May Contents - Other months are at the bottom of this page.
May 6 - Composition
May 13 - Composition Simplified
May 20 - Perspective - Elipses, Cubes, etc.
May 27 - More Adventures in Perspective - Watercolor Tutorial Rick Surowicz - warm cool palette layout
Welcome Marie Wilkes!
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" - Leonardo da Vinci
“Value does the work and color takes the credit.” - Marie Wilkes
"A value study will save more time than it takes."
In painting, as in life, you can get away with a great deal as long as you have your values right. (Harley Brown)
“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” - Picasso
Think pattern first, then drawing, then color. The character of your painting is resolved in the pattern scheme. (Edgar A. Whitney)
Plan like a turtle; paint like a rabbit. (Edgar A. Whitney)
We find beauty not in the thing itself, but in the patterns of shadows, the light and the darkness, that one thing against another creates. Junichiro Tanizaki
If, when facing the paper, you say to yourself, 'I'm an artist,' you haven't a clue as to what to do! If, however, you say, 'I am an entertainer, a shape maker and an expressive symbol collector,' you know the task ahead and how to proceed. (Edgar A. Whitney)
"You can't be at the pole and the equator at the same time. You must choose your own lie, as I hope to do, and it will probably be color." Vincent Van Gogh
"Seeing abstract value patterns, not just the literal subject, is one of the first and most difficult things for a growing artist to learn." Jane R. Hofstetter
"With this painting, I learned that when I simplify and spend more time editing, the message comes across more clearly." Francis Marte, first time award winner: Honorable Mention, Watercolor Artist magazine Showcase competition
"With watercolor, the cure is usually more harmful than the ailment." "Make your color choices consciously, not by default. Color is mood. Such a powerful tool should not be wasted." Elizabeth Kincaid, "Paint Watercolors that Dance with Light"
"The Artist draws not what he sees, but what he has to make others see." Edgar Degas
"We must not imitate the externals of nature with so much fidelity that the picture fails to evoke that wonderful teasing recurrence of emotion that marks the contemplation of a work of art." John E. Carlson, in Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting, 1929
"I don't think there is any great painting that doesn't have good abstract qualities."
Alice Neel
“The great colorists didn’t try to achieve distinguished color by trial and error, and neither should you. Delacroix spent long hours at museums studying the colors of the masters. Van Gogh, a powerful and impulsive painter, respected orderly relationships of colors. Kandinsky used color as emotion – but he knew his color theory well. The more you experience color, the sooner your intuition acquires a solid foundation to spring from. Overcome lazy habits of seeing that lock you into your first impression. In time, you’ll become aware of the subtleties of color in everything you see. But don’t simply report what you see. Use color to express the forces that energize your subject.” Nita Leland
“Only those who love color are admitted to its beauty and imminent presence. It affords utility to all, but unveils its deeper mysteries only to its devotees.” Johannes Itten
“However painting my evolve, color will remain its prime material” Johannes Itten
“A painter is also master of his choice in a dominant color, which produces upon every object in his composition the same effect as if they were illuminated by a light of the same color, or, what amounts to the same thing, seen through a colored glass.” M. E. Chevreul
“When the impulses which stir us to profound emotion are integrated with the medium of expression, every interview of the soul may become art. This is contingent upon the mastery of the medium.” Hans Hoffman
“When arranging still life objects, observe the ONE RULE OF COMPOSITION. Look at what shapes are created and the larger configuration the objects form when grouped together. Place the objects in asymmetrical groups” The Simple Secret to Better Painting. Greg Albert.
May 27 - More Adventures in Perspective!
Giny said on May 20th - Today: Cylinders, boxes, spheres oh my! Like climbing the mountain...tough going but what a view from the top...!
We looked at Rick Surowicz's method for putting out warm and cool variations of your color in order to get variety in your painting: for full youtube: Rick Surowicz - warm cool palette layout
Next week...May 27th: More adventures in perspecitive Images attached: today's studies... Perspective in 2 diagrams! Learn perspective the Craig Johnson way: birdhouses! Using perspective for effective design, AND atmospheric perspective in a painting. AND:
3 street scenes to illustrate, perhaps to paint??? (Note: now that you can draw a cube, guess what, you CAN draw a car!)
Depth...step by step!
BEst quote on atmospheric perspective:
"Remember your area of dominance. If it isn't the foreground, back off on foreground detail."
Eric Wiegardt, in Watercolor free and easy"
Methods for accentuating depth:
Overlapping
Atmospheric perspective
Fog – thick air, ground fog, cooling agent
Edge manipulation: diffused edges, blurred edges,
Create at least 3 planes
Assign values per plane
Shift values
Texture
Foliage indentations
Render objects into 3-d forms
Desaturate colors in the background
Avoid stacking light and dark values
ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE To imply depth:
“You can see miles of depth in this painting. The closer cliffs take on a warm violet, shifting to blue violet in the mid ground, and then blue in the furthest plane. Unless it is a foggy day, the obvious effect of atmospheric perspective is unnoticeable for planes that are just hundreds of feet away. In a normal day, you will start to see things getting bluer and lighter at about a mile away from you. You can really exploit this to create the illusion of depth.”
P 128, Vloothuis
Meanwhile,
Here's our lineup for the next 4 weeks...
May 6, 13th: COMPOSITION
May 20, 27th: THE DREADED PERSPECTIVE
Part1: geometric volumes and buildings
Part2: Atmospheric perspective
Happy Painting
Giny
"Sparkling Waters " Watercolor Tutorial - Rick Surowicz - warm cool palette layout
Craig Johnson Bird Houses Perspective
One Point Perspective
Two Point Perspective
One Point Perspective
Using Perspective - Text For Train Watercolor Below
Article Using Perspective - Uneven Intervals Perspective
Giny's Class Watercolor on Perspective
May 20 - Perspective - Elipses, Cubes, etc.
May 20th : "The talk"...no not that one, the one on PERSPECTIVE...!
We'll look at volumes: a straight cylinder and a cube...from every angle. All objects can be broken down into basic volumes, if we study each one separately we can rearrange them into all kinds of wonderful shapes. Photos attached: cylinder at 4 different levels, cube at 2 levels. And a lovely vase of flowers or glass collection to put it all together!
Giny Said on May 13th: compositions compositions! Beautiful paintings...
Discussion of focus, attention to painting... why do we give up, why do we stick with a losing painting...?? Two ideas: We can give up when we are married to the outcome, instead of seeing where the paint takes us that day...or we have learned what we are going to learn from it and it is time to move on.
Resources: excellent book on glow: Building Brilliant Watercolors, Judy Treman. OUt of print, pricing from $2 up. In a nutshell, layer (after each layer has dried) analogous, TRANSPARENT colors, leave whites; only layer warm colors over warm colors OR cool over cool. A trick for depth is to first paint the shadow areas in a light purple: a redish purple for warm, a bluer purple for cool.
Meanwhile,
Here's our lineup for the next 4 weeks...
May 6, 13th: COMPOSITION
May 20, 27th: THE DREADED PERSPECTIVE
Part1: geometric volumes and buildings
Part2: Atmospheric perspective
Happy Painting
Giny
Cube
Cylinders 1
Cylinders 2
Objects for Perspective Studies
May 13 - Composition Simplified
May 13th : Part 2 - COMPOSITION SIMPLIFIED Here are 3 great resources that demystify composition...!
No image being provided, but one idea would be to follow Beattie's 5 steps and have an image in mind...or, take a previous idea or painting and rethink it using these 5 steps...
(Malcomn Beattie, Simplifying Complex Scenes in Watercolor) 5 steps
1) Subject selection - Begin with an idea that interests or inspires YOU. Then simplify it to the point that best conveys your idea.
2) Composition & design -"If it is pleasing to look at, then it is good design. There are many rules about good composition and design and they are all valid. My way of approaching these rules is to be aware of them, but to treat them more as a subconscious checklist rather than a recipe. I believe it is possible to so burden yourself with rules and things to remember that it can take the spontaneity and fun out of painting - and painting is meant to be fun!"
3) Drawing: this is your planning tool. Include only those lines necessary to convey the essentials of the scene - this is your watercolor roadmap.
4) Tonal value - plan your light and darks; reserve whites and lights. Look for areas of tonal contrast to lead the viewer's attention to a particular area.
5) Color - Use of color is extremely important, but not as critical to its success as the other elements (choice of subject, design, drawing and tonal value range). A limited palette will simplify your choices and assist you to gradually increase your knowledge in the use of color mixing. Explore your color wheel. Try a complementary color painting - such as blue and orange (Ultramarine and burnt sienna for example).
Rick Surowicz YouTube "3 Steps to Success" Link
"3 steps to success: Draw shapes. Plan values and edges. Then paint. Your sketchbook is the problem solving step. Plan your foreground (darker) midground (mid value) background (lightest). Plan whitest whites and lightest lights"
The Simple Secret to Better Painting. Greg Albert
“When arranging still life of objects, observe the ONE RULE OF COMPOSITION. Look as what shapes are created and the larger configuration the objects form when grouped together. Place the objects in asymmetrical groups”. Reminder…what is the ONE RULE? Never make any two intervals the same!
Happy painting!
giny
Meanwhile,
Here's our lineup for the next 4 weeks...
May 6, 13th: COMPOSITION
May 20, 27th: THE DREADED PERSPECTIVE
Part1: geometric volumes and buildings
Part2: Atmospheric perspective
May 6th, 13th : COMPOSITION
Part1: Value sketches, simplifying, Dobie’s 12 shapes. Pitfalls!
See "Composition Basics" attached
See "Composition- Edges and spaces" attached for painting techniques that support your composition
Giny - Osprey Nest
May 6 - Composition
On Thursday, Apr 29, 2021 Giny wrote:
Today: Such great experiments and confidence in exploring composition! Personalities shine thru in choice of subject!
And, let's celebrate Marie Wilkes on our awards corner, for recognition of her watercolor "2 onions"! How exciting!
Ginny Shu is following up on possible dates for our friend Charlotte to share her talents in portraits. 2 supplies you might want to look for now: Charlotte's "must have" paint for portraits: Holbein Burnt Sienna; and suggested affordable practice paper: Canson XV cold press 140lb, blue cover, pads 9x12 or 11x15 (not wirebound); available at Walmart, Amazon as well as Blick etc. Charlotte uses Saunders hot press 200 lb for her portraits.
Ginny had shared 2 paintings Charlotte did of Ginny's granddaughters, one of which won an award in the Pennsylvania watercolor society 2019 juried exhibit:
Charlotte's portraits 2019 Juried Show
And here's a link to one in the 2020 juried exhibition: Charlotte's Portrait 2020 Juried Show
Darcie had some questions on glow...glow comes from graduated values and soft edges... I did a quick study, using very orange tulips... using a slightly different technique. The 4 tulip photos attached show the progression: 1) paint only the shadow areas of your tulips in "purple" ...because these tulips are a warm color, I made my "purple" very pink/red. 2) When dry: Paint over the whole tulip using various yellow/oranges/reds. Leave white edges ffrom light source. 3) When dry again: Lift highlights and soften edges in the tulips. Paint in variegated loose background - make sure to protect those white edges! 4) I drew in shapes of background leaves, and painted negatively for darks. Also selectively glazed quin gold over some background shapes and over some yellows/oranges/reds in tulips. Not sure background totally successful - maybe too dark in upper left corner? Not balanced. We'll see!
Also Thursday April 29: What vibrant, transparent, luminous COMPOSITIONS today! Color, push/pull, warm/cool, glowing glazing...wonderful all! (See April 29)
Side trip into "texture", Giny played with lifting with credit card shapes - see first steps in rocks and mountains. (See below)
And Ginny Shu sharing "people palette" exercise you can recreate with whatever colors you own. Looking forward to scheduling our friend Charlotte for a two -Thursdays people workshop, will keep you posted.
(See April 29 classwork photo for Ginny's "people palette")
Meanwhile,
Here's our lineup for the next 4 weeks...
May 6, 13th: COMPOSITION
May 20, 27th: THE DREADED PERSPECTIVE
Part1: geometric volumes and buildings
Part2: Atmospheric perspective
May 6th, 13th : COMPOSITION
Part1: Value sketches, simplifying, Dobie’s 12 shapes. Pitfalls!
See "Composition Basics" attached
See "Composition- Edges and spaces" attached for painting techniques that support your composition
Happy Painting!
giny
Ginny S. watercolor by Charlotte her Granddaughter
She above - what you need for Charlotte's Class.
Ginny S. watercolor by Charlotte other Granddaughter
From April 29th Class - Rocks made with credit card - thick wash
Giny - Hickory Run - Rocks Done With Credit Cards
Linda
Shared by Linda - thanks
January 7 - Let's Paint Snow (Birches)
January 14 - Brrr.... More Snow (Office and Lake)
January 21 - Exploration of Legs
January 29 - Exploration of Legs ... Continued (Video Michael Reardon High Speed Demo Amazing)
February 5 - Exploration of Legs Continues ... to Landscapes
February 11- Value Studies of Landscapes
February 18 - Colorful Still Life Composition - You Design
February 25 - Colorful Still Life Composition - Patterns Continues
March 4 - Continuing Color Exploration Cool & Warm (Cory Wright - Simplifying a Complex Scene in Watercolor)
March 11 - Painting the Same Scene in Different Value Patterns (2 Videos Gary Tucker)
March 18 - Free Time Playground ... Paint What You Want (2 PDF's Sarah Yoeman Crows, Greg Albert -Pleasing the Eye) Notanizer App - Mark McDermott https://markmcdermottart.com/
March 25 - More Free Time (Artist Alice Neel, People Come First Virtual Opening Virtual Art Opening Alice Neel Sign-Up )
April 1 - Free time and/or masking tape Birches painting
April 8 - Within/Without Positive and Negative Painting
April 15 - Continue with Positive and Negative Painting ( 2 Videos) Teapot Apple Painting Tutorial
Transparent Watercolor Narrated Tutorial: Blossoms in the Valley
April 22 - Colorful Spring - Tulips, unifying glazing, Field's Rules for Painters
April 29 - Colorful Spring Continued, Skip Lawrence - PDF Luminosity
May 6 - Composition
May 13 - Composition Simplified
May 20 - Perspective - Elipses, Cubes, etc.
May 27 - More Adventures in Perspective - Watercolor Tutorial
Rick Surowicz - warm cool palette layout