I had the pleasure of attending the artists' reception for the North West Watercolor Society's Watermarks 2013 Exhibition at Tsuga Gallery in Bothell WA on Thursday evening. My painting, "Emergent Eagle", was jurored into the exhibition by juror Michael Reardon. The Exhibition was well attended including friends I have not seen in decades--what a treat; and the Sandy O'Conner, the wife of a university colleague at the University of Washington.
The reason for this blog is to share some of Michael Reardon's comments and criteria for selecting the fifty works out of over 250 submissions. One criteria that was dominant is the understatement of color in many of the award winners--subtle color, strong design and strong simplicity--a more subdued palette. This puts the emphasis on composition and value as contrasted to strong color schemes. Color was certainly present and the juror in my opinion did a masterful job of selecting a nice diversity of work and approaches. What a treat as this is my third work selected for exhibition by the NWWS.
i am working on a piece at the moment in which i am trying to eliminate many shapes from my sketch and seek to combine and cluster major shapes with colored grays, leaving the brighter and intense colors for the center of interest. we will see by next week.
Keep painting. ron k
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Zooming In
Hi all, am back to painting again so thought i would share some issues that i am dealing with as i warm up. one issue or approach is the choice of how much detail to put in a scene. i tend to reduce the detail and simplify the composition in order not to get caught up in lots of shape "bits". it is fine if they truly add to the story or background support but if they are simply information props then i filter them out. so i choose to zoom in on a strong center of interest and eliminate detail.
the two sketches from my sketchbook illustrate a zoom approach with each having a different center of interest: the lower image is the combination of two women sitting under the umbrellas; and the upper image is another woman figure with a white hat showing through the shadows cast by other umbrellas. this way i am challenging myself to simplify both the detail and the brightness and attention at the center and not all over the painting as i tend to do at times.
i also have been painting with as smaller brush lately, a no. 10 Scepter II WN round backed up by a no. 16 round. i tend to paint quickly and sometimes impatiently so am trying to slow down a bit and not loose the looseness re: Charles Reid. i also am trying to put more accuracy in my pencil sketches as i do the same with the sketch technique as you can see in value/composition examples attached. including more people in my compositions as their shapes have always been a challenge. have fun and keep painting. ron k
the two sketches from my sketchbook illustrate a zoom approach with each having a different center of interest: the lower image is the combination of two women sitting under the umbrellas; and the upper image is another woman figure with a white hat showing through the shadows cast by other umbrellas. this way i am challenging myself to simplify both the detail and the brightness and attention at the center and not all over the painting as i tend to do at times.
i also have been painting with as smaller brush lately, a no. 10 Scepter II WN round backed up by a no. 16 round. i tend to paint quickly and sometimes impatiently so am trying to slow down a bit and not loose the looseness re: Charles Reid. i also am trying to put more accuracy in my pencil sketches as i do the same with the sketch technique as you can see in value/composition examples attached. including more people in my compositions as their shapes have always been a challenge. have fun and keep painting. ron k
Monday, October 7, 2013
Too much brightness
First of all the good news is that Emergent Eagle has been juried into the Northwest Watercolor Society's Waterworks 2013 exhibition with artists' reception on October 24, 2013 at Tsuga Gallery on Main Street in Bothell WA. Hooray.
After review some of my recent work (took time off to work on the new book), i realized that i had way too much emphasis throughout the paintings. After taking a workshop with Ron Stocke,
Everett WA at Cary Jurrians Whidbey Island Arts Center in Langley WA it dawned on me that i am overstating many of my paintings. so i am now working on a new set "Images of Langley" where i am reducing the emphasis and focusing drama, intensity and color at the center of interest where it belongs. easy to say harder to accomplish like much in painting. so am including my first study of the "Prima Deck" series as an example of my current efforts. will post the final hopefully next week. Have fun painting. ron k
After review some of my recent work (took time off to work on the new book), i realized that i had way too much emphasis throughout the paintings. After taking a workshop with Ron Stocke,
Everett WA at Cary Jurrians Whidbey Island Arts Center in Langley WA it dawned on me that i am overstating many of my paintings. so i am now working on a new set "Images of Langley" where i am reducing the emphasis and focusing drama, intensity and color at the center of interest where it belongs. easy to say harder to accomplish like much in painting. so am including my first study of the "Prima Deck" series as an example of my current efforts. will post the final hopefully next week. Have fun painting. ron k
Monday, November 19, 2012
Eagle Emergent
Well it has been a while but I am back and trying to paint. Have been working on a new book as well that involves the reintegration of "play" into the professional design and art fields. Based on the works of Fredrich Froebel and others. Fun and stimulating.
I just finished a new eagle for my latest series entitled "Eagle Emergent" and really enjoyed painting this one. Trying once more to break out of familiar patterns. Am trying to go after more color and boldness. Still overworking on the new paintings as the lure of detail is overpowering in the animal series I am working on--american bison for example. they are winning so far but i will continue to try to capture the power of the bison without rendering each tuft of fur!
anyway, here is the Eagle Emergent so let me have comments if you like. one disappointment is the limited background design but i felt the eagle itself was as a positive shape very active and decided to go with a very simple background. More later and keep painting. Ron K
I just finished a new eagle for my latest series entitled "Eagle Emergent" and really enjoyed painting this one. Trying once more to break out of familiar patterns. Am trying to go after more color and boldness. Still overworking on the new paintings as the lure of detail is overpowering in the animal series I am working on--american bison for example. they are winning so far but i will continue to try to capture the power of the bison without rendering each tuft of fur!
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Mixed Media or Not?
As i get back into my painting after a hectic spring, there are two areas of discussion with other painters that i will address over the next couple of weeks: Mixed Media and Sketching as a Means to Reduce Tightness (or some other title later). they are both related for me for the following reasons:
1. the use of another medium with watercolor, such as pen and ink, crayon, pastels, etc. can turn into a crutch for the painter that prevents the use of watercolor in problem solving. for example, in the early years of painting, i was unsure and lacking in confidence regarding the addition and use of darks in my watercolor. i used pen and ink hatching and scribbling techniques to add darks base layers of watercolor. nothing wrong with that approach and the ink delayed my confidence and understanding of using, making and locating darks in a watercolor composition. i suggest that beginning painters set aside the mixed media and focus on the strategies and tactics of watercolor. to complete the example, once i discovered the introduction of staining colors into base washes and colors, the avenue to rich darks began to show direction. stains can be overpowering and when used with restraint, can deepen and enrichen basic colors. stains i commonly use are winsor green, alizarin crimson, thalo blue and even some purples and violets.
another distraction for me in mixed media is the dominance of the added medium. many sketch with pen and ink and add a watercolor wash, lighter in value. to me, this weakens the watercolor expression especially with the ink as (using black) the lines pop out too often as borders rather than as integral shapes with the watercolor. as an old pen and ink sketcher, i can attest to the lure and dominance of India Ink. in painting, we deal with shapes not lines; with edges that are merged, interlocked, soft and hard. line work using ink and sometimes colored pencil can lock in shapes, creating a mosaic affect rather than an integrated composition. opinions vary and this is my experience--experiment.
2. as i switch back into a painting mode this summer, i intend to focus on sketching as a way of loosening up my approach, decreasing the serious or precious tightness in some paintings. i will experiment with sketch value/composition studies (i still do these as a matter of course for every watercolor) and quick painting studies (i have drifted from these a bit in my impatience and have jumped into the larger paintings quickly--maybe prematurely although i love painting large and loose). based on discussions i have had with other painters, it is time to revisit the quick sketch and the sketch without significant pencil guides. more on that in two weeks i hope.
keep painting, RK
1. the use of another medium with watercolor, such as pen and ink, crayon, pastels, etc. can turn into a crutch for the painter that prevents the use of watercolor in problem solving. for example, in the early years of painting, i was unsure and lacking in confidence regarding the addition and use of darks in my watercolor. i used pen and ink hatching and scribbling techniques to add darks base layers of watercolor. nothing wrong with that approach and the ink delayed my confidence and understanding of using, making and locating darks in a watercolor composition. i suggest that beginning painters set aside the mixed media and focus on the strategies and tactics of watercolor. to complete the example, once i discovered the introduction of staining colors into base washes and colors, the avenue to rich darks began to show direction. stains can be overpowering and when used with restraint, can deepen and enrichen basic colors. stains i commonly use are winsor green, alizarin crimson, thalo blue and even some purples and violets.
another distraction for me in mixed media is the dominance of the added medium. many sketch with pen and ink and add a watercolor wash, lighter in value. to me, this weakens the watercolor expression especially with the ink as (using black) the lines pop out too often as borders rather than as integral shapes with the watercolor. as an old pen and ink sketcher, i can attest to the lure and dominance of India Ink. in painting, we deal with shapes not lines; with edges that are merged, interlocked, soft and hard. line work using ink and sometimes colored pencil can lock in shapes, creating a mosaic affect rather than an integrated composition. opinions vary and this is my experience--experiment.
2. as i switch back into a painting mode this summer, i intend to focus on sketching as a way of loosening up my approach, decreasing the serious or precious tightness in some paintings. i will experiment with sketch value/composition studies (i still do these as a matter of course for every watercolor) and quick painting studies (i have drifted from these a bit in my impatience and have jumped into the larger paintings quickly--maybe prematurely although i love painting large and loose). based on discussions i have had with other painters, it is time to revisit the quick sketch and the sketch without significant pencil guides. more on that in two weeks i hope.
keep painting, RK
Monday, May 28, 2012
More Free Style
Okay, this week i will again go back to a free style approach with no underlying pencil lines as guides. the idea is to study in small sketches the composition and value, imprint that in my mind and then go to the painting excercise and paint. this requires a different approach mentally as i have no guides and hopefully will produce a series of more expressive paintings. ron k
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