Kasprisin Ridge Studios

A Gathering of Eagles--focus

2011-12-19T15:55:00.000-08:00

Focusing on a Topic

2011-12-19T15:39:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks, sorry for the delay been busy with lots of tsunami related work up and down Washington coast and working with great tribes of northwest: Quinault, Makah, Quileute, great people.

This blog is about the advantages of pursuing a topic for sometime and doing study and paintings in clusters. I found that as i did painting after painting about a certain topic, i began learning how to address the composition and techniques and also gained insight on how to approach the subject and add drama. years ago i took lessons from James Godwin Scott of St. Louis and James emphasized the value in staying with a topic such as waterfralls or farm settings for an extended period of time to learn their nature and improve your painting approaches.

i have recently been painting a series on bald eagles (image attached) and am learning more and more as i do each one. i am now working on two more that seek to increase the drama in the composition as well as the intensity of colors as i think the early ones are fine and a bit less intensive. more later. ron

A Review

2011-08-20T12:57:00.000-07:00

A Review
If you have not been able to go back to the beginning of the blog for instructional guidance, here is an overall review to help you get some perspective on watercolor painting. Remember, there are many ways to approach painting so the following represents my approach, generally based on a direct method of painting (wet on dry) or wet charged brush onto dry paper. I also paint on hot press paper.

selection of image (field sketches, photographs, still life, etc.)
design of composition (small 2x4 or 3x5 sketches to examine and explore composition, keeping in mind value patterns; remember in every photo there are many compositions so just dont rely on photo
center of interest and value patterns: with one or more compositions, begin exploring where to put the center of interest and how to dramatize that center with combinations of light and dark--we tend to use five values from light to dark--1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0; as a guide, the most value differences or contrasts occur in and around the center of interest with the background and supporting areas having less value contrast (they still have color variation)
sketch out work on watercolor paper: this varies from small gestural or movement sketches by some artists, including no pencil sketch to detailed pencil drawings. I favor less than more as the more sketched shapes there are the more likely I am to get too detailed and fussy; on the other hand, many artists who use detailed pencil sketches may leave many pencil lines in the final to assist in shape definition.
selecting color: i like to limit my palette and select a family of primaries according to the mood I am after: muted and subdued for opaque palette (cad red, yellow ochre, cerulean blue); and brighter more intense families for brighter moods (delicate and intense palettes: azo, cobalt, rose madder and pthalos, respectively); too many colors can ruin the painting and be confusing when applying. I like to work toward an overall temperature dominance and a color compliment or opposite relationship.
remember to tilt the paper at least 30 degress to enable water to be affected by gravity
tilt your palette to help keep muddiness away from mixing areas

Beginning the painting

there is no one place to begin a painting: begin where you are most comfortable and likely places include the conventional top to bottom in light washes; at the center of interest (my preference); shape cluster by shape cluster (background, midground, foreground)--not my recommendation; at the edge and working in toward the center of interest, making immediate connections to edge of frame and center of interest.
if i begin at the top and begin working down, i work in lighter values with lots of color change (local color) and do not worry about edges--as a matter of fact, i make most edges in this approach soft or blurred; then after drying, i begin to work at the center of interest, increasing value and brightness and hard and defined edges; finishing with key darks
if i am beginning at the center of interest, i often begin with my brighter more intense mid values and darks, leaving the lighter values for background and support
remember: most watercolors go through an "ugly" phase until the darks are put in to help define the center of interest and structure of painting.
make sure you vary the edge conditions: lost and found or soft and hard where the hard is often backlit or high light contrast.

more later ron

More Strategy

2011-08-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

More Strategies.
I enjoy evaluating an image or possible scene to paint, whether sitting outside with sketchbook (preferred) or in the studio with sketches and photographs (often necessary). I begin by asking myself how can i increase or create a sense of drama? I do not simply want to render or represent the image or scene for a couple of reasons: I want to engage painting a composition that has life and vitality; and, i want the viewer to experience a sense of drama and stimulation from the painting--all enhanced by the way the composition, value and color go together.

I have been told by local gallery owners that I "should" paint images that are local as they sell better to visitors. Nope. I need to be engrossed in what I am painting and select images that have a sensual orgaic nature to them: old trucks, motorcycle riders (real characters, many), decrepit buildings, etc. so the first characteristic that i look for is sensuality from my perspective. this can mean very different things to different people.

Sensuality. For me, the objects I am looking at or researching have a story to be told, whether it be a personality to be emphasized and dramatized or a mood. there is some nature of the emerging composition that wants to say something.

The next step for me is the exploration of composition in conjunction with a center of interest or focal area.

Composition and Center of Interest. These go hand in hand. A composition without a center of interest is a mono-view where everything is equal in the eyes of the viewer and can be confusing and vague. Adding a center of interest sharpens, highlights and focuses the emphasis in a composition. this establishes an "aha" emphasis supported by the rest of the composition. I do many small sketches in my sketchbook to explore composition. for me this is a process of discovery through exploration not a predetermined outcome that i then polish or finalize. Big difference. At times, I will change the composition because the center or focal area is not working or not strong enough as a strategy for painting. and these are all critical for the value exploration that we have discussed in the past blogs. VALUE structures the composition, eliminating the mono-view and increasing drama through light to dark hierarchial shapes.

More later. ron k

I just read an article in American Artist, May 2011 by John A. Parks on "The Teachings of Charles Webster Hawthorne" (1872-1930), renowned teacher and founder of the Cape Cod School of Art. Parks quotes Charles Hawthorne, "Anything under the sun is beautiful if you have the vision--it is the seeing of the thing that makes it so." Wow. This is more than painting the flower the way it looks, painting the barn just as it is...the task is to seek ways to bring the objects to life, to make those objects a part of their surronding, to bring out the drama in their composition. this is why I emphasize the act of play-work in developing a strategy for your vision. this is not a formula, nor a hard-in-concrete paint by numbers exercise. the strategy for a vision provides the painter with a direction, as aspiration not a goal. Once you begin painting, the water--the medium carrying the pigment--will come into play: being pulled by gravity, soaking into the paper fiber, evaporating quickly or slowly depending upon the temperature, and moving! and as the painter engages this fascinating physics, the strategy becomes a dance with the medium, changing and challenging and the strategy assists in maintaining the overall principles of the vision. Challenging stuff!

I have watched master painters like Eric Weigardt, in an hour demonstration, get to a point where the painting changes direction from where Eric may have aspired..and he danced with that change, resulting in a dramaatic outcome that still held aspects of the original vision and now contained new and creative adjustments.

keep painting. ron k

painting strategies

2011-08-09T12:17:00.000-07:00

Hi folks: has been a very busy month and trying to get into my painting again. This post discusses how I approach a painting; how I develop a strategy to use as a guide to work with composition, values and color.

I will do this in parts as I have limited time today. I have been going through lots of photographs collected over the years looking for a direction and category for a set of new paintings. This is the first hurdle for me as I need to be stimulated by the topic as well as the painting challenge. I have settled on three areas of interest: rural northwest towns (with old trucks); old railroad cars; and, maritime scenes of working ships.

As I begin, I look for strong compositional views from a set of photographs, seeking the most drama with the basic shapes (triangulated gables, etc.). I follow this with a study on the shadow shapes either existing or imagined that can further dramatize the strong shapes in the composition. once that is accomplished through a series of 2 x 3 or 3 x 5 inch pentel sign pen sketches, I begin to look at simple colors and color complements. I have mentioned before that i certainly get myself in trouble when i use too many colors in a painting so i try to limit.

Okay that is a start and i will come back to this today or tomorrow. ron k

Reproductions

2011-07-26T14:13:00.000-07:00

Reproductions
Hi folks, been awhile do to projects and festivals. I had a booth at the Loganberry Festival in Greenbank on Whidbey Island this past weekend and the weather was great and the music and food fantastic. Local and creative with lots of artists and musicians here on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound (now a part of the Salish Sea). these festivals really are not a great venue for selling fine art whether originals or reproductions but they can be fun and good exposure for your art (I had follow up emails requesting reproductions after the festival).
Let us clear up one important point: Giclee reproductions are high quality pigments on archival watercolor paper, designed to last a long time (over 100 years) and be collectible art work. These reproductions cannot be called "prints" as a print is a reproduction that has been added to, altering the original image (adding another medium as an overlay, for example).
A significant problem for artists is that most lay people do not understand the difference in quality between Giclee or fine art reproductions and copies (ink jet copies of watercolors on bond paper or even watercolor paper). Why? they are comprised of INKs and not PIGMENTs for one. inks will fade rapidly. Talking to other artists at the festival, one laughingly told me of a friend who came over and said "look at the neat signed watercolor I bought for $20." Ouch and we all laughed and cried. He bought a digital copy, made with ink and signed--cheap and fragile and not a fine art collectible. Many artists now are discontinuing the "giclee" label and using "fine art reproduction" instead.

Have fun and keep painting. Ron K

Sketching

2011-06-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks: sorry about my absence but have been out along the Washington and British Columbia coastal communities doing workshops on various topics, including tsunami preparation. Another day on that. I have had a number of people asking what to do if they are not experienced or confident about pencil sketching. good questions.
Some instructors will say that sketching is not critical to watercolor in that a few lines are sufficient to provide enough guidance for a painting study. Well and good if you are very experienced. I think that the bottom line is__learn how to sketch!
Sketching for watercolor painting varies as much as the methods of watercolor painting. Realism painters may sketch in a lot of detail whereas impressionists may reduce the amount of detail, as i do, and sketch in mostly shadow shapes. Charles Reid and Ted Nuttel, both impressionists, sketch in very detailed fine line methods. Here are some guides:

Teach yourself (assistance is always helpful like workshops): start with contour drawing--painting what you see not what you think you see (from memory); read Betty Edwards' DRawing on the Right Side of the Brain, section on pure and modified contour drawing. ANYONE CAN DO THIS AS IT SIMPLY TAKES PRACTICE LIKE EXERCISING A MUSCLE--DEAL WITH YOUR FEARS AND JUST DO IT!
i do not recommend sketching with perspective estimation as you will experience more distortion than contour drawing.
gesture drawing: gesture drawing looks for the key movement aspects of an object in composition and limits the sketch to a few gestural lines.
shadow sketching: this is essentially what i do--look for the shadow shapes and sketch only those plus a few basic overall contours. as an architect, i was taught in school how to draw, fortunately because now i am not so sure about a lot of design schools and the impacts of digital graphics--another story. during a workshop with Eric Weigardt, Eric looked at my preliminary sketches and suggested i draw less detail. Why? the amount of detail was affecting the way i painted, pulling me into painting shapes and not larger cluster in the composition. Reid does the opposite, a lot of detail using contour drawing for an impressionist.
i find they both work using contour drawing that can be self taught. i use less drawing now as i did earlier and enjoy how that forces my brain to think about the larger painting and not inidividual shapes.

Hope this helps, let me know, keep painting. Ron K

Backgrounds

2011-05-09T22:33:00.000-07:00

Background. No, the "background" is not a separate and distinct part of the painting--it is the anchor and foundation for the painting. If your main "object" is the only shape painted then the object is foremost and floating, like a cut-out of construction paper glued onto another sheet of paper--no connection--no integration. why is this important? compostional integrity.

in any given composition whether it is still life or plein air or from sketches etc., the selected center of interest is the drama point, the aha. many emerging artists overlook the background as a prop or blank setting for the main shapes. No. the background is a part of the composition, a part of the focal point so that the primary object and message is connected to the surrounding context or supporting shapes. i remember starting with value sketches in my first book ( another story for tomorrow), where the values were divided between and among the foreground, midground and background, things i learned from reading. after many years of painting i realized that this was insane, that the fore-mid- and backgrounds all worked together to connect the composition and connect it to the frame or "window" of the painting.

tomorrow, i will tell a funny story about how i went from a classic pen and ink guy to a watercolorist. wow. keep painting RK

Pencil or No Pencil Lines

2011-05-09T10:53:00.000-07:00

Many beginning painters are curious about whether or not to leave the pencil lines of underlying sketches on the painting, or remove. the choice is personal from what i can gather from professional artists. American impressionists like Charles Reid, ("Pulling Your Paintings Together", "The Natural Way to Paint", etc. Watson-Guptill) leaves his pencil lines and they become an importatn part of his painting result and they assist in implying certain edge conditions and detail. Many painters, Eric Weigardt included, put minimal pencil lines on paper with more gesturing motions and large outlines, making them less visible in the final painting. I prefer to erase most if not all of the background pencil lines with a kneaded erasure. Why? I want the final watercolor painting to be as much about what the watercolor is achieving (edge conditions, detail illusion, etc.) and not depend upon another media for those conditions. Bottom line, personal choice and desired affect--mixed medium or pure watercolor, or watercolor with a slight mixed medium assist (Reid). Have fun. RK

Grays again

2011-05-08T14:05:00.000-07:00

More questions on grays. bottom line, remember that grays must have a color! Battleship gray refers to the colorless neutral gray that navies paint their ships so that they are harder to see against the ocean and sky. in painting we want grays that are colorful, not neutral or the neutral will deaden your paintings. many painters will have 85% of painting in colored grays and the remaining 15% in primary and secondary colors for emphasis. no set forumula.

Remember: a gray is a mizture of all three primaries-red, yellow and blue. if a red gray than red is dominant; if a purple gray then red and blue are dominant; if a green gray, they blue and yellow are dominant. I can use the same mixture in the mixing well of palette and bounce the gray all over the color spectrum by what colors i bring in to mix. if my mixture is somewhat greenish and i want more purple, i add more red and blue until the purple appears and the green disappears. try this exercise. refer to Jeanne Dobie, "Making Colors Sing", North Light Books, Cincinnati.

Approach Strategies

2011-04-26T14:21:00.000-07:00

After years of ruining painting starts with impatience and a lack of a real direction (the pleasure of painting was not quite enough!), I settled back and went back to my small sketch studies prior to painting. Why? Doing a basic study(s) for a painting required a number of thought processes: composition and focal point, value related to composition, and overall strategy on how to approach the painting--where to start, what to emphasize, what kind of edges, what color contrasts, etc. Working through these questions does not lead to a 'memorized' painting or regimented approach. The process helps the painter explore various ways to proceed with the painting knowing that things will change and shift. At least there is a few key objectives set out as guides.

Composition and Focal Point. the focal point or center of interest is the "Aha" area of the painting--highlight and drama. i make every effort to assemble this focal point into a cluster of shapes or shape-parts, not just one obvious shape, i.e. a tree or building. the focal point may have portions of the tree, sky and building in the cluster with othe parts of the tree, sky and building all parts of the background area. Think clusters. Once this has been represented in a number of sketches, i move on to the value relationships with composition.

Value Relationships with Composition. I put these in relationship because the value, light to dark relationship, structures and dramatizes the composition. Often, if the value patterns are not working for me, i go back and change the composition to assist the value patterns. I utilize Skip Lawrence's advice often, "Painting Light and Shadow" (North Light Books, Cincinnati, 1994), where he places the majority of values in the focal point or area and the remaining value in all other areas. (Hurts the brain doesn't it!). The key is simple: there is color change in local shapes and little or no value change; or, lots of value change at focal area and little color change. If i am using three values, light/medium/dark (1,2,3), i can place the 1 and 3 at the focal area and everything else is a 2 value with lots of color change (local color, i.e. apple is red, leaf is green). Value contemplation and experimentation is critical for me in succeeding with a painting and i still struggle to make the value patterns clear and strong.

Cluster Painting. One of the early explorations is to decide on the cluster of shapes that will be included in early washes. Obviously, where are my whites (paper) that will be left alone; then, what shapes are clustered together for my merging washes, continually painting through the cluster and changing colors as needed for local color. I may do the entire painting in lighter value merged washes without stopping; or, i may select a group of shapes and paint them and reserving others until later in the process.

More later, as i am off to Ocean Shores for a tsunami workshop, back next week. Keep painting. RK

Opaques

2011-04-25T15:56:00.000-07:00

I received a few comments on the opaque watercolor trend and mixed media. Let me say that all are valid and challenging works of art. I did not receive any contrary comments but did want to emphasize my feelings: I love the transparency of watercolor. By adhering to pure transparent watercolor applications i challenge myself to resolve problems with white paper (as white) and get rich darks with watercolor pigment not other media. This is a personal choice driven only by my love of transparency, luminosity and the challenges of rich color etc. Enjoy. RK

Cleaning Palette

2011-04-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

I am often asked what to do with the pigment in my pigment wells (the "bank" where you put your pigment gel, not the mixing area). Because i demonstrate in class, i leave the pigment in the wells if i am using them at least once or twice per week. At the end of a session, take a wet paper towel and wipe off the surface to remove other colors and stuff left over from your brush as you dip in to obtain pigment. I then almost always add new pigment when starting a demonstration unless it is more of a sketch--then i use the semi-dry pigment. Bottom line: fresh pigment gel is the best way to go. Professional painters who are painting at least three times a week will clean out their pigment wells once per week (based on interviews with professionals such as Eric Weigardt and others). For students, i suggest cleaning the surface and using the older pigments as a base with new gel on top as a cost saving technique. RK

Mixed Media

2011-04-20T15:40:00.000-07:00

I have just reviewed the American Watercolor Society's brochure on the 2011 Exhibit of watercolors with some disappointment. First, all of the work is truly excellent as the quality of the work is not in question. What then? For me, and I express this individually as a dedicated transparent watercolor painter, I found the use of either acrylics, opaque watercolors including chinese white, etc. to be demeaning of the term transparent. Covering over a painting with Chinese White at the end of a painting is in my opinion careless, producing chalky and murky results. Again, the work is excellent and the watercolor medium is transparent and filled with light...so i find the AWS exhibit to be disappointing. the bottom line for me: if you want to be opaque and cover darks with lights, do acrylics or oils, not transparent watercolor.

Brushes

2011-04-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

Finding comfortable brushes can be frustrating. Student grade brushes do not always equate in size to professional brushes of same number. I use a WN Scepter and Scepter Gold II series professional brushes, usually nos. 16, 14, and 18 if you can find it. I like the no. 16 for big work.

Brush Sizes

2011-04-18T12:39:00.000-07:00

Students often ask me about the brush size they need to paint? The basic answer is simple: you need a brush that can carry water or a charge! a small brush cannot carry sufficient water for a larger or even medium size wash. they are sufficient for detail and small areas toward the end of a painting. a quality large brush, with a good tip that comes to a point, can cover lots of area and also provide enough detail in the point to do the job. remember that student grade brushes tend to ber smaller than the same number round professional brushes. i most often use a no. 18 round professional brush and then use a no. 12 or no. 10 professional brush for detail and follow-up work.

Color Complements

2011-04-12T15:36:00.000-07:00

Color complements are in fact color opposites on the color wheel working together. They complement one another through a principle of contrast. Simply put, a color opposite is the primary or secondary without the remaining colors: red as a primary has blue and yellow remaining, i.e. green; purple, composed of red and blue, has yellow remaining, its opposite; blue to orange (red and yellow), red to green, yellow to purple.

these complements can be successful when used in adjacency near the center of interest; or, as i discuss here, as an overall color palette. In the first situation, i may have a yellow as a part of my center of interest. as i wash the background from top to the center, i can start with a blue in the upper portion and gradually blend it to a redish purple as it nears the yellow in the center. in the second situation, as in the example attached, i can use a simple palette of two basic colors complimenting one another. I have struggled with too much color interfering with my value patterns and overall painting. As a solution, I limit my colors to a basic few, orange and blue, in a muted fashion. Even though there are numerous colors in the "blue" and "orange" of "Caw-cous", the overall affect is a simple color complement. If in doubt about color selection, limit your palette and focus on a complementary approach.

More Fresh Colors

2011-04-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

Based on added interest in fresh colors, let me add a few more tips:

In addition to keeping the palette clean (remember to tip the palette) and wash water clear, and add bright or high key colors to white paper, not over other colors, let us add "layers of paint".
When i began painting, I normally had well over five or more layers of paint application because i was unsure of my approach and obviously inexperienced. In recent years, I strive to have one to three layers of wash maximum in order to have clean colors. When overpainting, remember that you run the risk of creating 'grays", a combination of all three primaries (red, yellow, and blue) or combinations such as red over green (blue and yellow) etc. this is fine as long as the gray has good color and is desired. It becomes a problem when the grays become confused or over mixed and the gray starts trending toward "battleship gray"--no color, neutral, washed-out. so be aware of the colors that you are overpainting onto and remember that this act of glazing will produce another version of the color combination. bottom-line, try to limit the layers of color. one way i use to avoid this is to kick up my color value in first washes and not have as many weak early washes. In doing this, I focus on the center of interest and shadow shapes first. if that is working, I then can add lighter backgrounds and other supporting washes that are less critical.

Happy painting.

More color freshness

2011-04-04T09:39:00.000-07:00

Maintaining Color Freshness

When I first began painting in the 1980s, I was frequently frustrated by a dullness in my painting. Colors were muted; lacking in brightness and energy. Over the years, I began to learn tips from experienced painters about color freshness. In one workshop with Eric Weigardt, Ocean Park WA, Eric suggested that I tilt my palette so that the residual wash colors in the mixing areas flowed down to the bottom edge of the palette, keeping them away from the larger mixing area; and, making it easier and faster to pick up with a paper towel. The second tip, gleaned from reading Charles Reid and Skip Lawrence, is to apply the brighter mid values to white paper--make sure you reserve white paper for them as they will be muted when applied over other colors, often creating dull grays. A third tip is to keep the residual pigment tracking from other pigment wells from accumulating on top of other colors--simply wipe off the top scum layer with a damp paper towel. Keep painting. RK

seeking freshness

2011-03-22T13:54:00.001-07:00

Seeking Freshness

After not painting steadily for some time, working on the new book, I found myself struggling mightily as i returned to my painting about three weeks ago. Talk about frustration: I overworked, overpainted, and ruined all of my efforts. Why? Too determined and thinking too much. So what to do?

And happily, I kept painting and made a breakthrough that has helped me return freshness in color and composition to my paintings. How? I stopped drawing and painted directly onto the paper with no underlying sketch. Wow!! What a difference as i began focusing on color and value patterns and not on shapes.

I reserved the drawing and sketching for the value and composition studies, doing numerous studies to familiarize myself and my mind with an approach. Then i proceeded to paint without any pencil guides and I in my opinion was able to break out of my mental trap. Give it a try by just committing to do a number of quick painting sketches without pencil shapes (after a series of composition and value sketches in your sketchbook).

Approaches to painting

2011-03-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

Approaches to Painting

Sorry I have been absent. Have been working on a new book with Routledge Press, Oxford UK, entitled "Urban Design: the composition of complexity" being released in July 2011. If you are interested in design composition, check it out.

Back to painting. There are many approaches to painting. Years ago in a workshop with Eric Weigardt in Ocean Park, Washington, I told Eric that I had a crisis of approach, having taught watercolor for years and found myself confused as to what approach to use. He laughed and understood and said: "start where you are the most comfortable". and of course it worked. Some standard ways of approaching watercolor include: top to bottom; light to dark, painting shadow shapes first, starting with the darks, and starting at the center of interest.

They all work and I now find myself begining at the center of interest to see if i can initiate some drama with key contrasts. If i can then the rest of the painting is easier to resolve. a few tips at the center of interest: the principle of contrast is a good place to start--color opposites such as a purple next to a yellow; value contrast: the more value contrasts at the center; bright and muted colors; hard and soft edge combinations. in most cases leaving strong whites at the center can draw the eye of the observer, strengthened by value contrasts.

i use merging and mixing colors on the paper a lot as i am a fan of Charles Reid in that regard. I paint differently and enjoy the freshness of merging colors on the paper, getting variety in the very first washes.

if you are a beginning painter, i suggest you approach your work by applying the lighter local colors (apple is red, sky is blue) first, dry, then work your mid values and bright mid values into the painting, dry, then key darks. remember that to achieve bright colors i need to put them on white paper, not over another color.

more later and I am back. Enjoy and keep painting.
Ron

Value Sketches

2010-03-13T10:49:00.000-08:00

Value Sketches

The following value sketches illustrate the visual thinking process described in the previous blog on value patterns. The process is one of discovery and experimentation. Keep a sketch book and experiment with various compositions in conjunction with value patterns. If the value pattern is troublesome, change the composition.

2010-03-13T10:40:00.000-08:00

2010-03-12T12:55:00.000-08:00

Value Painting
It is almost spring time and I begin teaching watercolor for the design and art students at the University of Washington once again. I always look forward to this quarter because the watercolor course is fun and challenging and it gets me revved up again to paint. I have been busy working on a new book for Routledge Press out of the UK and the manuscript is due in June. OUch! But it is a fun challenge. the book is entitled: "Urban Design: The Composition of Complexity". which brings me to our lesson of this week: value painting and its relationship to composition.

Value painting as i have discussed involves designing a value pattern within your composition that dramatizes the light and dark relationship between and among shapes. The value pattern helps structure or assemble the composition into a coherent whole. Then and only then do you want to begin adding color.

My Process of Value Sketching
Either from field sketches or photographs or both, I begin doing small 3x5 inch Pentel Sign Pen sketches in my sketch book. I try a number of compositional configurations, sometimes zooming in on a subject for more drama and sometimes highlighting a certain feature of the subject. I then begin playing with various value patterns around a selected center of interest to see how the mood of the value pattern is emerging. For example, if i am using middle and dark values at the center, the mood may be subdued or diffused in the lighting, much like my sky today looking out of the studio on Whidbey Island--rainy and cool. i might want to go with more contrast in the light and use a light value with a dark value, essentially using strong dark shadowing around the center of interest.

One important aspect of this sketching process or process of visual thinking: it is a process of discovery. Meaning that by exploring and sketching various combinations of value patterns i discover other directions and approaches. There are times when i begin painting with a value pattern and have a really tough time making the painting work. I then go back and change the composition to provide a different and more dramatic value pattern. It is really a cyclical process of discover like design. Do not try to intellectualize the painting in your mind before you begin. Dance with it as it evolves through your hands and eyes and mind. I will add some sketch examples soon if i can figure how to import them. More later, gang. Keep painting and think VAUES.

Value Painting

2010-01-04T10:55:00.000-08:00

Value Painting in Watercolor.

Hi painters! I just talked to a good friend in England as he settles into his new painting studio in their wonderful garden. Time to paint again. I have been sidelined working on a new book entitled: "Urban Design: The Composition of Complexity" about the elements and principles of design composition applied to complex urban settings. Having fun.

Value Painting. Why is it so important?
The next couple of sessions will involve what I think is the most important aspect of painting: value relationships. Why? As you arrange shapes into a larger pattern or composition, you begin telling a story in the composition. The color adds mood through temperature (warm or cool dominance) and local colors (an apple is red, green and yellow). but, the drama of a painting and how the composition is structured or assembled is done through value patterns, the relationship of light to dark. essentially, the eye of the observer will go to the point or area of highest contrast of light--lightest next to darkest. To soften a mood, i may have values in the mid range next to each other that reduce that contrast, reducing the effects of the light--middle value next to a mid-light value.

Value Scale.
In printing, a nine value scale is often used. In painting, a five value scale is more common and is actually a derivation of a three value scale--something like this: (1) lightest, (2) middle value, (3) darkest value. Let's expand that to the following: (1) light, (1.5) mid-light, (2) middle value, (2.5) mid-dark, and (3) dark. So we will use a five value scale for our exercises and experiments.

Recommended Preparation.
What i have learned through practice, reading, self-teaching is that the value pattern of your painting and the composition are inherently entwined. In my sketchbook, i rough out a number of compositions, around 3x5 inch sketches until i start to get a compositional relationship that i like--that has some strength at the center of interest with movement, direction, etc. Next, i do quick value studies of each composition using the value combinations below, emphasizing the center of interest as the place i want the observer's attention. Here are the combinations:

(1) light next to (2) middle value for a sunny and hazy affect;
(1) light next to (3) dark value for a bright and strong sun with strong shadow affects
(2) middle next to (3) dark value for a moody, overcast or darker affect.

Skip Lawrence in "Painting Light and Shadow" helped me greatly through his writings and examples with a nice concept: the majority of value change (assuming three values 1, 2, 3) occur in and around the center of interest with the remaining value occuring predominantly everywhere else. Watch out! Your head will hurt as I did not say that everywhere else is the same color, simply the same value.

For example, for a moody day, i choose to put the mid and dark values at and around the center of interest and everything else is a light. where the light value is can be many colors, local colors, but they are all roughly the same value. Yahoo! Mood. With Skip Lawrence's approach, you can arrive at a matrix of nine moods for the SAME COMPOSITION WITH THREE DIFFERENT CENTERS OF INTEREST.

Exercise.
sketch nine small studies in pencil approx. 2x4 or 3x5 largest three per row, three rows
in row one, select a center of interest and with one color paint three value patterns using that center of interest: 1/3, 1/2, 2/3.
for row two, select another center of interest in the same ccomposition and do 1/3, 1/2, 2/3
repeat of a new center of interest for row three.

ask your eye to tell you which sketches have more drama, which less? and do i need to alter the composition to improve the value patterns?

Try these and get back to me as I am back in the saddle again.

Ron Kasprisin AIA

Greens Revisited

2009-10-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

Greens Revisited
Hi gang, have been busy with new artist in residence studio on my property and a new book project. A reader had some concerns about the green exercise I last gave so will clarify.

The basic idea is to practice making greens in each family of colors (transparent delicate, intense, and opaque) with the basic blues and yellows. you will be able to make lots of greens just by varying the amount of yellow or blue that you mix.
then, add the red in that family to the green mixtures of yellow and blue and you will create a green gray, very useful green colors. you will see the mixtures going from orange-brown (too much red and yellow) to blue gray (too much blue). practice.
then, you can do the basic mixtures and try some of the staining or intense colors, the pthalos, to the basic mixtures and see how you can enrich each of the green mixtures.

essentially that is the intent of the exercise. practice and i will have another section for you at end of next week.

keep painting, ron kasprisin

Common Flaws

2009-09-28T16:28:00.000-07:00

Hi gang, sorry i have been away, went fishing in Ontario Canada and had a great time.
This section is on common flaws when beginning your watercolors. Flaws is a weak term but my students view them as that so we will use the term. When beginning watercolor painting, there are characteristics that show up in your washes etc. that are normal and natural and will go away with time. Here are a few:

BANDING. when doing washes for practice and you are using a back and forth brush stroke, moving down the page as you paint, you may get banding marks in the wash. this is usually due to a number of things:
1. you are putting too much pressure on the brush, driving the brush into the paper where the brush has more than one point of contact with the paper, leaving two marks or streaks not one
2. your brush angle may be too low, again putting more than one part of brush on paper and leaving a banding affect.
3. i suggest really lightening up on your pressure, move your hand away from the ferrule up the handle, and put the pressure of your hand into your pinky with the pinky resting on the paper and moving with the stroke, it really helps.

BLOSSOMS AT BOTTOM OF WASH. when you get to the end of a wash, and the paper is dry, the bead left at the bottom will usually not keep running down the paper but will sit there. here is where the example of drying wash sucking up the wetter wash comes into play. as the wash above starts to dry out, it pulls the wetter bead back up into itself (the damp dry sponge affect on your wetter brush) and you will get a blossom. HINT: wipe your brush and use it as a blotter and run it over the bead to pick up the excess water into your brush from the paper.

FLOODING. i prefer students to be more wet than dry so i dont worry about flooding where you have water from previous strokes running down the paper into the new wash area. sometimes this can be the cheaper studennt grade paper or just too much water in the brush. just keep practicing and dont get too dry.

BREAKING EDGES. get in the habit of breaking or lifting out your edges as you finish a wash. quickly either add water no pigment to the end of the wash as if doing a merging and let the wash edge just soften out like cotton; or quickly go into the wet edge with a damp brush and lift our or break the wet edge to soften it and avoid hard edges.

More later, have fun. Ron K

watercolor lesson: greens

2009-09-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

Watercolor Lesson: Greens

Greens are dominant in most landscapes and often provide real challenges for beginning painters. Architects and landscape architects are traditionally fond of olive green and are often surprised to find out that it is actually a green gray: all three primaries are present and the red quiets down the color intensity of the yellow and blue mixture.

Mixing greens requires some practice with each palette family and with the staining colors.

Basic Greens. for each palette, the delicate transparent, staining and opaque palettes, mix the yellow and blue in varying amounts for a range of greens from yellow green to green to green blue. For example, mix azo yellow and cobalt blue to get a nice bright green. vary the amounts of azo and cobalt to mix a range of greens. Repeat this for each of the other two palettes, pthalo yellow and pthalo blue, and yellow ochre and cerulean blue.

Green Grays. Now mix the family red with each of the green mixtures and do a number of variations (you will see the green going from a green to a brown so be careful and use your eye judge). for example, mix azo yellow, cobalt blue and add rose madder to take the brightness away. Next for the same palette family, instead of using the family red, as in red madder, mix a staining red such as pthalo red or alizarin crimson to see the more intense version of the green gray. do for each family.

Mark down under each mixture what the colors used are so you have for reference.

More later, have fun painting.

Back to Basics: Rich Darks

2009-08-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

Back to Basics: Rich Darks

Before we get too far with our merged washes, we need to keep practicing how to mix our washes, our actual wash approach and application of that wash to the paper. Remember that you will constantly improve as you practice washes, darks, greens, etc. so do as many of the exercises as you can. The more paint and water to paper the better you become.

Remember: wet on wet is taking a wet charged brush to wet paper; dropping in the wet wash onto the paper when the shininess of the paper disappears (goes from floating on the surface reflecting light to being absorved into the paper fibers); and wet on dry is taking a wet charged brush to dry paper, the Direct Method, and method I prefer as I have more control and choices over my edge conditions (more on that later).

ALWAYS REMEMBER TO STAY AWAY FROM DAMP WASHES WITH NEW WETTER WASHES. Yes, wet on wet specialists can go into a damp wash but they are very experienced in how fast washes set up or dry. If you go into a wet or damp wash on paper with anything but pure pigment, you will get a blossom--a flower like blemish. A few are fine but a lot are not. Also, with water in the paper, your new wash will be moved around in the fibers and mix way more than you want, creating a muddy dull affect.

Remember: I prefer a "clinging wash" to a "swimming pool wash" where the pigment in the mixing well on the palette is not in a large and diluting pool of water; where I would have to bring a lot of pigment in to get a good dark or rich color, wasting pigments. And I do not recommend those small wash tubs or bowls. Too much diluted wash of one color.

Remember: when mixing a wash or getting ready to mix washes on palette for mergings on the paper, go to the pigment well with a damp dry brush to get pigment and not dilute the pigment well with excess water; getting rid of the excess water in brush by slatting (my technique but make sure dog is not behind you!), or touching brush to damp dry sponge or roll of TP. Work fast, clean off brush in wash water container, check excess water, go to pigment well, bring pigment to palette mixing area, get more water as needed from wash container, go to paper, clean brush and do over. FAST.

Rich Darks: Rich and Dark. When mixing darks, remember that the less times you make the attempt, the more fresh your wash will be. Conversely, the more you make efforts, washing over and over, to get a dark the more chance of making muddy and lifeless colors. So practice making darks by mixing the primaries and secondaries on the opaque and delicate palettes with staining colors. I suggest you not use black or Indigo because you will definitely get black and lose the richness of the dark color.

Darks Exercise: Sketch out a number of 3x5 rectangles, minimum, or favorite shapes as needed side by side. Paint a primary color into the first rectangle, say rose madder; in the next shape, mix in a pthalo red to the rose madder and try to make it dark; do again with rose madder and alizarin crimson. If you make the mixture too dark, the wash will go flat or shiny and not allow light to get through--this is good as you will know what dark is too much rather than being overly cautious and thinking a medium mixture is a dark!

Repeat this exercise for the other reds and blues in your palette; then do the same for the secondary colors (purple, orange, green).

Other colors to use to make darks are Ultramarine Blue, Prussian Blue, pthalo green as well as the other staining colors.

try other combinations. If you mix all three primaries together you will get a gray. Grays are fine as long as they have a COLOR DOMINANCE and can make muted and rich darks.

Merging Clarifications

2009-08-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Some additional information on the merging expansion recent blog:

when I refer to "bouncing around" in order to avoid horizontal banding affect, remember that I want variety in the color merge and am essentially painting across the paper and down (I usually paint in an angled direction across and down the shape to use gravity for my wet washes); I do not always bounce around the shapes with my merges, particularly if i know i am going to be changing colors rapidly in a given shape and know what "local" colors i am going to use; however, if i want to create a lot of variety in a larger shape and again avoid a banding look, i may go to the right an inch or two, lay down a new color then go back to the first and still wet wash and fill the space between that i left blank, jumping back and forth to get more variety. I mention this as a lot of my students do get a banding affect when they begin the merged washes exercises. Part of this is because they are using limited colors. again, I recommend sketching out some landscape cluster shapes and practicing until you can see more variety in your washes. I hope this helps.

I also suggest painting fast, wet and loose as you try this..it is fun and helps you to do less analyzing about what you are doing and more reflex, letting the paint, brush and water do their thing.

Next blog will talk about the advantages of painting fast and doing a lot of painting sketches for practice.

Have fun. Ron K

Merging Expanded

2009-08-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

Hi gang: today I want to expand the merged washes section as it may sound easy but it takes practice and some speed.

First, for one of the best merge wash artists, in my opinion, I suggest you look up Charles Reid, a very famous east coast American Impressionist who essentially mixes his washes on the paper as opposed to in the palette. In addition, Charles Reid uses bright mid values in his shadow shapes and holds off a bit on the very dark values. His paintings are full of life and color variety and that is the point of this expanded lesson.

Merging: to review, merging is a way of bringing two or more colors together on the paper instead of in the palette. Merging results in more color variety in smaller shapes; and when you are working on larger watercolor sheets, as the shapes get larger, you will be able to wash with more variety in those larger shapes instead of boring mono-chromatic color. I find that speed helps.

Here is an example of how i work my mergings:

I can premix some colors on the palette (secondary colors like an orange or a purple)
then I go to the paper and start laying down a yellow for example and then quickly swishing brush in water, getting rid of excess water, going into palette and grabbing an orange and back to paper and push it into but not over the previous wet wash...(only at the edge--maybe about a quarter to one half inch into the previous and still wet first wash); keep adding colors this way.

to avoid getting bands of merged colors, I bounce around a bit as I go across the paper then come back to the spaces i left blank (and I am always painting down working the wet edges); I know this may sound a bit confusing but visualize an island in Puget Sound with fir and hemlock trees partly lit by the sun and part in shade. I do not want bands of merged colors going across the islandscape; so i lay down a yellow and then a yellow green and a blue into the wash and maybe skip an inch and lay down oranges and then go back to the one inch space and add some blue green or green. still working fast and across but bouncing a bit to avoid banding.

dont get frustrted: try some simple shapes. Again, a good exercise that i learned from Charles Reid's work is to sketch out some fun shapes, say a tree; mix a green with yellow and blue in your palette and paint the first tree with that color. monochromatic. exciting? hardly. Now in a similar sketch shape, put down a yellow, then a yellow green into the yellow then a blue into the green and back with a yellow into the green edge--pushing into but not painting over the previous washes.

Exercise: Sketch out some simple landscape cluster shapes (bushes, cluster of trees) only along their outer contours or edges. then start playing with merged washes using about six colors (yellow, blue, yellow and blue, pthalo green (careful!)); i also like to use multiple yellows and blues, say Indian Yellow with Azo Yellow, and Cobalt Blue with Cerulean or Ultramarine)

Have fun. Comments are appreciated. Ron K

Watercolor Lesson Series

2009-07-30T12:36:00.000-07:00

Hi watercolor enthusiasts! Yes, watercolor is said to be "hard and difficult" and do you know why? Water! It is wet, fluid, affected by gravity, evaporates and is absorbed into the paper at varying rates; not like oils or even acrylics. and is it fun and challenging. So, as an instructor in watercolor at the University of Washington in Seattle, i am going to begin a series of watercolor lessons for interested beginners on this blog. i hope you like the series and pardon my bad jokes when i tell them as there is a purpose behind them: reducing your fears or reticence (form of fear) so that you can engage the exercises and gain confidence. Here we go!

For this first Blog, I will set you up with materials at a more reasonable cost and a few exercises to get you going until two weeks from now.
Materials:
Materials purchased online via mail order companies are on average 50% cheaper than in retail stores and that is the way i suggest you go. I use Art Supply Warehouse (aswexpress.com) due to their large inventory and great prices (and no they are not paying me for this). Others are Cheap Joes, Blicks, Artorama and others. Do your research and compare both prices and inventory. iwill suggest all student grade materials below as your effort here is to paint not be a master. The more paint on the paper the more learning occurs.

Brushes: brushes are your most important purchase. you need a watercolor brush, not bristle brush, that both absorbs water and springs back when used. Many quality brushes have a combination of synthetics and sable hairs. Student grade watercolor brushes are usually synthetic. DO NOT BUY BRUSHES THAT ARE GOAT, SQUIRREL, CAMEL, YETI OR AUNT HILDA'S HAIR! Why? they absorb water (not sure about Aunt Hilda's) but will not spring back to a vertical position and flop over instead. You cannot paint this way and it will be the tools fault, not yours.

At a minimum:
(1) one large round, about a 16 pt. minimum and the student grade brushes are a bit smaller than the professional grade. I use Winsor Newton Septre Series but these are professional grade brushes and more expensive. I urge you not to spend money on small brushes. Why? They will not hold a "charge" or water volume in the brush. they are good for final detail and signing your name.

(1) One inch flat brush, for larger washes like sky and other applications. I also use a wash brush, 2 or more inches in width but they are expensive.

(1) optional 10pt or 12pt round for smaller shapes and detail.

Paper:
again, student grade only...

140 lb. cold pressed watercolor paper in tablet or spiral form, block pads (edges are glued to pull the paper tight as it absorbs water); do not get any paper lighter than 140 lb. as the buckling will really create too many valleys and bulges that will affect your washes

I use hot press but do not recommend it for beginners as it is smoother, runs faster and leaves more blemishes...which i like as it causes me to work faster and staying looser.

the student grade papers are cheaper and have a gesso like finish but will allow you to play and experiment so dont have great expectations on results. and you can use both sides of most papers as you are practicing.

Pads are usually 9 x 12 in size and I suggest not getting anything smaller.

Pallettes:
you want a decent paint pallette with at least eight or more pigment wells (the place you put your pigment ($) in) and three to four good sized mixing wells (the place you mix the pigments with water). you want to keep diluting water excess away from the pigment wells as you will be losing pigment ($).

Plastic rectangular and circular pallettes are inexpensive. I urge you not to get a field or sketching pallette as they just are not large enough to be effective except when travelling.
When you purchase the pallette, wash is with a dish detergent and a scrubby type sponge as many have some coating that makes your washes bead up for awhile.

Other pallette choices include metal with enamel interior which I like, ceramic plates as in dinner plates. Do not invest in wash cups, to be explained later.

Pigments:
There are lots of new pigments on the market. Later you can have fun and explore them. I suggest that you stick to the basic three families of color pallettes, in student grade paints, and learn how to mix and use these before moving on to exotic paints.

Manufacturers include (student grade name in ()): Grumbacher (Academy), Winsor Newton (Cotman), Da Vinci and many more. Here is the critical rule: do not buy any watercolor that does not have a common name: yellow ochre, cobalt blue, rose madder (all common names). Say no to "blue, red, " etc.

Delicate Transparent Pallette (bright and delicate meaning they can be lifted off of paper after dried with a brush and clear water and blotter)
Rose Madder (red)
Cobalt Blue (blue)
Azo or Aureleon Yellow
Veridian is a mixing green that is optional, not pleasant by itself and used to mix and cool other colors.

Staining Transparent Palette (bright and intense and will not come out of paper after application i.e. stains)
In professional grade paints, the stains are often called by the manufacturer's name, such as Winsor Red, Grumbacher Red etc. In most other cases they are called pthalo, intense, permanent.

pthalo red, yellow and blue
I often use a pthalo green as a mixing color for getting darks as well as alizarin crimson, a cooler red and great for mixing (be careful it will glow if over-used).

Opaque Transparent Pallette (oxymoron i know but they are transparent and chalkier as they do not totally dissolve)

Cadmium Red (great color but not a great mixing color as it gets "foggy" or murky)
Cerulean Blue
Yellow Ochre

Other colors that i like and use a lot are: Cadmium yellow and orange, burnt sienna, Ultramarine Blue, Indian Yellow.

Other Materials:
paper towels
soft pencil (not softer than a 3B as softer pencils can get oily due to density and hard to come out of paper and they can smear)
kneaded erasure (I do not recommend erasing at all!)
water container such as a margarine type for cleaning brushes and getting water during painting
water reservoir if painting outside or away from water source, such as hiking jugs
one inch drafting tape if desired (not masking tape as this kind can dry and tear paper when being removed)
object to elevate your watercolor paper when working so you create a minimum of 30% angle to bring gravity into picture
brush holder that breaths and has a bottom so you dont lose your brushes; if you use a hard container punch some holes into it so you dont mold your brushes
backpack

And, set up a place at home that is YOUR place; small desk whatever...so that you can start painting immediately without having to clean up and get all materials out each time you paint--this helps reduce "circling the wagons" avoidance.

Okay, a couple of basic exercises to get you going, get you familiar with tools, get you familiar with what your pigments are like and how to begin mixing pigments and water.

First, the Basics of Painting Techniques:
There are many ways to paint in watercolor and there are a number of ways to begin with that are conventional and very useful: WET ON WET, WET ON DRY, GLAZING, MERGING

WET ON WET (developed in the southwest of US in hot dry climates)
this provides water in the paper prior to adding a wash in order to better control evaporation and drying. Wet the paper in your rectangles 3x5 with clear water, let the shininess disappear (water is now in paper fibre and not floating on top reflecting light) and then immediately add your wash--see how the water in paper grabs your application and gently or quickly moves your wash around and creates a soft edge.

WET ON DRY (DIRECT METHOD)
This is the method I use and consists of bring a wet wash to dry paper. more control and leaves a dry edge unless you bring water to that edge and keep working it (more later)

GLAZING AND MERGING
Glazing is simply applying another wash over another DRIED WASH and creating a transparent or translucent color effect. DO NOT GO OVER A DAMP WASH AS THE WATER REMAINING IN THE PAPER WILL GRAB YOUR NEW WASH AND SPREAD AND MIX IT INTO MUD. LEAVE IT ALONE! Merging as described below can also be glazed over a previous DRIED WASH.

Exercise One: Three values for each pigment.
This may seem like a bit tedious but it is not. for each color in your three families of colors, paint each one three times in 3x5 rectanles with one being very light, two being rich and in middle value and three being as dark as you can paint it. if you go too far then I give you a gold star as you now know what too far is instead of a cautious and ineffetive "dark". It is okay to "fail". Mark the colors. If you go too far, usually you will see a shininess to wash as the pigment is so thick that there is no light getting to paper as it is being reflected back to you.

Exercise Two: Merging Washes
Instead of regular mono- or same washes, I like to start my students out on merged washes as a prelude to mixing colors on the paper as well as on the pallette.

for each family of colors, mix at least two colors together on the pallette and paint in a 3x5 rectangle; e.g. mix red and yellow to get orange;
below that rectangle, put the yellow down, immediately put the red down and push it into the yellow about a quarter to half inch minimum and mix some red and yellow in pallette for an orange and add that as well, repeat and keep going with all three colors until you achieve a merge wash. If you look at my work on the web site, www.ronkasprisin.com, you will see a lot of merging in all of my work.

More next week.
Have fun painting
Ron Kasprisin AIA

The Fears of Watercolor Painting

2008-03-25T17:42:00.000-07:00

In the digital age, picking up a paint brush and loading it with pigments and water to apply to paper can send mental shivers down many a spine. Why? When we engage a crafting process, the act of making something from raw materials, we leave the world of stored images, mouses, and clip art behind. We are asked to become an integral part of the painting and crafting process: interacting with gravity and evaporation; making mistakes; taking chances; and not knowing the exact outcome. We actually confront the many faces of fear: fear of success, of failure, of comparision, of the search for perfection, and the sidetracking of preciousness. They are all real, most of us have variations of the above and, to paraphrase American impressionist Frank Webb: Fear is a natural ingredient in creativity, recognize it and work through it.

Some of the best ways to deal with these fears from my teaching experiences and art work are the following:

1. avoid "circling the wagons": find a place to set up your painting materials so that they are immediately accessible. When i first began painting, I spent at least 30 minutes "setting up", then fell prey to my unnamed fears and said "okay, time to cook supper, will try again tomorrow". Hah avoidance.
2. try to release any sense of preciousness to your work, that is, engage in the painting as play, or play-work as I like to call it, not some serious masterpiece endeavor...let it go, play with a lot of energy and dont worry about the outcome.
3. look at "goofs", "failures" as experiments and explorations. As long as there is good energy in the painting, there can be no failure, only efforts or experiments that teach something. Okay that did not work, why and let me try again.
4. and if in doubt or stuck, just paint anything, slosh the paint around on the paper and have fun; move in any direction and just move!
5. finally, for this installment, no more than two glasses of wine or you will really wonder the next day who was tampering with your paintings!

Keep painting and have a great day. Some basic techniques in the next blog. Ron Kasprisin