A Gathering of Eagles--focus

Focusing on a Topic

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

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.

 

1. selection of image (field sketches, photographs, still life, etc.)
2. 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
3. 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)
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. remember to tilt the paper at least 30 degress to enable water to be affected by gravity
7. tilt your palette to help keep muddiness away from mixing areas

 

Beginning the painting

1. 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.
2. 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
3. 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
4. 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.
5. 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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