Category Archives: Part V

Magnification

This was an interesting exercise. As my topic for magnification, I choose a photograph from the trip to Greenwich, CT, which had been part of the themed collage and painting (previous exercise). I really liked the rock formation, and thought it was a good idea to work on this because it had been the weakest element in the earlier painting.

I started out with the original photograph in portrait format and then isolated a section of it which was in landscape format. The selection process was based on intuition. I searched for an interesting and balanced composition by looking at different sections of the large photo and finally sectioned out an area in the lower middle. This section of the photo was the basis for all subsequent studies.

I started with an observational drawing in my 23 x 30 cm sketchbook, using pencil and pastels for colouring.

Overall, I made 10 paintings in two series, the first series of 6 (34 x 48 cm) and the second series of 4 paintings (33 x 43 cm). I was tempted to follow the course materials’ suggestions on ways to produce abstract paintings, but I felt it would be more beneficial for me personally if I allowed myself to struggle and find my own way.

The first painting was an enlarged watercolour painting where I focused on similarity with the original, not yet on abstraction. I used oil pastels and watercolours for this one. The next 5 paintings were aimed at working out what I considered the essential elements of the composition: The shapes of the rocks, the white areas around them, the deep black shadows, and the patches of blueish sea water, green moss and brown seaweed. I alternated between transparent wax and white or light coloured oil pastels for the white dry areas. I tried out light green vs orange oil pastels for the moss, and tried to create a brownish organic texture for the seaweed. I used washes of Sepia or Payne’s grey over the oil pastel marks for the stones. I employed indian ink to achieve real black for the shadows which wouldn’t bleed when painted over with watercolours.

In these paintings, I tried to capture the fluorescent colour effect of the moss, the layered texture of the stones, and the separation of areas within the rocks through white dry lines. I recognized the similarity of the dark shadows with Chinese Calligraphy and tried to incorporate this into the painting. I also wanted to capture a feeling of transparency, fluency and depth for the water areas.

In this series, I think my attempts at abstraction were only moderately successful. I felt I was working too close to the original which hindered me to “go abstract”. I also felt that my concern with resemblance restricted the energy that was conveyed in the marks I made. I think I got about as far as I could with my chosen approach, but I wasn’t satisfied with the degree of abstraction I had achieved.

For the second series, I chose a slightly smaller paper format and allowed myself greater departures from the original. During reflections on the first series, I had recognized that I had different qualities in my composition: The organic (seaweed and moss), the anorganic (the rocks), and the fluid (water). I then tried to focus on these essentials and to work with more energy, less restriction in the subsequent paintings.

For the first painting, I deliberately chose colours and techniques to achieve the opposed effect to the essetials I had identified: I chose blue watercolour tones for the stones and applied them in a very fluid manner so they’d resemble more water than stone. By contrast, I chose red for the water patches and applied it so that it would look very flat and like a concrete surface. The textures for seaweed and moss were made with oil pastels and look quite soft. So the first painting of this series was quite a departure from realistic depiction.

In the next painting, I took up the idea of energy and movement and got back to the “white on white” resist technique explored earlier. I wanted to use this to convey more fluidity in my depiction of the rocks. I started with transparent wax, then made energetic oil pastel marks in orange for the moss and black for the seaweed. I worked over this with ink marks for the shadows and after drying, a wash of Payne’s grey for the rocks, and dark red for the moss.

I found the different areas in that painting not coherent enough and therefore in the following painting, made an experiment with washes and wet-on-wet over transparent wax. Unfortunately the wax became covered and did not protect white areas as I had intended, but I quite like the areas where the colours mixed on the paper.

For the final painting, I chose yellow oil pastels to indicate the lighter areas and the contours within the rocks, then laid washes “wet over moist”. This time I did not use ink because I found the deep black did not integrate so well, and used only watercolour to indicate moss and seaweed.

Over the course of these 10 paintings, I think there was indeed some progression towards abstraction and I’m satisfied that I ventured into finding my personal way of doing it. I like the energy in the yellow lines and the play of colour in the washes in the last painting and think some significant abstraction has taken place, compared to the initial paintings. I also like that this painting conveys the characteristic fluidity of a watercolour painting – as opposed to the first painting which looks more like an oil pastel drawing.

To summarize, I’m glad I took the challenge of working towards abstraction following my intuition and think it is an approach I could develop further in the future. It was an interesting experience that using several media began to feel quite natural, whereas a few weeks ago I had strong objections and a sense of awkwardness when combining watercolours with other media.

Themed collage and painting

This exercise did not work well for me. I was very uncomfortable with the suggested process of using bits of photographs or studies for a collage and to use this as a starting point for a painting. The first problem was that the photos I had chosen were made with a zoom camera and thus my elements did not fit very well together in size.

The second problem was that once the collage was done, I tried to make a realistic painting and saw no way how the suggested working sequence might encourage me to work towards abstraction.

So the result is a loosely worked, mixed media painting of a seaside landscape. I used Jet black pencil for the underdrawing, then watercolours to block out my compositional areas with light tones as suggested, then used oil pastels as resist and to give some more structure, and finally reworked the painting with watercolour and white gouache.

Possible future applications

I was surprised and a bit disappointed how uncomfortable I actually was with the suggested process. I’d have thought that this is a very good way to develop a composition from a selection of photographs, and it would have been a great and convenient way for me to work, because I always have the time to take photos when I’m out but it’s much more difficult to sit down quiet and draw a sketch, a study or even a considered painting.

Actually I don’t know what went wrong and why I did not find a way towards abstraction. Maybe my image idea was too ambitious and I get along better if I use only a single photo and select just a section of it to study the abstract nature of what I see. After all, I’ve been working quite a lot from photos directly off the computer screen. A typical phenomenon is that I try to include everything in the picture, which is quite a pain as the photo includes so much detail, but only on a small scale.

The exercise leaves me relatively confused and doubtful of future applications of the technique.

Collage made from random elements

I chose an 18 x 24 inch watercolour paper for this exercise, as A2 format isn’t available here… the sheet should be roughly the same size, maybe a little larger. For papers, I used a scrap bag of coloured Mulberry paper in all different colours. I sorted them by colour and then selected some green tones, blue tones, grey tones for muted colours and yellow, red and orange for some bright accents. I tore them apart into small pieces which gave a nice effect at the torn edges because that paper contains lots of longer fibers. I also prepared short bits of paper band and some brown craft paper for different shapes and textures.

I let these fall over the paper sheet on the floor colour by colour and obtained a nice and very arbitrary pattern. The trouble began when I tried to glue the pieces. I had layers of bits and wanted to glue them in the order they had fallen on the sheet, but this meant glueing those at the bottom first and so I had to lift up those on top – which swirled the entire heap and I lost the original patterns. Then the pva glue was a nightmare because it soaked through the paper bits onto my hands and made them so sticky that I hardly could fiddle the paper bits off to get them back onto the sheet. But after two hours or so, I had finally glued my composition on the sheet and found it looked quite interesting.

Maybe it would have been better to glue one colour before getting to the next, but I guess then I’d have lost a bit of the random character in the colours. But for practical reasons, I might do that if I repeat the exercise.

Assessing the pictorial qualities of the random composition

Are there colour combinations or juxtapositions that especially appeal to you?

I like the red and yellow-orange bits because they stand out as accents against the more muted colours, just as I intended them to be. I also like the pieces of paper band because of their different shapes which adds interest. Then there’s a degree of transparency where pieces are glued in layers which I think should correspond nicely to the transparency of watercolours.

The feathery torn edges versus cut edges and the fibers in the coloured papers add a nice textural element.

Are there areas of tonal contrast that are interesting?

The dark blue papers in the center create strong tonal contrasts with their adjacent bits, but also the red bits stand out quite dark against their respective backgrounds.

Are there elements of patterns emerging?

Yes, I think the composition has a center weight in the middle area of the sheet and from there it seems to explode to the outer edges. It looks quite energetic. But I think I will not work with this too straightforward, rather “slow down” a bit for a less violent overall effect.

Can you read in possible figurative elements?

Maybe a bird or a dancer.

Can you link up separate areas to make a more satisfying composition?

I think the current random composition is dense enough to permit multiple linkages of areas. The challenge will be to establish some of these to achieve an overall interesting result.

Completing the painting

I started with a light yellow watercolour wash for the upper area because I thougth this colour would match nicely with the colours of the glued paper bits there. As I moved downwards on the right side, I mixed in some red to work towards orange and red for the lower area. This was supposed to take up the orange coloured piece on the bottom and create a colour contrast to the blue papers of that area.

I began realizing that my washes could respond to the colours of my glued papers in different ways, and I tried a dark blue next to the center blue papers and from there added yellow to get into green which corresponded to the green papers to the middle left. From there, I added more yellow and thus met the starting colour in the upper middle area.

After a break I began with black ink for wiggly lines emanating from the tighter ends of the light green paper strips. I tried to maintain an intuitive working style with micro-movements and meandering pathways for the lines.

Again I needed a break where I just looked at the painting and let myself be inspired for the next media to add. I thought that my coloured accents needed some more weight and began working with oil pastel. Rather intuitively I began making wiggly marks that took up the fiber textures and extended over the boundaries of the coloured papers like tentacles. I wanted to intensify the colour effects and therefore tried to match the colour of the papers, plus adding a tonal variation, for example yellow and orange on a yellow paper.

At this point, the painting began to look quite scary to me. I had associations of fibrous growth and something very unhealthy. I was fascinated and repelled at the same time, but felt that I was doing the right thing because I responded to my own composition so far. I think it was the fibers of the mulberry paper that inspired me to do the wiggly ink lines and oil pastel marks. When I realized this, I was ready to take it a little further and worked out the oil pastel marks over most of the paper bits. Then I used ink to add even more wiggly lines to support and emphasize the oil pastel marks.

In another pause where I assessed the painting so far, I found there were too many “empty spaces” between the papers with their wiggly extensions, and I remembered I technique I had seen a while ago in paintings by watercolorist Sherly trevena. She uses watercolour pencils to scrape off some pigment over a wet area, which creates interesting speckles. I thought this would be the right thing for my painting and went ahead. Now my wiggly paper bits really came alive and they looked like little water creatures emanating particles while flowing through their space.

Taking another break, I thought that the painting was quite done, but somehow not yet finished, and I wasn’t sure what exactly was missing. I let the painting sit for an hour or so, them came back for the final assessment. Looking at it from a distance, my eyes wandered along the cut edges of the papers, and I found they would benefit from being brought out a little stronger. I really hesitated but then went ahead with more black ink and a piece of watercolour paper that I used as a ruler for straight lines. I emphasized some of the paper edges and found this added depth and a sense of purpose to the cut edges. It was very difficult to decide which edges to emphasize and how long to draw the lines. Not all my decisions were right but I think overall the lines were a good thing to add, because they provided additional structure and from this point on, my eyes had a sense of orientation when wandering over the picture surface. The lines seemed to support a visual exploration process for all the little things that happen in the different areas.

There was a moment rather at the beginning where I hesitated if I should take up the idea of a bird and connect my elements to form a bird-like shape. But I decided against that because I found it too literal and did not want to become concerned with resemblance. I think this was the right decision because it meant that the entire process stayed more open and experimental.

I think the final painting is quite successful and starting from my initial perception of something like an explosion, I think I have developed it into an “organic explosion”, something like a floating growth process. So in a way, I’ve accomplished the goal of creating something less violent than a typical explosion.

Working in such an abstract way was really interesting. There were moments where I found the painting ugly and asked myself why I never seemed to be able to create something “pleasant for the eye”. But I said to myself that this was about discovery and it was not important how pretty the outcome would be. I think by letting myself be guided by some intuitive notion of what the painting needed, there was a nice turnaround. It probably had to do with a change in approach from trying to conceal ugly parts to going forward and emphasize what I found in front of me. This somehow turned the ugly parts into something visually interesting and important for the entire composition.

Research into collage and painting

This research point hid inside the first exercise of this project and was comprised of two parts: Firstly, looking at two Cubist collages and making notes, and secondly, expanding the research into paper collage combined with painting by looking at two or more additional artists.

Two cubist paper collages

My research led me to a highly interesting press article published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art at the occasion of a Cubist collection gift. It was donated by Leonard A. Lauder and consisted in 78 works by the most known Cubist artists Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris and Fernand Léger. And what’s best about it, the collection will be shown at the museum in an exhibition that is about to open on October 20th. I was over the moon to be able to see all these works in real.

The article mentions Georges Braque’s “Fruit Dish and Glass” (1912) as the first paper collage ever created. It’s included in the collection and I selected it as my first image. As my second, I chose Pablo Picasso’s “Siphon, Glass, Newspaper, and Violin” (1912 or later), which is not part of the collection but located at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden. I chose these two because they are so similar and I think they reflect the close friendship and collaboration between Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso at the time.

Both works are drawings combined with collage. Braques (left image) used wood-textured wallpaper, and Picasso (right image) included wood-textured materials and printed newspaper as well. Both lack painted colours, they are based on coloured shapes and lines and include typographic elements. Both use a white background which makes them resemble tryout compositions pinned to a wall, rather than 3-dimensional illusions of space.

Both use tonality to some degree, Braque more than Picasso, but the effects are flat, not 3-dimensional. Both are based on simple shapes and lines characteristic for Cubism. Braques’ composition is somewhat denser, whereas I find more recognizable objects in Picasso’s collage (the bottle, a musical instrument). These images are very graphical and “clean” and not at all painterly in overall expression.

More research into collage and painting

The course brief pointed to United States and Britain in the 1960s and Germany and Russia in the 1920s. I looked up art history timelines online for the kind of art movements that came up in these countries at the indicated time. After some digging I found Robert Rauschenberg as a major proponent of Pop-Art in the United States in the 1960s, and the German artist Kurt Schwitters as a contemporary of the Constructivist and Dadaist movements in the 1920s.

Robert Rauschenberg worked in a variety of different media. The first work I found that combined collage and paper was from the series of his Black Paintings, “Untitled” (1951), of which I selected a photo showing just a detail. It shows layers of torn paper painted entirely with black paint. It mainly works on the haptic effects of the layered surface. There are no figurative pictorial elements, only the shapes created through the edges of the torn paper. This was not quite what I expected! I went on searching and found a painting from 1963, titled “Estate”. It combines photographs and paints to create a dense and colourful urban scene. It’s obviously New York and I can identify the energy the city conveys.

Finding an example for paper collage with painting from the 1920s in Germany or Russia was difficult. There were Constructivist and Dadaist movements and I found quite a few paper collages, but none combining collage and painting beyond just colouring the background a bit. I finally came across Kurt Schwitters which I knew by name but had never actually looked closer at his works. I was surprised to find abstract works with subtle tonal qualities and inventive use of materials in collage. The painting I selected for a closer look is entitled “Merz Picture 32 A. The Cherry Picture”, after the printed cherrie in its center.

In this collage, Schwitters uses paint to integrate some of the paper pieces into the background. This breaks up the composition into clean edges and softer blendings which resembles cubist painting techniques.

Concluding remarks

I was glad about the pointers in the course materials, because they helped me to find relevant periods in art history and interesting artworks. By contrast, a naive Google search for “collage with painting” brought up very mediocre results of contemporary experimentation and youtube tutorial videos. Art history writing emphasises the enormous impact of cubism and collage onto contemporary art, but I don’t know where examples of this may be hidden in contemporary art movements. Maybe they can easier be located through a search for mixed media paintings.

For my own practice, I found this research quite inspirational and providing me with some ideas how to approach the associated collage exercise. Maybe it would have been interesting to do the exercise before the research just to see what I’d make of the instructions, before looking at how other artists used the collage technique. Sometimes I feel that beginning a new technique by looking at other artists has a somewhat limiting effect because it frames the approach to take and it might create a barrier for more innovative ideas.

Research point: Pure watercolours vs mixed media

Think about the differences between using pure watercolour and mixed media. If you can, visit a gallery or galleries with both kinds of painting on show and make comparative notes on the differences between the two.

My own experiences during this project

From my own experiences, working purely with watercolour was very different from using mixed media. I had trouble integrating other media at first, because I did not want them to dominate the painting. With some practice, I began to welcome the additional possibilities and even felt that including other media helped to emphasize the particular character of watercolours. I think this was because opaque media like gouache and oil pastels emphasized the transparency and lightness of watercolours. I also enjoyed the contrast between the fine dark ink lines and textures versus the bright colours in the mixed media flower bouquet (second large study with dark background).

In a way, using mixed media is one solution to overcoming limitations of pure watercolour. For example if one wants to paint light colours agains a dark background, this can be achieved using opaque media. It relieves the necessity of meticulous planning of tonal areas and in my case, it helped me to produce more energetic and spontaneous paintings.

Starting from initial dislike and reservations against mixing watercolours with other media, the experience has changed my views. I highly appreciate this!

Looking at other artists

I did a Google search for artists who employ both pure watercolours and mixed media approaches, but did not get very far. There were a few contemporary artists and hobby painters, of which I chose three for a closer look. What I saw was quite in line with how I assessed what I produced in this part – additional media can add an element of interest, for example giving structure by adding linear marks over areas of colour. There’s always a risk of becoming too blunt or illustrative, but of course this is also a matter of taste. I saw quite energetic paintings but this may have been a selection bias and just be the result of what by chance turned up in my Google result list.

Karen Dawson (United states, contemporary)

Karen Dawson seems to always work in mixed media, I found no pure watercolours. I selected two paintings of a series in yellow oil pastel with watercolours.

Street game: This is a nice scene and I think it’s a powerful subject, but I think the painting is somewhat underdeveloped. It is energetic but maybe lacks colour intensity. I guess I’m realizing it because it is something I recognize in some of my own paintings. For example my pineapple painting is similar in this “lack of intensity”. I think my pineapple is more varied with textures than Karen Dawson’s painting, but it also lacks some depth and intensity.

Random: Works with the colour effect of opaque yellow lines against the flowing effect of watercolours. It has more of the qualities I appreciate in watercolours, in particular colour intensity.

Kathy Wariner (United States, contemporary, trained artist)

Again I found no pure watercolours, instead quite energetic watercolour paintings with linear elements that are probably underdrawings executed with charcoal or graphite. I imagine how the paintings would lack structure without the linear elements. The lines have a double effect – they tame the flowing colours, but they are also energetic in themselves. I think lines and washes work very well together here.

This is something quite inspirational for my own paintings, because so far, I have made underdrawings in hard pencil and lost track of them as I added layers of watercolour. I might be more courageous with integrating my underdrawings in the final painting.

– Daisy and red clover
– Flowers
– Still life with bananas

Edith Dora Rey (Swiss/Canadian, contemporary, trained artist)

The two paintings I selected are very similar in colour and composition, but only the second one has some linear elements. It’s nice to see how this changes the overall effect into something more edgy. I admire the simplicity of shapes and the intensity of colours. I’d like to have more of this in my own paintings.

– Gravy jug: Pure watercolour
– Salt shaker: Watercolours with line

For now, I will leave my research at that, but I’m definitely sensitized to application of mixed media with watercolours. With more time, I guess I’ll come across a broader variety of mixed media works and get a more comprehensive understanding of the effects and differences compared to pure watercolour paintings.

References

Karen Dawson http://www.karendawson.com/mixed.htm and http://arugulayumyum.wordpress.com

Kathy Wariner http://kathywariner.wordpress.com/ and http://www.roundaboutmadison.com/InsidePages/ArchivedArticles/2005/0905HCArstCraftsGuild.html

Edith Dora Rey: http://doreyme.blogs.com/

Using resists experimentally

This was quite an exciting exercise. I think I could use this technique again later on. I still had difficulties finding a single subject to explore, and so tried out different ideas.

I started with abstract experimentation using light and dark green oil pastels and then applied an indigo wash from very light to quite dark values. The oil pastel was used both linearly and as broader textures. I wanted to have a mixture of effects of light over light, light over dark, dark over light and dark over dark tones. I think the result looks interesting (ca. A3 size).

Then I used wax resist for a bouquet of flowers, with an alizarin crimson red first wash on top. Afterwards I applied more washes, more wax, oil pastels and gouache to work out the flowers, and a wash with Payne’s grey to darken the background. (48 x 38 cm)

I proceeded with a self portraits in transparent wax resist on white paper. I destroyed the first one because I had added so much additional media that nothing of the original effects remained and I did not like the result at all. I made two more self portraits in wax and laid light washes over it, but then wasn’t courageous enough to apply additional media. Self portraits seem to have a dark magic to them and I wasn’t ready for further experimentation with abstraction on this subject. (ca A3 size)

Instead, I made another attempt with a different subject and chose a pineapple. Again starting with a transparent wax drawing on white paper, then adding light washes in yellow, red and green. Then some linear elements using coloured pencils, and intensifying the yellow and orange tones with oil pastel marks. Finally I added shadows with a watercolour wash. (ca. A3 size)

Guided reflections

Describe your experience of working ‘invisibly’

Working invisibly was very strange at first, because there was hardly any visual control over the marks placed on the paper. Laying a wash on top revealed surprising results. I left the two self-portraits as they were to remind me of the pure effect. Over the three different subjects (flowers, self portrait, pineapple) I began to feel a little more confident and began to appreciate the looseness of the approach.

What have you learned in this exercise about new approaches?

I think I learned that it takes me some time to tune into a new technique and that changing subjects seem to help exploring a technique’s potential, for example by inspiring me to make different kinds of marks. In particular for the transparent resist approach, I found that it works best with a rather loose style of washes and other media.

Can you see how you could apply what you have learned in future?

Working transparently is a nice way of introducing an element of chance and unpredictability into a watercolour painting. It works very much in contrast to the classical, very analytical approach. I could apply this approach when I want to create paintings that have a more spontaneous and experimental feel to them.

What is your assessment of what you have produced?

I think I’ve made an interesting start into the new technique and I liked how it resulted in quite expressive paintings. This is remarkably different from some of the very controlled and worked out paintings I produced in parts 3 and 4. These experimental paintings also work nicely as mixed media images, because the additional media take up a more prominent role without overpowering the watercolour effects.

Mixed media on coloured and white paper

This was another exercise I found quite hard. The most difficult part of it was to settle on a subject. I’m not overly happy with my final choice, but decided I simply had to get going even if it wasn’t the perfect subject for continued work on a longer series of paintings.

I briefly reconsidered the cats as subject but scared away from the difficulties, and instead decided to try some terrace views.

Terrace views

What I found interesting were all the potted plants and their “unorderly appearance”. My terrace is kind of a refuge because I can be outside, but feel safe and at home. I also thought it would be helpful to be close to my art materials for all the experimentation expected for the exercise.

In the first view, I particularly liked the shadows of the plants and pots. I started with a pencil drawing, which I colourized with dry pastels using my finger to smudge pigment on the paper. Then I dissolved the pigments and laid washes with watercolours.

The second view was made on blue ground. I started with watercolours and added some white gouache, but the only additional media I managed to employ was black felt pen for the handrails on the roof of the building opposite the terrace. I was so busy painting all the details of the scene that I wasn’t open for any experimentation.

The third view was made on rose ground and again I started with a pencil underdrawing, then added white gouache for highlights and laid darker washes for the pots and stuff. Same problem of not wanting to spoil the image with additional media… At this point I decided to abandon the subject for now.

Painting a bouquet of flowers

I had made a first quick tryout painting of the bouquet after the second small terrace study because I felt I didn’t get going with additional media. Part of the problem was the small size – I wasn’t comfortable with using bold media like oil pastels on a small surface for small elements. I thought I might get along better using a larger format, and that a colourful flower bouquet would help me to work a little more experimental.

Choosing a setting was the next problem because my study is small and there’s not much space for nice arrangements. I resigned to using two brown cardboards as background and placed the vase on the floor. I chose oil pastels for the flowerheads and watercolour washes for stems and leaves, the vase and the background. (Format: 38 x 28 cm on white ground)

I wasn’t very satisfied because I found the format still too small and was unsure about the quality of the painting, but at least I seemed to be able to integrate other media, so I decided to continue with the bouquet.

Flower bouquet: Four small studies (A4 watercolour sketchbook)

Study 1: White ground, grey felt pen and watercolours
Study 2: Ice blue ground, purple felt pen, white and coloured gouache, watercolours
Study 3: Brown ground, coloured pencil, gouache and watercolours
Study 4: White ground, coloured inks, watercolours, crayons

In studies 1 to 3 there’s a zooming in effect which was my response to finding the A4 format too small for the large bouquet. I thought focusing on a smaller part of the bouquet would help me capture the shapes, colours and textures better. The fourth one was back to including the entire bouquet and trying a dark background to bring out the colours more intensely. I made a real effort in overcoming my reluctance to use additional media and felt like being pushed out of my comfort zone.

Two larger paintings

The fourth small study was based on a slightly altered arrangement of the flowers, and I found this composition worked better. I also liked the dark background. So I chose that one for the larger study on coloured ground. I did not want to revert to the earlier flower arrangement, so stayed with that one for the second larger study as well.

Large study 1 (48 x 34 cm): Light blue ground, started with ink pen (non-waterproof), added white and yellow gouache, watercolours, crayons and oil pastels.

I was surprised that the ink pen wasn’t waterproof and bleeded into the gouache layer. But gradually adapting to experimental mode, I wanted to continue and see how the painting would develop. I applied oil pastels over the coloured areas to protect the colours before the final wash, but the blue undertone changed the bright yellows into a green tone which was not quite what I wanted. Nevertheless I think this painting looks quite interesting due to the bleeding of the ink. I also like the visible brush strokes in the flowers, they are energetic and make for a lively effect.

Large study 2 (48 x 34 cm): White ground, started with watercolours wet in wet, added pen & ink, crayons and watercolour. Used masking fluid and transparent wax as resists before applying a final wash in Payne’s grey.

The second study is somewhat more considerate. I used a wet in wet technique on white ground to obtain intensely coloured areas with undefined edges, and then added definition for flowers and stems with pen and ink. The technique was less energetic and the result is quite different in style from the first study, a little more delicate and subtle. The transparent wax worked well to protect the colours.

Guided reflections

The effect of coloured paper

I had already begun using coloured in the previous exercise and did so because I wanted an even background without brush marks. It had the effect of toning down all colours, which could be counterbalanced by using white gouache or intensified by employing even darker tones, or tilted by adding coloured layers for unusual mixes.

In the terrace views, I was not very happy with the colour changing effect of the blue and red grounds and found it added an awkward tone to the entire painting. I think the effect remained awkward throughout the bouquet paintings as well. The ice blue background tilted the yellows into green and mudded the red tones, and the brown background mudded the entire painting. Of course it is possible to make extended use of white gouache to neutralize this before adding more colours, and maybe it would have been the best solution. That would make it possible to have the best of both worlds: A smooth, dark background plus clean bright colours on top.

On the other hand, there’s also a certain charm and interest in the chance effects that can result from the coloured ground. The mixed media approach gives more options to work with the effects and change the painting in ways that would’t be possible with watercolours alone.

In this exercise what was the initial effect of working on a coloured ground as opposed to white?

The initial effect was clearly a darkening of the entire painting and change of any colour applied subsequently on the coloured ground.

Are either studies more successful than the other?

I think the first and the fourth small studies are better than the second and third because the colours are more natural and there’s more fluidity in approach. I also prefer the second large study over the first. In all cases, these are the ones on white background. I think it’s because of the strange change in colours resulting from the coloured ground that I prefer the white background.

Maybe this depends on the subject of the painting. I imagine that a dark and mysterious scene would benefit from a coloured ground.

Do any of your pictures show a strong sense of abstract composition? If so, which ones?

I think the first large study is the most abstract one. I think it’s because it has the least detail and the emphasis is on coloured areas. The energy of the brush strokes is more important than the similarity with the actual flowers. It’s also the painting with the least definition of details in the flowers.

Do you think any of your paintings or studies could be looked at primarily for their abstract qualities?

Probably again the first larger study, but maybe also the second. In the second I particularly like the underlying watercolour wet in wet effect. There were moments where I regretted to add ink lines into the colour clouds.

How could you develop greater abstraction in your work?

Choosing the right format may play a role. I have already observed that working on small scale has helped me to let go of detail when working with watercolours alone. Maybe it’s even in general helpful to choose a bold medium in relation to the format available that will promote a more generous approach. But I must admit that I felt quite uncomfortable with the idea of using bold oil pastel sticks in the terrace views, it just did not seem to work.

Interestingly, this time the larger format seemed to have helped me to work more generously. Maybe this was because I knew I couldn’t maintain a detail approach on that format. So maybe the mindset and intention for a painting are just as important.

The instruction to work quickly has also helped this time. I remember well that I often have my problems with time restrictions, because I want to study an object first and “it takes as long as it takes”. But this time at least in the two larger paintings, the time restriction felt beneficial to focus on the essentials and work more generously over the entire surface.

Research point: Examples of mixed media pictures

Look for other examples of mixed media pictures such as Henry Moore’s Pink and Green Sleepers (page 23) which uses wax resist, and John Marin’s The Singer Building (page 145) which uses pencil and charcoal.

Henry Moore 1941 Pink and green sleepers

I came across the series of drawings by Henry Moore (English, 1898 – 1986) to which this drawing belongs during the drawing course. The scenes depict people in the shelters during World War II bombings. This drawing was made using graphite, ink, gouache and wax on paper. It is very sombre in atmosphere and captures the Angst of the times. But there’s also a sense of comfort in seeing the two people in company and protected.

Technically, the watercolours are very pale and stand back, the painting is dominated by the tonality and the textured surfaces created through scratching.

Tate Britain http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/moore-pink-and-green-sleepers-n05713

John Marin 1921 The Singer Building

This painting by John Marin (American, 1870 – 1953) dates from the early Twenties of the 20th century and depicts a building in New York. It is very energetic and loose. The media were watercolour, charcoal, and black conté crayon on wove paper. Interesting is how these elements fall apart and seem to explode with energy. In the same way, the drawing is not tight and accurate, but fragmented and sketchy.

Philadelphia Museum of Art http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/50636.html

Having looked at the two suggested mixed media works, I was slightly unsure how to continue this research, because “mixed media” is a wide field and I did not know which artists to look at. I wanted to avoid getting back to my usual suspects and therefore did a Google search on the keywords “Mixed media” and “Mixed media painting”. One of the first hits was the website of Kellie Day, a contemporary mixed media artist. I was enchanted and surprised by this chance find as her style is very close to my understanding of mixed media today.

Kellie Day, a contemporary American mixed media artist

I’m including the first paintings I saw as a reminder, because they attracted me to stay on the website and look further into this artist’s work. I find her paintings light, colourful, energetic and very friendly.

There’s a short video “Peek into my studio” where she presents herself and her methods. She considers herself a mixed media artist and works in various techniques on canvas: Drawing, painting and collage, using multiple transparent and opaque layers of paint and ink. Kellie Day is a trained artist with a background in fine arts and illustration. She works from photos which are displayed on a wide-screen laptop that is placed next to a huge, high working table. This is quite similar to my setting when I work from photos, except that my studio space is tiny, compared to hers, with a much smaller and lower table. What I particularly liked was seeing that she works standing, not sitting at her desk! This confirmed my idea that standing is better when making art, because it is somehow liberating, it permits broader arm movements and helps to let go of fiddling with details.

Then, big surprise, there was actually a painting of sunflowers among her works! It is really beautiful and much lighter than my sunflower paintings so far. It’s a bit like my pencil sunflower sketch translated into paint.

Pablo Picasso, from the Guitar series (Moma Exhibition)

There were no more interesting hits in that search, so I went back to Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881 – 1973) because I remembered that he employed and combined many different media and was very inventive. My Google search turned up a link to an exhibition at the Moma New York in 2011, showing a series of increasingly abstract works around the topic of a guitar.

The works mostly combine drawing, collage and paint on canvas. Although no watercolour was used, I think they are inspiring even 100 years after they have been made. I see the beginnings of cubism in them and I like the composition/decomposition aspect of playing with partly recognizable shapes, adding colour and tone. They also have an element of openness and “breathing space” which my own drawings, paintings and prints often lack.

Guitar, Glas Jet, and bottle (1913): Oil, charcoal, tinted varnish, and grit on canvas
Head of a man (1913): Cut-and-pasted wallpaper, newspaper and paper, charcoal, ink and pencil on paper mounted on canvas

Moma exhibition website: http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2011/picassoguitars//index.php

Further Google search on mixed media did not turn up many interesting other hits so I decided to look into a more serious resource, the Oxford Art Libary and searched for mixed media there. This did not turn up any paintings so I searched for watercolours and from the result list, I selected those which looked like employing watercolours with additional media. One of the first results was a painting by Paul Klee

Paul Klee 1921 Tale à la Hoffman

This painting by Paul Klee (German/Swiss 1879 – 1940) was made using watercolours, pencil and transferred ink on paper. I found this very interesting because I know the technique from the printmaking course. It’s called “Backdrawing” or “Transfer drawing” and is achieved by placing the image on an inked surface and drawing lines on the backside. When the paper is pulled off the inked surface, the lines drawn appear on the face side of the paper, because the ink has transferred due to the drawing pressure. I now recognize that Klee must have used the technique in many of his paintings. The overall impression of this painting is very unique, very characteristic for Klee and very different from any other watercolour artist I’ve seen before.

John Lewis Krimmel c. 1813 Merrymaking at a wayside inn

This picture by John Lewis Krimmel (American/German born 1786-1821) combined watercolour and graphite on white laid paper. To me it is very characteristic for the classical 19th century watercolour illustrative drawing style. Watercolours serve to colorize a drawing, the graphite helps to achieve tonal differences. The graphite does not stand out on its own as separate medium, but serves to give structure to the image.

My approach of using additional media was similar in intention, although my style with watercolours was different.

Honoré Daumier c. 1860-65 The connaisseur

This drawing by Honoré Daumier (French, 1808-1879) is similar to that by Krimmel in its subtle combination of watercolour with other media. It used pen and ink, wash, watercolour, lithographic crayon on wove paper.

Concluding remarks

This was quite an interesting research point, although there’s the problem that once started, I could go on and on without any hope of ever covering the field in its entirety, because there’s so much art out there. But I think this brief starter covered several different approaches:

– The illustrative style where watercolour serves as a coloring medium for a drawing. This style was present in the two 19th century works by Krimmel and Daumier, but I’ve also seen it in contemporary illustrations, for example in children’s books
– A dynamic, loose and sketchy drawing approach like the work of John Marin.
– More painterly approaches like that employed by Kellie Day
– Abstract, graphical approaches similar to works by Picasso and Klee

Again I’m rethinking my choice of subject, whether to stay with the sunflowers or to switch to the cats (or even doing something completely different next time). Due to the near impossible of making detailed drawings or paintings of the cats without resigning to photos, the subject might actually help me to let go of accurate depiction and become more adventurous in approach.

On the other hand, the sunflower painting by Kellie Day is like a proof that the mindset is important, not the characteristics of the subject. I’m not sure. Maybe just give it another try with the cats and see what happens. I think my series of sunflowers somehow calls for a change of subject.

Exploring one subject in a variety of media

The exercise went very differently from what I had expected. I started with my cats as subjects because I had been enjoying painting animals and thought the cats were “convenient” because they’re always there and I don’t have to travel to a zoo, make up with the weather, or wait for the week-end because I can’t go to places during the week.

Deciding on a subject

I knew the subject was challenging and that so far I hadn’t been able to make more advanced drawings of my cats, because they’re moving constantly and I was drawing not fast enough. But I thought that doing a whole series on them would help to improve my skills. So I set out to make some drawings to see how far I’d get.

Although I liked these sketches, I found drawing the cats extremely difficult and I was very unsure whether they were appropriate for the task. For example, I couldn’t count on being able to draw the same cat in the same position twice or even several times, so the idea of comparing the effect of different media choices on a single composition would be compromised. The effectiveness of the painting would mostly depend on being lucky enough to depict enough before the moment was gone. I could draw the cats either very quick and sketchy because of their constant motion – or depict them sleeping which isn’t very interesting. Overall, I found the cats were too complex as subject for now and decided to switch to a different, unmoving subject: Sunflowers.

Sunflowers

I made studies of a single flower and a drawing of five flowers in their vase, plus a pastel sketch to try out a background arrangement. The pencil drawing of the bouquet was a novel approach. I stayed quite sketchy and tried to “feel the marks”: The softer flowerheads with softer marks and lighter tones against the more scratchy marks of the harder green leaves surrounding them.

What fascinated me were the irregular contours of the yellow flower leaves – as opposed to the “ideal” generic sunflower in my mind/memory which has perfectly even shapes.

Paintings using additional media

The main problem with mixing media was that I didn’t feel ready for it. The feeling of lacking basic watercolour skills which troubled me during the tinted paper project, continued to bother me. What I wanted was painting with watercolours and trying to get better with that medium – not messing around with additional media that would even exacerbate my difficulties with watercolours themselves.

At the same time, I was surprised by my inner resistance because in principle, I was very interested in experimenting with a variety of materials and techniques. I think the series reflects my reluctance to introduce additional media. I tried hard to integrate them into the painting so they would not dominate the result. I wanted the paintings to be watercolours, not oil pastel drawings or anything else. It felt like I couldn’t let go and was unwilling to do anything more experimental.

There was also a feeling of half-heartedness related to the course brief’s suggestions of using oil pastels, charcoal, and crayons with watercolours. For my chosen subject, I saw only very limited choices for employing these. Maybe charcoal for linear elements (could have used pen & ink to a similar effect), and oil pastels or crayons either for more intense colours or as resists, or both. I tried oil pastels for the background but scraped them off because they were overpowering the flowerheads. I even dissolved them further with mineral spirit on the paper to erase the spotty leftovers and make the background less busy.

Sunflowers v1 (5 flowers): Watercolours and coloured pencil, 33 x 43 cm. Just traces of coloured pencil in the yellow areas of the flowerheads.

Sunflowers v2 (3 flowers): Watercolours and partly dissolved oil pastel, 35.5 x 33 cm. Oil pastels for the yellows and the dark hearts. Dissolved oil pastel layer in the right background

Sunflowers v3 (wet on wet): Watercolours and charcoal, 33 x 43 cm. The charcoal was used as a linear element to give more structure where the different colours run into each other.

Sunflowers v4 (brown background): Watercolours and oil pastel, 28 x 35.5 cm. Oil pastels are used for the yellow in the flowerheads and for the texture of the dark brown hearts.

Colorized monotype

A step forward was the idea to combine watercolours with monotype. I liked the idea because it felt more like a true mixed media approach. I used a 30 x 40 cm perspex plate and Akua Intaglio inks. I employed a subtractive technique, wiping off ink using cloth (tarlatan), Q-tips, corrugated cardboard, foam pvc, and a spatula. The resulting print was in grey tones, made on firm, bright white printmaking paper. I then colourized the print using watercolours.

Sunflowers in a vase v5 (colorized), watercolours on b/w monoprint, 28 x 35.5 cm

Using a background wash

Another attempt at using additional media with watercolours was by preparing a coloured wash. The guiding idea was to work with a strong colour contrast and bring out the characteristic silhouette of the flowerheads. I chose a medium tone indigo background wash. The flowerhead contours were then drawn with felt pen, the yellow areas received an underpainting with white acrylics, then a layer of yellow watercolours with traces of cadmium red. Finally they were worked over with yellow oil pastels to intensify the colours.

To add more interest, I structured the background into an interior view, and included the entire glass vase. I added tone using white gouache for lights and Payne’s Grey for darker tones, with some yellow and red for the stuff on the drawers.

The painting incorporates what I reflected upon in the “lightbulb moments” post: I used the pale, dark background to bring out the orange-yellow of the flowers, and emphasized the silhouettes to capture the characteristics of my flowers. It’s not what I’d consider a true mixed media approach, because the additional media (felt pen, white acrylics, oil pastels) are deeply integrated and support the painting, but the overall effect remained that of a watercolour painting.

Maybe it’s as far as I can get with “mixed media” for now. It felt strange that by shifting the focus to other media, I develop more skills at conventional watercolour painting, and also the handling of tinted paper with watercolours seems to improve with a time lag – in this exercise rather than in the actual earlier project. Maybe some more experimental ideas will come along over the course of this project, or even later.

Sunflowers in a vase v6 (interior view), watercolour with felt pen, acrylics and oil pastels, 43 x 33 cm

Guided reflections

Which of your studies works best and why?

I’m hesitating between the colourized monoprint and the interior view with blue background. The monoprint works nicely because the grey textured background adds interest, and because it’s “painted” in an energetic and loose style. The yellows also look nice and warm.

By contrast, the interior view is a much more controlled and “exact” painting. I think it is technically quite good, for example how I depicted the glass vase with water, reflections and transparency. The sunflowers’ heads are defined, but irregular. Their yellow stands out really strong.

Adding the background was informed by a still life I recently saw somewhere on the internet and made me realize that my backgrounds were flat. So I wanted to give more depth to the entire painting. The painting I saw used only lighter and darker tones to create a sense of space around the arrangement. I took a different route and painted the actual view, but due to the muted colours it recedes sufficiently.

On what basis did you choose your various combinations of media?

My central idea was to use additional media to complement and support the watercolour painting. I did not want them to turn the picture into something different or to stand out as separate elements. I think I succeeded with this, but I’m aware that there’s much more to the concept of mixed media than just using a few charcoal lines to “save” a wet on wet watercolour painting. I’d be particularly interested in using materials with a haptic effect, like acrylics with various stuff added, or using different materials for collage.

I did not venture into this because I thought about the difficulties it would pose at assessment time, if I’d have to submit works not made on paper but on sturdier supports like thick cardboard or wood. So overall, I think I made interesting paintings but I’m a bit disappointed about my rather restricted use of other media.

Are there any effects that have especially pleased or surprised you?

I liked the effect of using coloured oil pastels together with watercolours in the yellow flowers. I chose slightly different yellow tones, which created an interesting texture effect. Similarly, the dark brown oil pastel layer in the flower’s hearts worked well to depict the somewhat grainy texture of that surface.

Which combinations of media will you want to use again?

I might get back to oil pastels. But overall I’m not very fond of adding other media to watercolours. Nevertheless, I think that I could use watercolours together with other media in a more liberal fashion. I’m only a little blank-headed right now how that might be.

In what way did this exercises succeed or otherwise?

The exercise was difficult because I did not feel like using additional media in my paintings. It was basically a struggle to overcome my resistance and then trying to control the effect. I guess this situation is responsible for the somewhat uncreative use of additional media. So from the aspect of “inventive use of a combination of media”, the exercise was only moderately successful. I’m still quite happy with the actual paintings I made, because I feel my use of watercolours is improving.

How have you found exploring this subject in different ways?

It was a challenge to remain motivated enough to draw and paint the same flowers many times. I introduced some variation like a slightly different viewpoint or adding the interior view in the final one. I was also alternating between a more loose and sketchy approach and my fascination with the irregular shapes which I wanted to study closely and depict accurately as they actually were. My interest was on the ways how I approached the subject and created an interesting painting. The mixed media aspect was rather distracting from what I considered the main task.

I think I’d have preferred the exercise without the mixed media requirement. Maybe I need much more watercolour practice to arrive at a point where additional media represent a welcome addition and expansion of possibilities. Or maybe it’s a matter of taste – I simply prefer ‘pure watercolours’ and have objections even against using white gouache for highlights.

Can you see further directions in exploring this subject?

Definitely yes. At times I thought “God invented sunflowers so that they can be painted”. I fell in love with the yellow-orange colours and how they look like flames. Further directions would be to find the right context for a bouquet of sunflowers. I’d prefer something more timeless than my interior view.

On the other hand, looking at my cat sketches from the beginning of the exercise, I realize that the cats would present me with much more variety by themselves. Compared to that, sunflowers are sunflowers and basically look always the same. I might change their colours, then they become surrealistic. I might change the background, this would create different colour contrasts and also different context interpretations. The interesting stuff might come when I “push the limits” to introduce all kinds of unexpected things. Maybe a different perspective, sizing up or down, colour effects, media effects.

From a practical point of view, they work well with the course requirements because I can paint at home and from life. I just have to regularly replace them when they’re wilted. Or maybe, continue with wilted sunflowers.

If I’d have stayed with the cats, there would have been certainly more variety in compositions and even using the same media combinations, the paintings would vary greatly.

Lightbulb moments: Lea Nixon and the purpose of art making

I came across Lea Nixon’s work through his posting to the Facebook group “En Plein Air Paintings”. Watercolours are not very often posted and I’m always attentive when some appear. These caught my interest because I found them technically very well executed and highly characteristic for a particular watercolour painting style. I don’t know if this style has already a name. I think it is very British and old school, and definitely like it.

Looking at these three paintings, I had some lightbulb moments about watercolour painting.

Work with the silhouette!

In this painting called “Behind hotel Le Negresco”, the building to the right is created as a blotch of watercolour in different tones from dark to light. What makes it look like a row of buildings is the silhouette, which follows the contours of those buildings in linear perspective. The second important element is the black detail for windows etc which is only suggested. Of course there are more interesting aspects in the painting, but the silhouette is what caught my attention.

I think I was sensitized because I made the first sunflower drawings this afternoon. I realized the contours of the flowerheads are important and I was collecting ideas how I might go on to paint them. One idea was to use a linear medium to draw outlines of leaves, the other was to work with intense yellow against a different coloured background. Maybe I can try the silhouette technique: Use much water and make sure that I get the silhouette of the yellow leaves in the flowerhead right, then add pigment and let it run through the wet area.

The similarities between using coloured paper and using washes for background!

It actually occurred to me somewhat earlier that painting on coloured ground is nothing else than painting over a wash. The main difference may be the intention in which it is done – washes seem to be used for skies or other backgrounds that are part of the picture, and lighter areas are protected with resists. But an artist will paint over his wash and so in effect he’s painting on coloured ground. He or she can then employ the techniques that were introduced in the previous project, like lightening up areas with gouache and creating new colours through layering.

I recognized the principle in the rose background colour of this painting titled “The carousel”. The rose hue is overpainted with trees and foliage. I think this painting is less successful but it contains nice elements, like the white roof of the carousel which is spared out.

I’ll just keep this in mind for the future when I consider using a wash – it has the effect of a coloured ground and is open for techniques to play with that.

Using dull colours makes the bright colours shine!

A principle that I’ve already heard of, but not applied myself and not recognized in other paintings. In this view, the technique is used to emphasize the yellow and red colours of the buildings in the foreground by placing them adjacent to a muted grey area.

I think I can make use of this technique of colour contrast for my sunflowers to bring out their intense warm yellow colours

The painting again has “important silhouettes” in the center area: The shadows of the group of trees, the truck and the building.

The purpose of art making

These paintings by Lea Nixon are not modern art and are not meant as political statements. They are very classical in approach, simply and skillfully representing a view the artist found interesting and inspiring. I wish I’ll arrive at that level of skills with watercolours one day. But having rejected “politics in art” so vehemently, I’m now realizing that I want to go beyond making nice paintings. I think I will not be satisfied with pure representation and building up technical skills, there has to be more to it.

Looking at Anselm Kiefer’s work in the previous research has triggered another lightbulb moment. I understood how Kiefer incorporated his personal concern with German history into his artwork. It made me realize that part of my journey will be to discover what my own concerns are. In German, deep concerns that are rooted in one’s past are called “dead bodies in the cellar” and they are something one has to come to terms with at one point in life. I think art making is a good way of doing this. That said, I still want to be enjoying myself and not overindulge in the dark side of things.

Sources:

Lea Nixon Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/leanixonwatercolours