are completely dry.

4. Granulation: Some paints will go on the paper with a smooth finish while others will pull the color into textures. This is called 'granulation'. Again you can test paints by making swatches of color and watching how the paint acts.   Some colors, like cerulean blue and manganese will granulate. Other paints are actually manufactured to enhance the granulation process. Daniel Smith has a great line of these granulating colors.

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Watercolor: building confidence

6/13/2014

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In June, 1993, I took my first watercolor class from Mary Muller at the Des Moines Art Center. It wasn't my first 'art' class - I had a very extensive background in creating art. But it was the first for this 'most difficult' of mediums.    I remember it very vividly because this was the year of the Great Flood where Des Moines and the art center lost all their water for what seemed like months - but was actually much less.  The center had to cancel first one class and then another and then gave up entirely.

    A complete irony - watercolor without water!

    Since then, I have learned from many watercolor artists and produced many, many watercolor paintings. But this story serves to illustrate the importance of water to the watercolor artist. Of course, the pigments are activated by water but beyond that the beauty of the medium is the way in which the colors interact with water. Watercolor can be a spontaneous, serendipitous joy!   It can be sheer and flowing. Or it can be rich and vibrant. Or both.

And that is what we will be exploring in this class. And we will be building confidence so you will feel comfortable letting it flow!

Next week we will look at nature and complete exercises emphasizing ways the artist can use color to build form.   Bring one full size sheet of watercolor paper that we will be breaking into smaller pieces. If you are using a block, bring some smaller pieces as I showed you in class last week. (approx. 5"x7").

Here are some resources you might like to check out:

       www.dickblick.com

       www.cheapjoes.com       American Journey watercolors

       www.danielsmith.com      a variety of 'new' watercolors including irridescents and interference as well as mineral based and granulating paints.

Coldsnow art store on University near the Drake Campus between 24th and 25th carries a complete supply of watercolor including Daniel Smith. They often have sales and a buyer rewards card.

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Flowers! Gestural and Natural

Properties of Watercolor

Watercolor: building confidence

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