Preparation and practice

I started this project with some preparations on my own, before delving into mixing greens.

Preparations

I had been looking forward to this project because I expected to learn a lot from the guided exercises in mixing colours. As a preparation, I had stocked up my watercolours to add more variety to my initial five or six Winsor & Newton Artist watercolours in tubes. I also have a selection of Schmincke Artist watercolours, but these are in pans and I wanted to continue working with tubes.

Before starting with the exercise, I made a colour chart of all new colours to provide myself with a reference for the future. I find this helpful because the real colours are different from those I see when I print out the manufacturer’s colour chart. But when I opened the tubes for the first time, many of them had been under pressure and much more colour than I needed came out. I decided to keep that excess on the palette and do some practice sheets to use them up.

My conclusion from the previous project was that I needed to develop skills in working with the transparency of watercolours, and I also knew that I needed some practice with even and graded washes. I thought I’d practice this on a small scale first, then expand to larger scale.

I prepared a sheet with 7 x 5 small squares of about 4.5 cm side length each, and started with my rest of Payne’s Gray. I tried to cover squares evenly and also tried to obtain gradations from dark to light colours. While the even washes were ok, I wasn’t able to make a graded wash, despite many tries. Somehow the colour always went back to even distribution over the entire area. To loosen up a bit, I also experimented with mark making and made a second sheet with faded tones until all the colour was used up.

I proceeded with the same type of exercise and made more sheets in different black tones, then brown tones. I practiced dry-on-wet and wet-on-wet techniques both for washes and for mark making, and also made some dry-brush marks. I really enjoyed this and found it nice for a change not to worry about representational details. I observed how the paint and the water interacted and tried to get the right amount of paint loaded on the brush for just one square.

I had much fun, but made no progress in graded washes even after the fifth sheet. I have had problems with graded washes ever since the start and somehow wasn’t able to improve from the explanations in the course materials alone. So finally, I consulted some internet resources for technical advice. There was one resource with a very simple hands-on explanation of a small scale graded wash, with a detailed explanation how to mix and add water and handle the brush, and this worked for me. So it was on the sixth sheet that the first moderately successful graded washes appeared. Finally! I made another sheet of squares in brown tones focusing more on mark making than washes, and then found it was time to try something else for the rests of the red tones.

I painted a series of three sheets with organic shapes, based on wavy lines drawn in pencil as an outline pattern. My focus was on applying colour in different ways over irregular shapes, rather than squares, in particular
– Even distribution over a larger area
– Gradations
– Different colour intensities in a single go
– Intensity variations through layering

This took up aspects that were practiced in the monochrome studies, and it was a nice review of what I learnt there. I found my colour applications rather irregular and in need of more practice. There seems to be a some progress over the three sheets in that I produced less water flowers, indicating a bit more control over the amount of paint I applied to fill the shapes. The final two red tones were used to practice washes again, this time on a larger squares of around 8 x 8 cm. Both even and graded washes are somewhat improved here.

The mangos

Then as a final preparatory stage I got back to the mango. I had some problems with the mango in my assignment 2 still life, and my tutor suggested I might practice depicting this object by making several simple and quick studies wet-in-wet. So this was my first try at mango studies, deliberately made before the colour mixing exercise with the idea of hopefully assessing progress later on. I pre-selected my colours: Broken yellow, orange, a blueish red, Hooker’s green, and black.

I think they are just moderately successful, but colour intensity improved over my earlier mango. The mango had a lighter area of colour right at the contour before the dark cast shadow, which I found difficult to paint. I also had problems with the contours of the cast shadow: There was a stripe of lighter tone at the outer edge, and the contours were soft. I did not know how paint this, but in the last mango I dissolved the contours of the shadow with a wet brush which seemed to work, only the lighter stripe is still missing.

Mixing greens 1: Mixing greens with other colours directly

Then finally I was ready to approach exercise 1. It took some time to make sense of the instructions, because the text and the illustration do not really correspond and the explanations are not exactly in the order of a task squence. But after reading several times, I finally grasped the central idea: Mixing two (or more) different greens with yellow, blue and brown tones, and doing this over a sequence of 8 mixing steps from one colour to the other. I used
– two greens: Viridian and Hooker’s Green
– Three yellows: Cadmium Yellow, Winsor Yellow, New Gamboge
– Three browns: Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Van Dyke Brown
– Four blues: French Ultramarine, Cobalt Blue, Prussian Blue, Cerulean Blue
– And Payne’s Gray

I included Payne’s Gray because I often use this to darken other colours and perceive it as a blueish tone. From the first to the second sheet, I think there’s some improvement in the mixing. The first mixes are quite irregular and I think the colours were too concentrated, thus the colours are not even. I sometimes made the opposite error of becoming too faint, but overall I was quite satisfied with the result.

I was surprised that there was not much difference between the two bright yellows when mixed with either green. Both yellows produce a lemon tone when mixed with green. The main difference was in the greens themselves – one was a blueish green (Viridian), the other a yellowish green (Hooker’s green). The same I found true for the blues and browns. Instead, the main effect came from mixing in a green tone, but it did not matter very much which green this was. The second important effect seemed to come from colour intensity – the same mix looks very different, depending on its intensity.

What I did not like so much was the feeling of using expensive artist watercolours just for experimenting with mixes and practice with washes. But then again, it was nice to know that the mixing chart will keep its colours over the years, and at least this way I have the experience with the material I want to use for paintings. But with cheap art materials I feel more in the mood for experimentation and generous application of colour, at least that was my prior experience. So I think I’ll also stock some less expensive watercolours to develop technical skills with washes and for experimentation.

Mixing greens 2: Layering blues and yellows

I made several of the mixes on a single large sheet. I found the greens that resulted from the layers not very convincing, but nevertheless the effect was interesting. I also liked how the colours mixed themselves when applied wet-on-wet. I think it is more convenient to use a green pigment as a basis for green objects, rather than mixing blue and yellow, and add other colours to obtain the desired tone. This probably prevents the colours from getting muddy too early.

Mixing greens 3: Layering a single tone vs applying direct mixes

The central idea of this exercise was to practice two different pure approaches: To layer colours until the desired tone is achieved, versus pre-mixing colours that are applied directly and not layered.
I began with a sketch of my bottle, then proceeded to watercolours. For the first painting I used a mixture of Hooker’s Green and Bismuth Yellow, applying that colour in layers from very light to relatively intense tones. I added the window sill for some background. It’s true that this mixture did not permit to obtain really dark tones, but I wouldn’t say that the colours are dull and liveless as the course material describes the typical result of this technique.

The second painting was made using a photo as source, because light conditions had changed in the meantime. I used Bismuth Yellow, Sap Green and Payne’s Gray to mix various green tones and applied them directly. I had difficulties with the technique because I had a tendency to include all the tiny shapes that had a slightly different tone from their background, and this was too complex to paint in the prescribed order from light to dark. I wasn’t able to make a single uninhibited brush stroke because there were constantly lighter or darker areas around which I was supposed not to overpaint because this would have led to layering. Put to this extreme, the approach didn’t work for me very well, although I think the resulting painting was not that bad. The colours are indeed livelier because of the different mixtures used.

I wanted to give it another try because I had still been layering quite a bit, rather than pre-mixing all the tones. So the third painting is a purer version of the technique. It was made on the next day from the real bottle (not the photo), with rather similar light conditions as the first. I tried to simplify the green tones to around five or six from light yellowish green to a dark olive tone, and also tried to make larger shapes less interrupted by tiny areas in different tones. I think this painting is slightly improved because of simpler forms on top of the bottom.

Overall, the second techique felt very artificial, and a bit like “painting-by-numbers” because there was so much analysis and planning involved to identify the areas of different tones from light to dark and not overpaint. Personally I’d prefer a looser combination of both techniques and would like to try a faster working style with layering and some wet in wet application of colour.

I’m quite satisfied with the background wash in the third painting, it was made using a rose-brown tone and after a first attempt on dry paper I corrected by wetting the paper, dissolving the edges of earlier brush strokes and paint an almost even graded wash. It is a bit faint but I think the technique was a step towards the right direction.

Mixing greens 4: Several bottles painted with mixed greens

In preparing for this project, I had collected some green bottles. But I hadn’t looked at the example image for this painting, otherwise I wouldn’t have taken off all the labels and top caps! Now my bottles were just pure green glass without other colours, which was a bit of a pity. But I was going to use them anyway.

It took some time until I finally had arranged 5 bottles for the study. I was trying to have interesting shapes as well as some mixing of greens from the transparency of bottles in front of others. I made an initial study in chalk pastel, A3 size. I tried not to overwork the sketch but leave the coloured paper to shine through. I found it difficult to mix the tones that I wanted from the selection of colours I had without smudging the pastels, but overall I like the sketch.

Then I slightly changed the position of the bottles to improve the composition for the watercolour study. I used Yarka artist watercolours in pans (24 selection) this time. These are less expensive than Winsor & Newton, but had good reviews and the colour chart showed that they were able to produce intense colours. Aside from the colour chart, it was the first time I used them. I think the study is nice and fresh and not overworked in an attempt to perfectionate the colours. Initially I wanted to paint the arrangement much larger, but then I deliberately chose a small size of A4 to stop me from fiddling with details. I made a second study because I found that the colours in the first looked like right out of the box, instead of mixed to the right tone. I used lamp light this time, because it was too dark outside for using daylight.

I had difficulties with mixing the colours. It’s not that I don’t know how to mix a certain tone, rather I don’t know how to handle the different component colours without making the pans all dirty. A question of where to mix and how to add colour with different brushes. This problem accompanies me from the beginning of the course. I still haven’t found a good work technique and I feel restricted and struggle with technical problems rather than getting into a flow of painting.

I was also struggling with the very analytical approach of identifying different tonal intensities and painting them directly, instead of building up the shapes and forms in layers of increasing intensity and varying tone. But I appreciate the greater freshness of the result when using the direct method.

I decided to to more studies of the arrangement, to practice colour mixing and treatment of the glass transparency.

Sketch 3 (34 x 48 cm)

The large format was made with lamp light again, but at night. I used a white styrofoam board as a background which helped to see the transparency of the bottles despite having only lamp light. The lamp is reflected as little circles on the bottles. I enjoyed working on the larger scale for the composition and drawing the shapes of the bottles. I also felt less inhibited to mix watercolours, which was why I had changed to a different set of materials, less expensive. My aim was to reduce the depiction of the reflections in the bottles and paint only the basic shaps of the green and brown bottles with a lighter and a darker tone, plus a pale tone for the reflections. I followed this approach but think the colours look not very nice. At one point I let go and got more courageous with the colours by using purple to darken the tone of the brown bottle to the right. I wasn’t very satisfied with the study overall. It was a step forward in that I managed to simplify. I had been very tired from not having slept well the night before, so gave up for that day.

Sketch 4 (28 x 38 cm)

The next morning I had another go. I wanted to try whether I got along better if I pre-mixed all the colours. My idea was to get to the point of working wet-in-wet to have the colours mix a bit by themselves and I thought I could more easily do this if I had my colours ready to use. I chose the smaller format as a compromise – more space to paint than A4, yet easier to fill because it needed less pre-mixed colour as the large format.

I stayed with the composition because I liked the shapes and negative spaces as well. Using the pre-mixed colours indeed helped to paint a bit more quickly and get into a flow. I began with the middle and the right bottles, these are still a bit fiddly, but then I let go with the right brown bottle and had the courage to paint wet in wet with enough water to mix colours on the paper. The result is so-so, but technically this painting was a step forward because there are more things happening to the colour by themselves, rather than me trying to produce all the effects deliberately.

I don’t think I need to pre-mix all the colours and tones, but it is definitely helpful to pre-mix the main colours for larger areas. In this case this was the rose background and the greyish table (actually black), plus the main green and brown tone. There’s still a long way to go but I feel like I’ve slightly moved into the right direction.

Exercise: Exploring greens outside

Due to weather conditions, painting outside was not an option, but I was able to make use of photographs I had made earlier for this exercise, with lots of green tones. The one I chose was a view on bushes and greenery at the Tudor park, a small recreational area in mid-town Manhattan.

I made two preparatory studies using up the remainders of the Winson & Newton watercolours from an earlier mixing exercise. In these two studies, I let myself more leeway to mix what I had at hand and did not follow the exact working procedure in stages outlined in the course instructions. My main aim was to get a bit of practice with mixing and to work relatively fast, not too much detail. I enlarged my source photo by looking on the TV screen and worked on roughly A3 format (30 x 40 cm). The second one is more truthful to my view, because I used an enlarged section of the photo on a wide-screen monitor.

The third study was made on the next day, using the normal sized, not enlarged picture on the computer screen and working from closer distance. This time I followed the instructions by dividing the work process into three phases, beginning with the lightest tones, proceeding to mid tones and then adding the darkest tones, although I sometimes deviated and began adding darker tones although still in stage two.

I see the three paintings as a series in which I understood the image better and better. I think the last one is most successful in conveying the different types of plants that were there. The first two studies are looser and less controlled. After the first two I thought it might be a good idea to do some detail studies of how the shapes of the leaves and grass are set off against their background. I did not make these studies because I feared of getting on an overly detailed and realistic track, but I tried to look more closely on the details while painting.

I think the painting is quite successful, although I’m not sure whether I want to pursue this style of painting. It feels a bit rigid and very analytical. I had a strong urge of reducing the complexity of the task. My idea was that by studying just a tiny section of the image I could learn how to give the medium more space to unfold chance colour variations. Instead I felt I was trying to depict too much on the relatively small sheet of paper.

Guided reflection

What is the strongest aspect? Is it just one area, or is it something about the appearance of the whole?

The strongest aspect for me is how the paintings seem to become more concentrated over the course of three attempts. In the final one, I succeeded in obtaining really dark and intense tones, and to cover the range from very light to very dark tonal values. I also managed to mix the more yellowish versus the blueish greens in different intensities. The mark-making became also more differentiated over the series, and I think the third study conveys quite well the characteristics of the different types of plants. So I’d say the strongest aspects relate to details as well as the overall impression from the combination of differently painted areas.

What are the weakest aspects, and how would you improve on these if you made a similar work in future?

I think there is still not enough differentiation of shapes in the greens to the middle left side. The dark tones that define the leaf shapes are lacking. If I were to do it again, I’d choose a larger format for the paper and take the time to make a preliminary study of the plant details, how the forms are set off against their background. I think the problem is one of missing negative shapes, caused by superficial observation on my part.

How has the practice in making the green grid helped you to identify and mix greens?

Mixing the green grid had helped me immensely as apreparation for painting the plants by making me realize the key dimensions of the green tones:
– Whether the green is more towards yellow or towards blue, or whether it wanders towards brown or black
– The importanse of the intensity of the tone, from pale to very intense – not necessarily dark.
During the actual painting process, I did not use the mixing chart, but rather the primary colour chart from which I could tell which green I wanted to start with and what type of colour I wanted to mix in.

Exercise: Building a picture

I had a difficult time finding the motif for this exercise. I searched multiple times through my photos without finding anything suitable. The task description suggested a landscape with some more than just trees and grass, for example houses, a path, or anything else to add interest. My photos are different. Typically I don’t not take pictures of “breathtaking views” because so often, a huge and open landscape scene that looks gorgeous in reality comes out flat and boring when photographed.

This experience shaped the way I make pictures. I typically take views of interesting structures and visual patterns, for example tree foliage, berries, wood and branches, ice on a river, things like that. I like my pictures and think they are a valuable resource, but it was quite difficult to find something that would work for this exercise, which asked for an open view on an interesting landscape. There are some series which contain more open views, for example my latest walk to the Carl Schurtz Park, or the visit to Brooklyn Cemetary, or older pictures from walks through the park close to my Berlin home. But for one reason or the other, none of the series seemed to include a picture I’d like to use as a source.

I was looking for a landscape with trees and bushes, and some interesting elements like houses or roads, and I wanted it to have an open view towards a distance. I tried alternatives:
– I did a Google image search. Ideas were to search generically for “landscape pictures”, then for certain regions that might have that kind of view, for example Dordogne in France, Cornwall in Britain, Vermont or the Hamptons in USA. But looking through the results, I did not feel comfortable with using someone else’s photograph, and I also found that these naïve searches yielded very clichéed images.
– I thought about using photographs from travel guides or geography books, but did not follow up the idea this time
– I thought about making new pictures, but this would have meant doing a winter landscape without any green. I didn’t find this suitable because after all this green mixing, I wanted to include at least a little bit of green in the painting.
– I seriously considered to use either the stairs in Carl Schurtz park or the greenery in Tudor park again, because I liked both photographs and felt they’d merit more in-depth treatment. With both I would have liked to do some detail sketches when I painted them for the earlier exercises. But then I thought it would be better to use a novel photograph and begin with a fresh mind.

In the end, I returned for a fourth time to search through my pictures and finally decided to use the images of the Akershus Fortress in Oslo, Norway, as my source for this exercise. I had made these pictures in 2012, when I visited the Emil Nolde exhibition in Oslo. I had even made a drawing on the spot of the fortress, although I did not find it very successful.

I have a set of eight photographs of the motif, and wanted to focus on two that represented my image idea best. It was a small stone paved path through a stone door, and I was fascinated by the different red and yellow tones of bushes against the neutral brown and grey tones of the fortress walls. The green grass also provided much contrast.

Some sketches

The first drawing represents the lower part of the scene, drawn on two sketchbook pages, which is an A3 format. The top of the tree and the fortress tower are cut off in the photo I used. I wasn’t aware of it while drawing, but then realized this might work as a composition as well, if I’d decide not to include the complete tree and the fortress tower. I had been unsure about this, because tree and tower are high elements which would suggest a square or portrait format. I suspected this wouldn’t work too well because the main elements were in a triangle to the lower right, and the upper left all empty, just sky.

Unfortunately, it was a very gray day and the sky was just a pale light tone. So I thought it might work well to cut off and emphasize the stone building and the colourful bushes to the right, rather than having much empty space in the painting.

The second sketch was a colour study of the left outer fortress wall, made with chalk pastel on a single sketchbook page. I wanted to study the dark stones set off from the lighter wall joints. I included the foreground grass and some buildings in the background. I think the most successful elements in this sketch are the small trees in the left background, because of their nice colour blending from orange to green into dark brown. While I like the overall energy of the sketch, I’m less satisfied with the wall, because it looks a bit flat.

Then I made some smaller detail studies with 4B pencil of a section of the wall, the roof and the second passway in the background. While sketching, I kept asking myself what kind of study would help me with the final drawing. Somehow I’d have preferred to do watercolour detail studies over sketches with dry media, to get more practice with watercolour mark making and mixing colours. Nevertheless I did another pencil study of the large tree, because I thought this was what instructions demanded. At this point I was at odds with task instructions which stated to do drawings where I saw more benefit in watercolour sketches. Maybe in the future I shall do both to satisfy my preferences.

I also made a pencil sketch of the whole tree, another important element of my scene.

I reflected which other elements were relevant to study and decided on the colourful bushes. The picture is not very detailed here, there are no fine structures, instead I think that the intensity of the red, yellow, brown and green colours before the paler stone colours is what is important. So I did a study of those bushes using coloured pencil. At one point I decided to dissolve them using water, which was a good decision because it brought out the colours nicely and let the white paper background disappear.

Decisions for the final painting

Picture elements
Looking at my sketches and the photo source, I think my main picture elements are
– The stone path
– The colourful bushes to the right
– The central door and its smaller corresponding door in the background
– The huge tree
– The monumental stone walls

Composition
I felt quite comfortable with cropping the top of the tree and leaving out the tower in my first drawing. On the other hand, this left out some interesting elements. The background to the left of the left stone wall is the Oslo port which might give more depth to the whole scene. But If I include so much of the scene, the colourful bushes would occupy only a relatively small proportion of the sheet. I wasn’t not sure whether I wanted this, because those colours had fascinated me in the first place.

I was still undecided about the picture format: Landscape, portrait or square. I was also undecided about how much of the scene I want to include: The entire scene or just the central section with the stone doorway, some stone walls around, part of the tree and those bushes. I hoped for the compositional sketches to help with these decisions. I made two compositional sketches in my sketchbook, extending my main photo to the sides using information from additional sources. The resulting format was roughly a square, maybe a bit more landscape than portrait.

Finally I made a detail sketch of the top of the fortress tower with the adjacent stone wall to study the strongly angled perspective lines.

Colour decisions
I made a small sketch to try out the main colours: The greens of the large tree, the red and yellows of the bushes, and the browns and greys of the building and the paved way. I annotated the colours that went into these mixes. I found my colours too pale but thought it would be easier to decide on the right colour mix when I was working on the actual painting.

Exercise: Painting with prepared elements

I started on a size of 34 x 48 cm, slightly larger than A3, in a landscape orientation. I tried to sketch my scene, but this proved difficult. This was probably because I tried to integrate information from different sources which resulted in loss of orientation. After three tries where either the top of the paper was too short or the sides left too much blank, I went back to the instructions and realized I hadn’t made the integrative drawing. So I made this on a sheet of grey paper, began relatively small in the middle and managed to get all my desired elements onto it. Surprise, the result was a portrait format, with the height slightly larger than the width.

I searched through my watercolour papers and luckily I had a large format which fitted these dimensions, size 35 x 50 cm. It was still difficult to get the underline sketch of the composition onto the paper because of the different sources to integrate, but this time it worked.

I began with the lightest colours and proceeded to the darker tones as suggested, but at several points I worked wet in wet to mix colour on the paper rather than on the pallet because the pre-mixed tone didn’t fit and I wanted to correct. I also wanted to make use of the mediums flow to achieve a more impressionistic and less detailed effect.

Overall, I wasn’t really comfortable working with the process outlined in the course materials. I generally like structured approaches and in earlier exercises often felt that I needed some preparatory studies before tackling the final painting. But somehow I wasn’t at ease with the suggested steps and might have chosen different types of studies. In particular, I missed detail studies of selected elements to try out mark making and colour mixes. On the other hand, I wanted to follow instructions just to see how I would get along and what would be the outcome. Secretly I suspect that the more successful elements of the painting are those where I went beyond instructions, for example by painting the colourful bushes wet-in-wet and alternating between light and dark colours, instead of following the rule of sequence from light to dark with letting each layer dry before applying the next.

I think what will work for me is trying out how I get along by following instructions, but also experiment with doing things differently and breaking rules.

Guided reflections

Have you kept the spontaneity of the drawing or have you created a new image based on the first drawing?

I think the spontaneity of the initial drawing is lost. In the final watercolour, I created a different type of image of the same motif. I think my main problem was inhibition to paint generously because I was concerned about details. The very controlled approach wasn’t supportive for taking risks. It was only at the end that I dared to do some more generous washes and mixes directly on the paper, which I feel give the painting a bit more spontaneity and freshness.

What did you learn in the preparatory drawings?

I think they were valuable as general preparation because I looked closely at some details of my scene.

How were the drawings useful (or otherwise) in preparing for your final painting?

I think a particularly useful drawing was the final compositional drawing, because it helped me to integrate my different source pictures and make the right choice of format for the paper size.

Otherwise I feel that I’d have benefitted from doing detail watercolour sketches, rather than drawing with a pencil, because this would have given practice in mixing the colours and inventing marks to represent textures like stone walls or bushes.

Actually my setting was a bit different from what the instructions implied, because I did not work in a real landscape but from a set of photos. So maybe the greatest advantage of preparatory drawings may have been the help in selecting what is essential about a landscape, but this didn’t apply to my situation. My photos already represented a selection of what I had found interesting about the view at the time.

Did you feel that your composition was successful or not? Say why that is.

Yes, I think the final composition is successful. I like the strong perspective effect of the pathway, and think I managed to capture how impressive the huge walls of the fortress were. I had feared the almost square format would result in too much unused space in the upper left, but looking at the picture I think this is not a problem in the composition. It rather has an effect of opening up the scene which I find beneficial for the painting.

How successful were the colours and the mixing that you practiced then used?

I did not make much use of my prepared mixes. At the beginning of the painting I tried to premix all the colours on the palette before putting them on the paper, but then I realized that the tones I wanted were indeed mostly grey-brown and somehow mudded, so I began mixing all kinds of remnant pigment from the palette into each new brushstroke, and this worked better for me.

How successful are the tonal arrangements in your painting?

I think the tonal arrangement of the painting, understood as the range of tonal values from very light to very dark, works ok in the painting. A particular difficulty arose of the different light situations in my photo sources, because some were quite light and others quite dark overall. When combining pictorial information from these different sources, I tried to take care that my painting remained balanced overall, and I think this was successful. I aimed at correspondence to the light situation of the scene, rather trying to create a dramatic effect. There would certainly the potential to make the painting more impressive by increasing colour values.

What is your assessment of the value of the detail that you have included?

While painting I felt that I was too much oriented towards detail and would have preferred to work more generously and boldly. Looking at the finished painting, I think the level of detail is acceptable, although I’m not really satisfied. What works well is the distant background to the left, where tiny marks are somehow convincing.

I think there is a tendency of too much detail in the middle ground, for example the stone shapes of the two doorways or the many leaves of the tree. By contrast, I was less detailed in the foreground. Probably I should have done the opposite – details in the foreground, more generous approach in the middle ground.

I found deciding on the level of detail quite difficult. My aim would be to study the elements closely and understand the visual pattern, but then convert it into a generous representational shortcut rather than trying to accurately paint all the details. This will probably remain an important topic for a while.

What have you learned overall and what might you do differently another time?

Since I did not work outside but from photos, the exercise has made me more aware about the type of photos I will need when using photos as a source. This should be a set of photos that comprise the entire scene plus close-ups of relevant elements.

It’s difficult to exactly specify what I have learned, in the sense that I after the exercise I can do things which I couldn’t do before. It rather feels like valuable practice with one particular approach, a learning experience which might guide how I’ll approach future paintings. I think I’d like to maintain a structured approach, but execute some steps differently. In particular, I’d include detail studies using watercolours, rather than just drawing the relevant elements. On the other hand, I think I’d follow the process one more time to see how it works when I try to paint a landscape outside.

For this particular painting, I think I’d have needed some studies on the perspective. It was quite late while painting that I realized that I had to include perspective lines in the stone walls of the fortress. I did my best but I think there are some errors. It may have to do with using several photos which all had slightly different viewpoints, with differently angled receding lines. By studying this, I might have been better prepared to integrate these into a coherent whole.

How has this exercise helped you to select the right subject for you?

This question is difficult to answer because the exercise was done after the subject had been chosen. Drawing elements might be helpful in finding the focus of a painting, in a situation where a scene is overwhelmingly complex. In my case, I had chosen my photos and used the drawings as detail studies of elements.

My future choice of subject will most probably be guided by interest and fascination and a feeling of beauty that I’d like to capture in a painting. Then I’d adapt the process to match my aims for the painting. I’m not sure about the role of this exercise when it comes to choosing a subject.

Has this process helped you to see picture elements more clearly?

I’m not sure. I certainly looked closer at the elements I chose for detail studies. But I felt hindered by having to use a drawing medium rather than a brush to translate what I saw into a sketch. When it came to making the final painting, I was still without preparation for the visual language to use with watercolours.

More artists: Winslow Homer

I first came across Winslow Homer through another note in the Jackson’s Art Supplies Blog at the occasion of the artist’s birthday. Winslow Homer was an American Painter, he lived 1836-1910. The blog featured a beautiful painting of a peasant working, standing in front of a wheat field in a burning deep yellow orange tone.

Winslow Homer 1865 the-veteran-in-a-new-field

The veteran in a new field, 1865

I briefly looked at some other paintings and read the wikipedia article, but did not find the time to post to my watercolour blog. Maybe this was because in that first encounter, I couldn’t detect a direct relationship to my watercolour practice.

This changed recently when I made a brief tour to the Barnes & Noble Arts and Craft book department, in search of some books on art quilting. I was already on my way out when I saw the book “Winslow Homer Watercolours”, A4 landscape format, presented on a table.

Stunning watercolours inside. The seaside, boats, blue skies, palm trees, women, wildlife nature scenes. Bright and intense colours, watercolour chance effects yet clearly defined shapes. And there is so much light in them. I loved these.

I selected some for inclusion in my blog. There were so many more I liked. Those I selected had something I found important for my current learning. I have been doing this research while working on the Preparation & Practice project of Part 3. A recurring theme is the style in which I apply watercolour – from dense and opaque to very light. I found the dense and compact style not appropriate for watercolours and am in the process of learning how to achieve intense colours, but maintain the fluency and lightness of the medium. Another topic is shape. In Winslow Homers works I found a mixture of defined shapes and areas where the colours flow in an impressionistic manner. Somehow this holds the painting neatly together and contrasts to other artists, for example Emil Nolde, where the flowing of colours in a wet-in-wet technique is clearly dominant.

Scenes in the woods

What I found important

– the clearly defined shapes in front of the more impressionistic and loose background, for example the hunter figures and the edges of their little boat on the water. Or the two boys before the loosely painted greenery, but it is also in the scene with the hunter.
– the inclusion of very dark tones, as these make the lights come out so brightly
– the oak trees, for their depiction of foliage masses in lighter and darker tones without painting leaf details

Water and seaside

The boat on a lake (Sketch for “Hound and Hunter”, 1892): The strong contrast of light and dark on the water surface, clear shapes of the boat, impressionistic and very dark background

Bahamas Hurricane: Captured how powerful the wind torments the palm trees, and the shapes of the houses are so nicely painted: They are set together as clearly defined shapes with softly varied tonal structure. Interesting change of palette colour to intense green tones.

The sailboats (Nassau II): I love how the shapes of bones and cannons are painted, with clear outlines but fluidity of tone within the shape.

The water and sky (Incoming Tide 1883 and Salt Kettle Bermuda, 1899). I find them masterly painted and just want to look and see what I’ll say when it comes to making my own first attempts.

And then

– The new novel (1877): The reclining girl reading a book so focused as if nothing else in the world existed. This intense orange-red before the dark background, and the soft traits in the face.

– A Wall, Nassau: The red flowers of the bush and how they contrast to the soft blue sky in the background. The clean shapes of the wall post tops and the wall contours, with flowing colour variations within the wall shapes.

Concluding remarks

To summarize, I’m totally enthused by these watercolours, as they seem to combine everything I’ve discovered as elements that I like in watercolour paintings: Intensity of colour, fluidity, strong contrasts, clear shapes but not finicky with details. This gives a lot of direction for what I will be aiming for in my own works.

Actually it didn’t surprise my that Winslow Homer was said to be one of the most influential American painters. What surprised me was that I hadn’t known anything about this painter before.

Sources

Winslow Homer Watercolours, by Nicolai Cikovsky Jr. (Ed.), Universe 2013

National Gallery of Art (Washington D.C.)
http://www.nga.gov/feature/homer/homerintro.htm

Metropolitan Museum of Art
http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/hd/homr/hd_homr.htm
(not the most interesting paintings here)

Complete image gallery of works
http://www.winslow-homer.com/

More artists: John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent was an American painter, he lived from 1856 to 1925. He was born in Florence to American parents, he grew up in Europe and traveled a lot from childhood on. I found him when I was searching for watercolour exhibitions in New York. His watercolours were presented in an exhibition in the Brooklyn Museum last Summer, but unfortunately I missed it. The exhibition showed 93 works by John Singer Sargent, predominantly watercolours created between 1901 and 1911, plus 9 oil paintings.

I liked the watercolours presented at the exhibition website for their very spontaneous and varied style, for example here the bridge of sighs. I researched a little further and found more beautiful watercolours and oil paintings.

The painting that caught me was the enchanting “Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose” (1885-1886). There is a wonderful effect of the warm coloured light of the lanterns against the white dresses of the two girls and the lilies and other flowers. A wonderful painting full of atmosphere. Technically I’m admiring how Sargent painted the blue grass in the foreground. Maybe this is easier to do with oils, since that medium permits to add light colours over a dark background. This compositional element is something with which I struggle when using watercolours. But the light and colour effect of the lanterns might work beautifully in watercolour as well.

I wonder how someone could paint this from memory without using a photograph – is it possible to compose such a painting from just preparatory sketches and memory? Sargent certainly did not have the two girls standing for hours until he’d finish the painting!

I also liked the oil painting “A street in Venice”, which has several sister paintings of street views in Venice. There’s something very modern and timeless in this painting, and again the use of light is very impressive. The narrow pathway between two houses almost unlit, with the two figures in dark tones, are intensely contrasting to the house front in the background in bright sunlight. I find this modern in that it is so casually painted, focussing on the essence and leaving out unneccessary details.

For a closer look on Sargent’s watercolours, I chose “A siesta”, depicting two girls lying in the grass beneath an umbrella, resting. Again I find the treatment of light very impressive – the entirely white top of the umbrella, and the transparent tones of the women’s clothes made me recognize that this is watercolour, not an oil painting.

Finally I selected the Palms watercolour. I like how the palm tops are composed of colours and the characteristic marks of the palm leaves. The palm tops are in a beautiful contrast to the intensely blue background sky. There’s glaring sunlight captured in this painting.

When I compare this to my recent study of greens outside (the Tudor Park studies), I see that Sargent depicted trees convincingly without painting the exact individual leaves. This is something I suspected to work but didn’t dare to try out.

I have an idea of painting the characteristic elements of trees and plants together without actually copying what a camera would produce, by just by painting the features together and then the observer’s brain will combine the elements to see the whole. This would be consistent with a looser style and is one of the paths I’d like to explore further – besides doing detailed studies to train my eye and develop technical skills of accurate representation.

I’m quite happy that I found another American painter to whom I can relate, because I find making the first steps towards exploring American art difficult: There are so many artists, where am I going to begin, and what are my selection criteria? It will probably take some time until I become oriented in the history of American art and my choices become less dependent on chance.

Now if I could also be successful in the original aim of finding watercolour exhibitions in the New York area, that would be great!

Sources
Brooklyn Museum John Singer Sargent exhibition page, with teacher resources to download http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/sargent_watercolors/#

Website with complete works online http://www.johnsingersargent.org/

More artists: Shirley Trevena

I found this artist by following a link on Jackson’s Art Supplies Blog pointing to an article about Pat Tinsley, a British mixed media artist – where the hint on Shirley Trevena as a “Risk-Taking Watercolourist” was. I like risk taking and think it would be good for me, so I followed up and was off my feet about what I saw then.

Shirley Trevena’s a contemporary British watercolour artist in her fifties or sixties I’d guess. Her style is very interesting for me, and I’d love to learn how to use watercolours like this. I love the intensity of the colours and find the compositions very interesting. I spent much time looking at the paintings in the article and also on Shirley Trevena’s website. I can’t even say which of the paintings is my favourite, I like them all. This was just after I had finished my series of green bottle mixing studies and it made me realize how much I still have to learn.

There are also DVDs and books by the artist. I watched the trailers on YouTube, and I think demonstrations like these are really missing in the OCA course materials. It is one thing to read the instruction “be experimental” and something else to watch an artist using colours in an experimental way. I find the videos highly instructive, not because I want to copy someone else’s style but to be inspired from seeing what’s possible with the medium. I had the same impression from looking at the videos presenting Chris Forsey’s work about whom I wrote in an earlier Blog article. I’ll probably treat me a DVDs for Chrismas, because it’s such a pleasure watching, and I think I can learn a lot from them.

Shirley Trevena also participated in the Patchings Festival with a demonstration. It might be a good idea to search for Art Festivals in the New York area, maybe something similar is available over here as well.

Sources

Jackson’s Art Blog presenting Shirley Trevena http://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2013/11/29/getting-to-know-risk-taking-watercolourist-shirley-trevena/

Shirley Trevena Web Site http://www.shirleytrevena.com/

Patchings Art Centre, Organizers of the Patchings Festival http://www.patchingsartcentre.co.uk/

Selected paintings by Shirley Trevena, titles in the order of appearance:

– Blue still life with black screens
– Brown jug of magnolias
– Red flowers on a black table
– Red-r red Amaryllis
– Table top with blue vase

Blue still life with black screens

Brown jug of magnolias

Red flowers on a black table

Red red Amaryllis

Table top with blue vase

More artists: William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Bouguereau was mentioned on the Jackson’s Art Supplies Blog, at the occasion of his birthday on 30 November. Bouguereau was a French painter, he lived from 1825 to 1905. He became very successful during his lifetime for his realistic painting style, but fell out of favour later when impressionists became en vogue. I followed up this artist because I was intrigued by the paintings, although I’m having difficulty to tell what fascinated me.

Bouguereau mostly produced oil paintings, with mostly depicting female models. Looking at these it reminded me again of one particular difference between oil painting, or opaque techniques, and watercolour: With opaque techniques, the lighter colours can be put on top of the darker colours. What I find very difficult with watercolours is that one has to analyse in advance where the lightest areas are to leave them out, and go from lighter to darker colours. I often feel the tendency to work into both directions, from light to dark and vice versa, and the general watercolour work rule feels quite restrictive.

The artrenewal.org web site offers high resolution reproductions which are nice for studying how the details are painted. I may not make so much use of this for the watercolour course because of the technical differences, but it’s interesting to study these paintings as if I was in a museum, where I can go very close to the canvas.

I think what captured me here was how these oil paintings exemplified the difference between the two media. It wouldn’t be possible to create this impression of massiveness with watercolours – watercolours (for me) are supposed to be light and transparent, at the same time they can be very intense.

Sources

Complete works online: http://www.bouguereau.org

High-resolution reproductions , eg avant le bain (1900) from http://www.artrenewal.org/pages/artwork.php?artworkid=4896&size=huge

Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William-Adolphe_Bouguereau

Extended gallery at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/William-Adolphe_Bouguereau

More artists: Claudia Hutchins-Puechavy and John Salmon

Looking at Claudia Hutchins-Puechavy (USA, contemporary), I was following advice by my tutor who recommended her watercolours as good examples how loose application of watercolour, where the medium has the room to do something on its own, rather than the painter controlling everything.

And yes, this is definitely a direction that I like and would aim to explore further. I selected more still life watercolours by Claudia Hutchins as a reminder of how the intensity and transparency of watercolours can be brought out in a painting.

I also looked at the landscapes. Again I recognize that lightness in approach, and this is something I admire. I also found that my tutor was right that some of my own watercolours had a bit of this lightness, for example my first attempts at sketching the trees in central park – where I abandoned the scene disheartened because I was completely unsatisfied with what I’d done. So on the one hand, I recognized the particular quality of the light approach, on the other hand there was something which did not satisfy me, but I couldn’t tell what it was. Maybe something like “lack of definition” in what was depicted. It puzzled me that I liked the style so much, but at the same time wondered why I found the outcome less convincing.

It was only a few days later that I came a bit closer to understanding why I had reservations. This was when I discovered John Salmon’s watercolours.

John Salmon (UK, contemporary)

I can’t remember what I was actually searching for but I landed on John Salmon’s Website through a link to tips for framing artwork. I saved that link for reference because I found his recommendations very helpful. For example, he recommends leaving decent space around the artwork, like 3 inches on either side of a 7 x 5 inch watercolour, and explains why it’s important to use acid-free boards.

Then I had a closer look at John Salmon’s watercolours, in particular the traditional style landscapes. They are quite small, mostly 7 x 5 inches or 9 x 12 inches. I was intrigued by the beautiful colours, at the same time I couldn’t help finding the paintings kitsch. This puzzled me, because again there was a technique and style I liked, but the outcome did not really convince me.

John Salmon provides videos of how he paints some of the little landscapes, and I found these very interesting to watch and learn, for example

For a wet-in-wet technique, soaking the paper and letting it dry a bit until the shine is gone.
To my amazement, the colours mixed nicely on the paper, they didn’t bleed nor produce water flowers (which happens to me all the time)
Colour intensity was just right – beginning with lighter tones and getting gradually more intense and using darker tones. Again, mysteriously enough, the darker colours didn’t bleed into the lighter colours, although they were applied wet-in-wet.
Using really big water containers, like 2 l bucket with low rim – they look like inexpensive potato salad buckets. I love inexpensive equipment! And this is much more appropriate than the small water glasses I use
He has a sponge next to the area which is used for taking up excess water from the brush
He uses a rigger for smaller branches of the trees! That’s something I should adopt but haven’t so far. For example, I realized in my Carl Schurtz Park painting that my brush was too big for the fine branches, but it didn’t occur to me that I might use a finer brush…

Now here are some examples for the traditional landscapes. I really like the play of colours, the fading of tones towards the backgrounds, the irregular shapes of the trees, and how organic these paintings look like.

It was while watching the videos that I began to understand why I also had some problems with them.

– Composition. Most of the landscape compositions seem to have been built on the “Some light at the end of the tunnel”-principle. There’s a central, round or oval light area which represents the light, far distance, and it is framed by trees and bushwork which gets darker and darker towards the edges of the painting. This creates something like a tunnel view, with the foreground like a dark ring around the mid-ground in lighter colours and the light background.

The compositional principle is nice to bring out the technique, but it tends to become monotonous and one has the feeling that all paintings are the same, even if the motif and colours change.

– Representation. Then there were the trees – watching the videos I became aware that John Salmon knows “how to paint trees” – the pattern of thicker stems with thinner branches and finer side branches. He just paints them so quickly, without hesitation, and they look indeed like trees. I realized that by contrast, I don’t know how to paint trees – when I look at a tree, I see a confusing wildness of branches running in all directions, and the strong contrasts of dark branches against a lighter background (at least in autumn when there’s not too much foliage).

When I try to paint this, I typically loose correspondence to the branch I was painting as soon as my eyes switch from the tree onto the paper and back to the tree. The difference is amazing – John Salmon’s trees look like trees, but they resemble each other very much. By contrast, my trees don’t look very much like trees…

So if I were to make a recommendation, I’d say John Salmon’s oeuvre would benefit if he’d develop towards tree individuation, to get more overall diversity in his trees and also in his compositions. And for my trees, I think I should
– use a finer brush for the finer branches, or take care to be more delicate when using a big brush
– maybe try to keep my eyes on the branch while painting, and switching views only to make the start for the next branch – this might help to get the branches as recognizable shapes. I’m not sure, will have to practice and try out.

I’m discussing John Salmon’s watercolours together with those of Claudia Hutchins, because they provided me with an idea what I found lacking in Claudia Hutchins watercolours. I knew hers were not kitsch, and I liked her loose and energetic style, but in comparison with John Salmon’s paintings I found her colours at times too faint and the shapes not worked out enough.

In particular, this is something on which I’d improve on in my own watercolours: Increase colour intensity, yet have some more definition in the shapes and “fill the paper” like John Salmon does.

Sources

Claudia Hutchins artist website http://claudiahutchins.com/

John Salmon artist website (see traditional watercolours) http://johnsalmonwatercolours.co.uk/

Where to look and how to select

This project marks the beginning of Part 3, Painting Outside. It was late summer when I started and it is almost December when I was finished. It became too cold to paint comfortably outside, so during this project I switched from painting on the spot to using photos as a source, and will most probably do so for the remainder of Part 3.

Exercise: Inside and outside

For this exercise, I chose the view from the living room onto the terrace, with the buildings of the backyard as a background. I used a watercolour block a bit larger than A3 size in 48 x 34 cm and Schmincke Watercolours.

I worked longer on each painting than instructions indicated, but I enjoyed the practice in colour mixing and layering. I stopped each painting when I felt that I became too occupied by details. This time I was comfortable with the approach of beginning with light colours, working over the entire sheet, then proceeding to more intense and darker tones. Maybe I began with details a bit too early.

I made the first painting while sitting in the living room and looking outside. My initial response when I went outside and compared the painting with the entire scene was a sense of liberation from the compositional restriction of the windows framing the view to the outside.

I also made photographs of the view and from the camera’s problems of capturing the scene I realized that the light situation was quite difficult. The camera depicted the inside elements completely dark because of the bright light in the window area. I tried using a flash but this artificial light was not very similar to my own visual perception while painting. Conclusion was that the human eye is much better at adapting to this kind of light situation. For the painting I tried to make the inside space darker but was not courageous enough to make it match how I perceived the scene.

When relocating myself outside, I was initially irritated by the much brighter light. I thought about using sunglasses but this would have compromised my perception of the colours, so I just waited a bit and my eyes accustomed.

The outside painting encouraged a generous approach of distributing light washes over the sheet. It may also have been an effect of the larger than usual paper size. I’m not quite satisfied with some of the details, but stopped painting because I felt it wouldn’t be beneficial if I overworked those areas. I think I would need to do some detail studies of the flower boxes and the fire escape, similarly of the windows in the close and further away buildings.

Guided reflections

What were the main challenges of working inside?

– Positioning myself so that the view to the outside was interesting
– Deciding on the amount of space for the outside area vs the inside area on the sheet
– Getting the difference in brightness between inside and outside correctly. The exercise about dramatic light comes to mind! In my case, the inside was dark, the outside was bright. My hesitation to paint really dark tones for the inside area led to a less dramatic effect than what might have been possible!

What were the main challenges of working outside?

– The permanently changing light conditions while clouds were passing by, which alternatingly blocked the bright sunlight, then released it. As a consequence, one moment there were strongly contrasting shadows and the next moment these were gone
– Organizing my work space with all the utensils on a small stool next to where I was sitting
– Getting the strong effects of angled receding lines in perspective correctly

How did the door or window frame help or hinder your choice of viewpoint?

The window frame had kind of a fishbowl effect in that it restricted what I was able to see from the outside scene. It helped to get size of elements correctly because it provided a reference. Selecting the elements to paint felt easier inside, but I felt less restricted when painting outside.

Which elements of your landscapes did you feel most involved with?

I tended to get very involved with details of light effects, for example on the fire escape or in the windows of the buildings outside, also on the pottery and planters. I enjoyed most painting the larger shapes in perspective.

Which aspects of your studies do you think have succeeded the most?

I think both studies have a successful composition, and I also succeeded in getting broken, but not muddy tones. Some of the tonal shadings are successful and I think I also got the perspective in architectural elements mostly correct.

Which areas do you feel that you would like to improve on?

– Mixing colours in a more controlled fashion
– More control of applying paint in even washes versus textured surfaces
– Creating three-dimensionality of objects through lighter and darker tones
– In light of feedback to the previous assignment: increase colour intensity and contrast

Over all what do you feel you have learned from this initial exercise?

It felt like a step forward in my watercolour practice. I felt that I did things the right way and the bits of instructions from earlier parts of the course seemed to fall into place. I began with light colours and gradually increased intensity and added darker tones. I had found this difficult in earlier exercises but this time it worked. I think I included too much detail, but maybe the problem is not that it’s too much, but that its not done skillfully. For example in the outside painting on the chairs and the windows/balconies of the apartment building, the textures simply don’t work.

Waterfall at 51th street

One day during lunchtime I went to the Synagogue Garden on 51th Street. It is a nice place to sit and people are allowed to have their lunch packets, sitting at little tables under the trees. Then there is an artificial waterfall with large stone blocks, and the water makes enormous noise. I peeked a bit ahead in the course materials and there will be a project on “moving water” later on. I became aware of the many fountains in the city… The one in the Synagogue is the largest I saw until now during my walks at lunchtime. There’s another water play at 1^st Avenue and 48^th street which is also public, but it’s smaller.

So that day I took a sketchbook with me and decided on a ball pen to make a first sketch at the Synagogue waterfall. Taking pictures is prohibited, but if I find a picture on the web, I’ll include it later on. The waterfall is constructed in several layers and there is much water coming down. The water walks down the steps created through stone cubes of different sizes. There is a top level and three intermediate terraces which break up the water flow. I’m not overly satisfied with my drawing, but it’s a first attempt with a difficult motif. Not sure whether I’ll be able to paint this in watercolour. Maybe I can use a resist technique to capture the reflected lights on the moving water surface.

There is an elemental force to the water. It almost violently crashes down the stone terraces. It is very different from a peaceful little brook through a meadow in the countryside.

Exercise: Sketches from different viewpoints

I had waited until the weekend, with the plan to go to Central Park if the weather was like it, for an extended painting session. I was there and painted three sketches, but then I left the place because it was simply too crowded and I felt very uncomfortable. I was also very dissatisfied with my attempts at sketching a landscape with watercolour and on my way back I felt very miserable in this big city, like an alien from a different world who does not have a place here. Probably I was homesick for Berlin, missing the quiet places I frequented there.

The first painting was started with light colours to sketch the broad areas, then I tried to work out the darker areas of the trees and add some stems. I didn’t find the result recognizable enough and added line with charcoal, but that looked even more awful. I took a paper towel to soften the charcoal. Then stopped painting because I realized I wasn’t going to save the painting by working more on it. Looking and reflecting on the drawing, I became aware that the painting felt “all made”, I hadn’t given room to let the watercolours themselves do some of the work. I took a picture of the view with my digital camera and when seeing the scene at a much smaller scale on the screen, I was better able to identify “broad areas of colour” – looking at the real scene, I was involved with details of leaves, stems, earth, grass, branches etc rather than seeing the colours more generously.

For the next painting, I wanted to do less myself and give more room to the medium. I started with just wetting the paper with a broad brush, then applied broad layers in blue for the sky, yellowish green for the tree shapes to the right and blueish green for those to the left. I tried to work wet-in-wet which in some areas worked ok. The result isn’t beautiful but it maybe somewhat improved over the first.

I had another go with a third sketch, from a slightly changed position. I just moved half a meter to the left, to remain seated in the shade of a tree. I wanted to increase colour intensity and continue to develop the wet-in-wet idea for the painting. I like that flowing together of yellow and green tones, but the painting isn’t very similar to the scene I had in front of me.

Then I went home because I was too frustrated by my unsuccessful attempts, and annoyed by all the crowds around me. I thought I’d rather work on my private terrace or make a trip outside of the city for painting outside.

Second attempt: View from my terrasse

I made a series of four views, with one or more sketches for each view to try out some variations. I kept changing paper size and paper orientation throughout the series.

View 1 (three sketches)

I tend to like larger paper sizes because they permit to work more generously. But at the same time, the ample space is seductive to include much detail. So after having painted the first sketch quite large, I thought it might be goood to try a small sheet, with two aims: Firstly, I hoped that the smaller size would help me to let go of details and just paint the larger areas of colour, as instructions suggested. And secondly, I thought that the quality of my washes might improve when the area to cover was smaller. Second and third try of the first view reflect what I was attempting to do.

I also chose quite naturally the landscape format, because the open view suggested this.

View 2 (one sketch)

Then with the second view, I think the approach of not including detail did not work very well, because the buildings in the background are hardly recognizable. I thought that either more detail or better analysis of visual elements were necessary. I did not particularly like that view and therefore decided to move on to the third view.

View 3 (two sketches)

Now I chose the larger size again and a portrait format, which seemed to work well with the high walls of my study to the right and the tall buildings in the background to the left. I’m not sure about this painting. It may be just a bit too faint in colours, otherwise it works quite well. It was also a step forward in how I analysed the details of the distant apartment buildings. I did a second version of this view in landscape format and a smaller sheet. This format seemed to work nicely. I created a really intense colour for the wall, which isn’t true to reality, but looks nice. The walls are actually in the faint rose tone of the first sketch

View 4 (one sketch)

Then for the fourth view, I switched to portrait format again because this corresponded well to how I looked at the tall building and the high walls of terrace and adjacent building.

Original view again (final sketch)

For the final sketch, repeating the original view, I stayed with the medium paper size (34 x 24 cm) and painted in landscape orientation. Although I think these choices were the right ones, I’m not very satisfied with the painting. It is somewhat dull and lacking interest, and the brush strokes in the sky disturb the visual impression. Positive is the higher colour intensity and slightly more interesting colour mixing in layers. Maybe the painting lacks the inclusion of soft tones, as here everything seems to be in an intense colour. This is less interesting, compared to the second sketch of the third view (my favourite), where very soft and very intense colours are included.

Some thoughts and reflections

Sense of unity between paintings and place: When looking at all my watercolours for this exercise, I do have a sense of unity between them and the place I painted. I’m glad that I changed place and felt much better painting at home and undisturbed. I painted quite a lot of details which make the paintings resemble the actual view, but I think the colours alone might have sufficed to create that link.

Which are the most effective studies and why. It is difficult to say, because all of the sketches have some things that work well and others that are less successful. But looking at them all together, I’d say the second sketch of view III works best. This was the one with the dark red wall colour.

– The details of the apartment buildings at a distance support the perspective of the planes
– There’s some white paper left, which works effectively to represent those walls in full sun
– The charcoal for the fence fits well with the rest
– Colour intensity is not as faint as in most of the other sketches, which I think is a step forward for me, even if it’s not true to reality for that particular wall.

I also like the second sketch of the first view, which has practically no details, because the colours are very evenly applied and the flow of green tones for the tree works well. The third one I like is the fourth view. The colour contrast between the soft rose of the wall on my terrace against the darker red-brown of the adjacent building with the white of the window frame is nice. I also like how I sketched the bricks of the chimney. Also, the choice of a portrait format works well to include the tall apartment building in the background. Sky colour intensity is also good, although the wash should have been more evenly applied.

As for the washes, I seem to have problems with my brushes. I don’t remember to have bought inadequate or cheap brushes, but nevertheless I’m quite dissatisfied with their handling while I paint. I never seem to get the amount of water and pigment right for what I want to do at that moment. In particular, the brushes don’t seem to be able to hold enough water to obtain even washes in intense colours. Maybe I’ll have to review my choices and buy new brushes. Problems with brushes were also pointed out by my tutor in her latest assignment feedback, which made me aware that it may less be a problem of my technique, but maybe one of materials employed.

Guided reflections

What attracted you to the first viewpoint and why?

My first choice of viewpoint was in Central Park. I was attracted by the view into green trees, which is not abundant when living in a city like New York. I chose this particular place because I could sit there on the height of a little hill, looking downwards onto a group of trees which offered some perspective in the scenery. There were some different trees (coniferes) to the left, and there were also some distant skyscrapers. I liked this diversity and also the effect of choosing a setting amidst a park, surrounded by trees, where the busy city was kept at a distance.

Unfortunately this didn’t last for long. More and more people arrived at the location and sat down to chat and laugh, which made me feel uncomfortable. I felt disturbed and frustrated because I found I wasn’t able paint the different trees and green tones. All in all, I am very unsure about these paintings. They seem to be the successor to my earlier unsuccessful drawing attempts of the same place which I made for the other course. I think at that point it was a good decision to leave the place and try something else. But I also think that I should devote some time to the topic of trees. I’d like to find my way how to depict what I think is characteristic of groups of trees.

Answering the question for the second choice, view from my terrace, I chose this view because I liked its openness and the colour variations on the bricks of the buildings. Looking in that direction is not restricted to the left and the right by tall apartment buildings. Instead it opens up and permits to look into a far distant sky.

Which aspects of the landscape did you feel were most important?

Considering the first terrace view, I tried to analyse this right at the start and then paint those elements which I found most important: The blue sky, some clouds behind the tree in the center, the tree itself, the apartment buildings in the middle and further distant to the left and right. I also found the half-height terrace wall quite important because it created the primary distinction between close and distant.

What special qualities does your chosen landscape possess?

What is the difference between a special quality and the most important aspects? I’m not sure what might be the difference between the current and the previous question… Special qualities are of course the open view. But what I also found interesting was the orientation of planes (building surfaces) in space. There was a learning process throughout the series of sketches in which my attention began to focus on that aspect of the buildings.

How effective was your first study compared to the last one of the same view?

I’m not sure. I think they are both not very good. I improved on colour intensity, but I wouldn’t say that the overall impression is necessarily better because of just that. I think they both have the same shortcoming with the details of the apartment building. The orientation of planes in space is not really recognizable.

How did you deal with changing light?

It was less of a problem because I split up the first and second session on two days. So when I came to repaint the first view, it was roughly the same time of day, and fortunately the weather was similar on the second day’s afternoon.

When I noticed changing light while painting, I tried to accommodate it and overpainted earlier tones, but took care not to destroy something. I also tried to decide whether I wanted to paint the view in sunlight or under clouds, and waited a moment before continuing when the sun disappeared behind a cloud.

Describe the problems and any unforeseen advantages in moving on to the viewpoints that you didn’t choose.

I saw a problem in the arbitrariness of the remaining views, but I managed relatively well to adapt and find something interesting in the other viewing positions. I perceived it as an advantage that I could stay in one place which was convenient for me, yet produce entirely different pictures. It was also fun to discover and simply paint what was there, instead of deliberately searching and arranging a view. I did change position a bit to make the view work. For example, the fourth view wouldn’t have worked from the original position because I was too close to the wall on the left side. I moved a bit backwards to make it work.

Was it harder to work on these scenes? If so, say why.

No, I did not find it harder. Maybe this was because there was nothing particularly attractive in the first view anyway. The first one was somehow an arbitrary view as well.

Look at all of your watercolour paintings and assess which have worked best and why.

To summarize my earlier thoughts about this question: I think the second painting of the third view (the dark red studio walls) works best, because the building details support the orientation of planes in space. Its colour intensity is higher than my usual faint tones and I also like how I painted the sky.

What aspects of your work do you need to develop most at this stage?

I’d like to improve on the ability to paint evenly, when I want it – for example for a deep blue sky without clouds. Currently my washes are stripy. It may have to do with the brushes I use. I’ll follow that up.

The sequence of looking – analysing – painting should be executed more consciously. I seem to always be in a hurry, where I look just briefly, skip the analysis and rush to painting something. Then I’m dissatisfied because of the lack of resemblance to the original.

I think this is a very central problem for me at this stage, not only for watercolour practice, but also in drawing. The instruction to make “quick sketches” seems to cause a feeling of stress and hurry which results in me not taking the time to really look and analyse what I see. Maybe this is why I constantly feel overwhelmed by the exercises and wish to study smaller things or sections in isolation. This gives more opportunity to focus on a single problem. Currently I’m having many simultaneous problems: Analysing tonality, analizing colour, perspective orientation, depicting details. I think it would be important for me to make detail study and actually learn representational task. Once learned, I think I will be able to speed up and do quick sketches which actually resemble what I want to depict.

What have you learned about what to include and what to leave out?

I’m not sure whether I have actually learned something about it, but I have definitely become aware of the decisions involved. In the studies, I tried out different degrees of detail, in particular with the buildings. At this stage, it was more of a try-out process of making a decision and then see whether it works. For example, In the final study of the original view, I decided to leave out the wood table and the white folding chairs before the terrace wall. This was because I tend to dislike detail work at the edges of a painting. I think the decision was a good one because it resulted in the opportunity of making a very even wash to depict the terrace wall. On the other hand, the foreground of the painting lacked a bit of interest. So I’d say I’m rightly amidst the process of learning what works and what doesn’t.

How could this exercise help you to locate a place to paint in future?

Next to the motif, the most important criterium for me seems to be whether I feel comfortable at a place… while I like the Central Park, I didn’t feel at ease when there were so many people around me. I did not feel observed or self-conscious, but disturbed by the giggling, talking and constant movement of people around me. So in the future, I may try a different park close by. I know one at roughly the same distance as the central park. Haven’t been there yet but might be worth a try. The other idea is to do some research for nice places outside of New York City. I hope I’ll find the time for this, as currently it’s difficult because my work load is high and I have not much leisure time.

Image list

– Central park, only the first view in three attempts. Size 40×30. First with charcoal

– My terrace, complete series

View I
- 40×30 cm
- 24 x 17 cm
- 24x 17 cm
View II: 24 x 17 cm
View III:
- 30 x 40 portrait
- 34 x 24 landscape
View IV: 24 x 34 cm
Original view again: 34 x 24 cm landscape

Exercise: Subject choices

Some preliminary thoughts

I’m taking up work for the project again and realize that 6 weeks have passed! This was an unintended break owed to other commitments. I meant to continue with watercolours much earlier, but I wasn’t able to. Full time work hours and an exhausting shift schedule take their toll. I’ll just try to keep up working for both courses, sometimes in parallel, sometimes alternating. So a pause with watercolours doesn’t mean I was off artwork, instead I was working intensely on my drawing skills. I hope this will be mutually beneficial for both courses. Following course regulations, I will not include work for the other course here, but I’ll give a brief mention if I can spot any particular influence spilling over from the other course

Then there’s winter approaching… not the preferred time for part 3, Painting Outside. Autumn in New York has been rather mild until about end of October. Going outside for a walk and taking pictures is fine, but it’s too cold for painting outdoors. I don’t have a car and I know of no inside place where I could paint the outside view. The situation may change when I get to know the city better, but currently I think the best I can do for now is make excursions, take pictures, and later work from these at home. Another idea was to connect the laptop to the TV screen, to permit using the photographs as sources at a much larger scale than on the laptop.

The task

I’m on vacation until end of November and finally can go outside during daytime. So I took a walk this afternoon, because it was sunny and a relatively mild day, heading towards the Carl-Schurtz-Park which is close to the East River around 86^th Avenue. It’s a nice park where people walk their dogs, there’s a playground and many old trees. The atmosphere was special, so friendly and relatively calm (for New York), and I enjoyed taking my time looking at all the plants and trees, and walking with a view over the East River.

I was very attracted by the autumn appearance of plants and took many pictures, including some birds in a tree full of berries, and some huge trees. On my way back, just at one of the exits of the park, I walked straight towards an old brickstone building. In front of it was a mid-height tree in yellow autumn leaves glowing in sunlight, and a school bus in a similar yellow tone. The colours were extremely nice and the entire view full of contrast. I took two pictures and hope I can use them well for the first painting of this exercise.

The second painting will probably depict the huge old tree in the center of the park, and for a third I might take one of the bird snapshots or one of the interesting autumn plant photographs. I’ll start with the yellow tree and school bus.

Finding a title

What immediately attracted me was the glowing yellow of the tree and the school bus matching the exact colour.

– Glowing yellow siblings: to emphasize the dominance of the yellow and the double occurrence
– Autumn in New York: A more overarching theme which refers to the reason for the yellow tree leaves, and directs attention to the New York setting with the school bus and the red brick building in the background. The traffic light, the street sign and the turned down traffic cone. The setting may be very familiar to New Yorkers, but it’s somewhat exotic for a European viewer.

My image idea centers around the two yellow elements, and I realize how the two titles result in different attentional focusing.

First painting: Yellow tree and school bus

Initially I was very undecided between my two picture sources. The first one showed the broader scene, putting the yellow tree and the school bus in the New York Context through the street sign and the traffic cone. The second focused on what had primarily attracted me: the yellow couple.

After some testing with enlarging the photos and trying out which section to use for my watercolour, I finally chose the second, more focused photo. I wanted to concentrate on the yellow and orange tones in front of the purplish colour of the brick stone building. I began with a loose outline sketch and with yellow for the tree wet-in-wet, then wet-on-dry for the bus. The yellow began bleeding and I realized that combining those two techniques into a single watercolour was difficult. I tried to follow the rule of working from light to dark colours, but constantly felt that I needed more definition in the painting through darker elements and details. Then I got carried away… I painted around 10 hours on this painting in two sessions. I experimented with different brush techniques to achieve texture for the tree and the brick building.

I managed to paint a real intense blueish red for the bricks, but then found the colour too intense and “wrong” in the sense that it did not convey the colour contrast between yellow and purple the way I wanted it, because the bricks were too red. I made a pause and started the second session by dissolving this false colour with brush and water and taking it off with a paper cloth. I reworked the area with an intense, but darker reddish violet. I think this was a good decision. It was a risk to overwork the painting, but I find the final colour of the brick much better and it works nicely as a background for the yellow tones of the tree.

Originally I had not intended to work as long as that on a single watercolour and thought that I’d make a second one in a more loose style afterwards. But after having worked for such a long time on the same motif, I decided that I’d rather continue with a different one.

I had in fact used the TV monitor to enlarge the picture, which made working easier than from the small laptop screen.

Second watercolour: Selecting the theme

I went again through my photos from the walk to Carl Schurtz park. I thought some autumn plants would be nice for a change and permit to focus on form and colour, helping me to get away from too much detail. But then, I found the photo of a woman walking with her dog on one of the stairways in the park. I liked the picture for the lovely autumn atmosphere and for the combination of linear elements of the stairs and irregular, organic shapes of trees and bushes.

Since English is not my first language and I wasn’t sure about the correct term, I did a Google image search for garden stairs/stairways to test which word better captured the idea of a generous outside sequence of steps. I realized that stairs are a nice motif that seem to have inspired painters. There’s something romantic to it… and probably this was why I chose this photo for my second themed watercolour.

Thinking about a title, several came to mind:

– The stairs: This seems to emphasise the idea of getting somewhere, maybe suggesting a focus on architectural details of the stair, the stones and their surface qualities, the effects of weather on the stone. Maybe also suggesting to be more pronounced about the apartment building that can be seen in the background, behind the lantern

– Walking the dog: This title would put a focus on the woman and her dog. She’s in dark clothes and the dog can only be seen half, and she’s only small in the composition of the photo. So this title would suggest to use only a section of the entire building to make her appear larger, with only a section of the stairs rather than their entire layout.

– New York autumn: This is a very broad title which seems like an overarching theme for the entire series of photos. It suggests a focus on the autumn colours, maybe emphasizing the colourful combination of light and darker greens, brown, and red tones contrasted by the variety of greys in the stairs and earth tones. The figure is less important, but might also be a prop to something very New Yorkish, because you see people walking their dog everywhere.

– Autumn colours: This title might lead towards a more abstract interpretation of the photo – an emphasis on colour contrasts, but leaving out the defining details of individual steps in the stairway, stems and branches, or the bushwork. It might be a an interesting approach, because this title might help me to let go of details

– Autumn in Carl Schurtz Park: This title seems to emphasize the particular location as well as the season, but I think this view is not capable to distinguish this park from any other. I remember other views in the park that might be better suited for this title. I might visit the park again to take pictures for this title!

– Autumn afternoon: This title places an emphasis on the time of day, but actually there is not much in the photograph to correspond to that title. It could as well be a morning scene or a noon scene. So I think this title isn’t very much suited. A more suitable view might include some golden light strains. There is a particular light to late summer afternoons. Would be another interesting motif. Luckily the park isn’t far away from my home so I might go there regularly. Leading to the idea of “Carl Schurtz Park in Winter”, once the snow and really icy temperatures are here!

Now these reflections leave me somewhat confused as to which title will be appropriate. I know that I want to emphasize the stairs with their architectural detail and the play of light and shade, and I also want to work out the shapes of bushes, trees and foliage. Then I’d like to bring out the colour contrasts between the vivid colours of autumn greenery from green to orange and dark red. I only want to suggest the apartment building and the figure with the dog. This would actually fit with my reflections on the title “New York Autumn”.

It’s true that this photo could have been taken anywhere, it’s only slightly New York bound. And I’d prefer to have the word stairs in the title because I want to emphasize this element. Autumn is another central aspect reflected in the colour choice. But it begins to feel like reflection overkill, the title developing into something like “A sunny autumn day in Carl Schurtz Park at an arbitrary stairway” which sounds ridiculous as a title.

Something simpler like “Autumn stairs in Carl Schurtz Park” might work better, even if I could imagine views that would be more typical for this title.

The stairs in Carl Schurtz Park

I started with the intention of trying a lighter style than with the previous watercolour, but it developed again into a rather detailed and worked out painting. Again I painted around 10 hours in two sessions, and found this quite exhausting. On the other hand, I found the experience worthwhile because I was experimenting with colour mixing, different types of marks, and beginnings of painting wet in wet rather than pre-mixing all tones.

I think the painting is overworked and it lacks transparency and freshness, also spontaneity. But what works well is how the light falls on the stairs, and the colour intensity. There are very lively colour contrasts between red and green tones, and between the yellow and almost purple earth tones. I also like how I painted the lantern.

I made a second version of the motif because I wanted to try to work faster and less detailed, and retain some watercolour style transparency in the layers. But I got again caught by details and painted much too long, for around 5 hours or so. I think the light is less well depicted on the stairs, but the colours have retained a bit more transparency and colour intensity, and contrast still work nicely. The second painting was again important as an exercise in colour mixing and mark making, and I experimented quite a bit.

What I would like to develop further is how to use tone and colour intensity to create three-dimensional bushes and trees. I tried hard, but the result is not really what I wanted. This would be a topic for close-up study and much more practice, then maybe one day it will become easier to maintain light and transparency with watercolours.

The pattern of light and shade on the stairs was quite complicated. In the first watercolour, I used a rough pencil outline and tried to work out their shapes correctly in perspective using colours. I made lots of errors and corrections. For the second watercolour I attempted a technical outline at the beginning to have the shapes clearly defined because I thought this would make painting easier, but the pencil lines got so dense and confusing that I erased them completely and just outlined the broad contours. Then I lacked orientation how to connect the lighter and darker shapes when working with the colours.

I think the perspective used with the stairs is more impressive in the first painting because of the larger angles used. This is evident in the angle of the lowest step against the lower horizontal border of the paper, which is around 30° in the first but only 20° in the second painting. The second perspective is more like a zoom, compared to a wide-angle of the first. The photo source is close to the 30° angle, but thinking again, I’m not able to say one or the other is better.

Thinking again about the title, I’d like to simplify: Autumn walk. But my perception of the painting is different from the cosy and relaxed feeling I’d normally associate with this title. Somehow the trees and bushes look much wilder and expressive in the painting than on the photo. With its intense colours, the park looks more like a tropical jungle and I had the association of “A solitary walk through the New York urban jungle”.

All in all, I found this exercise very valuable. Firstly, I wouldn’t have imagined such a complex relationship between a painting’s title and the painting itself. Secondly, although I’m not satisfied with my handling of watercolours so far, it was a step forward in colour mixing and experimenting with mark making. I need to overcome a tendency of overworking and my tutor suggested some exercises that should help me to become more generous with colour and shape.

Guided reflections

I think I covered most of the questions in my reflections, so I’ll keep it brief here.

What titles did you choose to work on and why?

For the first painting, I stayed with “Yellow tree and school bus”, because it makes the painting distinctive to me. It belongs to the overarching theme of “Autumn in New York” which I found too broad for a title, although this would be closer to the Idea I wanted to convey.

For the second painting, I’d like to stay with “Autumn walk”, because it’s so simple and there’s an intriguing contrast between the simplistic theme and the jungleness of the park scene, which I feel is my personal note to the motif.

Which of your titled paintings worked out most successfully and why?

I think both paintings work equally well with respect to colour intensity and experimentation with mark making. The problem with both was that I wasn’t able to take a bold and fast approach, instead made a detailed study. I like the paintings for what they are but I think they don’t make use of the special properties of watercolour as a painting media. They are more like gouache paintings – basically non-transparent.

Which titles gave you the most difficulty and why?

It wasn’t any particular title I found difficult, rather the feeling of confusion arising from many different ideas for a title and the implications this would have for the painting. Maybe it’s because English is not my first language. I felt sure what I wanted to emphasize, but not so sure about the title that would convey exactly this.

How did the titles help you to focus?

Honestly, the title did not help me to focus, rather the opposite because the many choices confused me. But It made me aware of the options I had for the focus of the painting and maybe this was what made me actually concentrate on what I found essential, even if I wasn’t able to determine the title in advance.

Comment on the value or otherwise of the experience.

Highly valuable for me personally as a learning experience, both conceptionally and technically. Conceptionally because I became aware of the relationship between the title and interpretation of a motif, and technically because I started real experimentation with colour mixing and mark making. This is a step forward compared to my earlier watercolours where I tended to apply colours in low intensity and uniformly. There’s still some progress to make to do it the watercolour way, rather than the opaque way.

More artists: Contemporary American watercolour paintings

It may seem strange, but I’m in New York since 6 months and somehow have great difficulties finding exhibitions to visit and artists to study. One hurdle to visiting exhibitions is the price tag: Museum admission is 20$ on average, and student tariff typically only for US full time students. There’s friday with “pay what you want” admission, but this means waiting in long lines at the entrance and really crowded places. I became a Whitney Museum member when I visited the Edward Hopper Exhibition, this costs $80 but includes free admission to all exhibitions for an entire year. Unfortunately it’s only for this single museum, and current exhibitions seem to focus on modern American art in which I’m less interested. I’ll certainly explore the permanent exhibition in more depth in the weeks and months to come, but it means that I’ll have to do some research where I might view more traditional style artwork.

I already started to search Google for “American Painters” and have done some research on Georgia O’Keeffe in the context of my drawing blog, but I’m definitely lacking orientation in American art. So I had the idea of looking particularly for “American watercolour artists” to see what would come up. This was also with the intention of connecting to the place where I live now, and overcoming my own “Europe-centeredness”.

The American Watercolour Society

My first resource to explore was at the American Watercolour Society (AWS). Established in 1866, they’re holding an annual contest which is open for international contributors. The 147th Annual international exhibition will be in New York at the Salmagundi Club, New York City from April 1 – April 20, 2014, and I’ll certainly go visiting! As a note for myself: The exhibition CD is also available on microfiche and can be viewed in the New York Public Library, in Midtown: The New York Public Library, 42nd Street & Fifth Avenue, Room 106M, New York, New York 10018 (Phone: 212-930-0839)

After some browsing through the website, I finally discovered the 2013 selection online and the listing of 32 watercolour artists who have been awarded a price. Although I had the impression that most of the works were more or less naturalistic and realistic representation was a highly valued, the jury selected winners in a variety of styles. There are naturalistic, photorealistic, abstract, naïve and experimental works among the selection. I was glad about this because it makes me feel that there’s room for explorations into different directions in my own practice, I don’t have to focus on trying to paint as (photo-) realistic as possible.

It was very interesting to look through the works and observing my own responses. I liked some more and some less, but found they were all on a very high technical skill level. I selected five as my favourites, and from the remainder five more which evoked positive as well as negative responses, which I found helpful to locate myself in art space.

The image sizes on the website presentation were given without dimensions, so I was constantly wondering whether the typical size of 30 x 27 for paintings referred to cm (roughly A4 size) or inches (large format of around 75 x 67 cm). The Watercolour Society is a US association, so the dimension would naturally be inches, but I really don’t know whether I can assume that all these watercolours were in such large formats.

My five favourites

I cannot tell which one of the would be number 1, they are all very particular and I like them for different reasons.

Sandeep Chhatraband, Maharashtra India, Lamini Road (30 x 27)

I like this one for its colours and the lively atmosphere it creates. There are very fade blue tones in the distance and colour intensity increases towards the foreground. The street lights in their diminishing sizes also give hints about the space dimensions. The artist lives in India and this painting makes India come alive to me. At the same time, I find the painting style very British and would guess the painter had a British watercolour teacher or has studied art in Britain.

I was fascinated by the effect of the few orange, red and intense blue spots in the otherwise grey-brown tonality. I also like the sketchiness of the marks for details of houses, people and other objects. It looks like a very intuitive and fast painting and I admire this. Compared to my own work, I’m only beginning to discover the effects of watercolour and realize how much visual analysis is required to achieve the effect I want. I’d like to take on board how things are not pronounced in all their explicit detail, but suggested by little marks that bring across the pattern of light and shade.

George James, Costa Mesa CA, The Story of Mira (30 x 27)

This looks like several paintings in one, maybe it was a study from life with several views of the figure on the same sheet of paper. I like the sketchyness and imperfection and the transpareny of the colour layers. The soft rose and beige tones correspond well to the feminity of the figure, without going towards kitsch. I’d guess the painter has a background in professional illustration, because the style reminds me of what I’ve seen elsewhere in graphic design books.

John Salminen, Duluth MN, April in Central Park (36 x 36)

It’s difficult to tell the time of day in this painting, because there are so many dark colours, nevertheless there’s also a very intense light. I like the broken colours and again the sketchiness. The figures are separated by light contours from the background, this is something I’d like to master and incorporate in my own paintings. I also like how the trees are depicted. I think I mostly chose this one for its colours and living in New York, I can connect to New York locations as painting motifs. There’s also something about the atmosphere, people enjoying themselves in the city park.

Frank Webb, Pittsburgh PA, Boatyard (28 x 36)

I found this painting particularly interesting because of the simplicity of its forms. Certainly the original motif was full of complex tiny details and these have been cleared into basic forms of boats and the two people. I also like how the colours are mixing on the paper. I think this is a little masterpiece, capturing the idea of seaside and intense glazing sunlight. What I would like to take home is the simplifying view on complex objects.

Antonio Masi, Garden City NJ, Morning’s Work (40 x 26)

I love this one for the motif and again for the sketchyness in representation. I think this is depicting one of the huge steel bridges connecting the Manhattan Island to its neighborhood. Some of them are also subway transportation lines and I was enormously impressed by the heavy construction and the amount of steel used to build them. They must date from the Eiffelturm aera and for me, heavy steel construction is something very typical for New York. Then the yellow cabs which can be seen everywhere, they are almost as numerous as private cars in Manhattan. I like the colour contrast between the dark blue steel construction and the road against the yellow cabs and their red lights. I also like the sense of movement created by the blurriness of the upper railroad construction beams. So I think this is a very New Yorkish painting because it captures that speedy urban life thing.

Other works

Linda Baker, Charleston SC, Afternoon Breeze (22 x 22)

I found this painting interesting because of the motif. In the context of the Subject Choices Exercise, I had been reflecting on what is essential about the afternoon light and how a painting with “afternoon” in the title should capture something of this. My own photograph had been taken after noon, but the lighting did not really convey this.
Now this painting has something of the quality I thought about when referring to afternoon light. It might have been a late afternoon on a sunny day, and it is captured in the colours and the shapes of the light and shade areas.

Christine Krupinski, Fairfax VA, Lemons, Limes, and a Glass Bowl (30 x 22)

This painting made me speechless and perplexed because of the perfect photorealistic depiction. It is nothing I’m aspiring to master but I’m nevertheless intrigued that there are people who are actually able to paint an arrangement as if they were creating a photograph. My reservations with this are related to the question of where the personal voice and the particular artistic perception are. As I understand it, the idea of making art implies bringing out something personal and as such is different from the goal of replicating what a camera is able to do. So I’d rather not develop into this direction.

William Vrscak, Pittsburgh PA, The Alley (22 x 22)

This is a motif I like, it looks like a small town scene somewhere in the middle west of the United States, on a hot summer day. Technically I found the colour changes in the washes very interesting. For example, the green trees in the foreground and how they incorporate very light to very dark green tones. But also the different violet tones of the buildings to the right. As opposed to the street scene in India, the details of elements are painted rather than suggested.
After looking for some time at the painting, I realized that this must have been made from a photo which was slightly tilted to one side, because the vertical lines are not perpendicular to the ground. I’m quite sure that had the artist painted on the spot, the verticals would have been correct. I’m intrigued why the artist did not correct for the tilt in his photo source. It reminds me of one of the problematic aspects of using photos as a source for painting.

Elaine Bowers, Sacramento CA, Delta Reflections (22.25 x 22.25)

This picture caught me with its intense green tones and the unusual view from very high. The painting was probably also based on a photo source rather than just sketches and memory, maybe pictures shot from a helicopter or sailplane. The painting is very realistic and evokes personal memories of other vies from above on the pattern of fields, forests and occasional rivers.
I have some objections against the composition, because the section of the viewpoint feels too small. There’s nothing of the width of natural views on landscape in it – the vast sky, the extension of earth towards the horizon, the extreme loss of detail and colour intensity at the far distance. The image focus is on the S-curve of the river and accurate representation of colours, details and shades including the sky and tree reflections on the water surface, but for me, something very essential to landscape painting is missing.

Janet Campbell, Bloomingburg NY, Session Break (13.5 x 20)

I chose this one because I found the colour areas interesting, the contrast between the dark violet background tones and the yellow-orange upper clothing of the figure. I also like how how the white background contrasts to the upper silhouette of the figure.
I was wondering about the technique that was used for the linear elements of stool legs, it looks a bit like a resist technique. This must be an interesting painting to view in real.

Concluding remarks

I wasn’t aware of it while making the selection of my favourites, but I now realize that there is a common denominator in that I seem to value sketchiness and suggestion to create a realistic impression with a distinct atmosphere, rather than attempts of mastering skills of photorealism with watercolours. I’m also attracted by interesting colour compositions that can depart from what was actually in the scene. I value this research because it provides some orientation for my own watercolours, and I think it will influence how I approach the second painting in the exercise on subject choices. My first painting for that series was guided by my aim to depict at least moderately realistic the scene with the house, and I feel that I may have overworked the painting a bit so the freshness of the watercolour medium got lost. That said, I still like it for its colourfulness and the motif. It’s rather that I’d like to shift the emphasis towards a lighter approach with details worked out differently – maybe a bit sketchier, maybe with the “few layer” approach instead of the “work until you get it right” approach. This is not a problem of course instructions or tutor advice – I think both support the lighter and bolder approach. It is more a matter of overcoming my own tendency of being to tense with the motif and its details.

With these thoughts about some contemporary American (and international) watercolours I will pause the research for now. I’m glad that I found this resource as a first approach to contemporary American watercolour artists. My Google search brought up many more interesting links and I think I’ll get back to these and explore some more as time permits. Maybe I’ll also research the my five favourites or some of the others in more depth to see how the selected work for the 2013 contest relates to the artists’ other works.

References

The American Watercolour Society: http://www.americanwatercolorsociety.org/

2013 selection online, listing of 32 watercolour artists who have been awarded a price: http://www.americanwatercolorsociety.org/a_awards.php?year=2013

Tutor report: Assignment 2

Overall Comments

Hello Patricia, thank you for submitting your work for Assignment 2. You have submitted your work in digital form on your blog. There is a substantial amount of work and it is of a good standard. You are making very good progress.

Feedback on assignment

For this assignment you are required to:

Demonstrate your understanding of tone, colour, composition and the beginnings of a personal style.
Use techniques introduced in the exercises in Part Two.
Create even colours, use overlapping layers to create colour and tone.
Use a strong directional light.
Make several preliminary drawings.
Make a small colour study.
Label colours.

Prep work

I note you weren’t very enthusiastic about the idea of this assignment but that with further research you motivated yourself and actually took a lot of care over your preparation for it. My first thoughts are why did you position the objects in places that you found it difficult to sit, squashed in a corner on the stairs or sat on the floor. I’m guessing it was to do with the backdrop but it is quite important to be in a comfortable position. You have tried it in different media which is a worthwhile exercise. You have considered the format of the paper, different backgrounds, the outlines of the objects, drawn from several different view points and you have observed tonal qualities in the arrangement. You have also done several colour studies. I notice you haven’t really moved the objects around or tried alternative objects in the arrangement.

I think the pastel landscape composition is the strongest and the colour is rendered well here. The little brown jug in particular and the plant pot are consistently different shapes and sizes in relation to one another and the other objects. Just be aware of this.

Moving the arrangement to a different area afforded an opportunity to play around with the positioning of the objects. You did move things slightly but it would have been good to try out the jug on the left or the fruits on the right , or to take one off the plate etc. The final composition is quite strong but I would have moved the small beaker a little over to the right and the plate of fruit a little to the left rather than have them directly in front of the flowers.

The monotone painting works well and you white bloom masking is very effective in the prep work. You make a good effort of the building up layers approach. In the painting where you are trying to build up areas of washes I note you mention the shapes going awry due to a lack of pencil outlines. You can still draw outlines in very faint pencil to support the shapes of the objects if it helps Patricia.

Final piece

The final piece has some very good qualities. You have successfully captured the glistening surface of the ceramic jug and beaker and you have used the building up tone with washes technique very effectively here. The shadows from one object to another are very convincing as are the reflections between objects. The pale blue saucer with a terracotta rim is beautifully done. I think the vase of flowers is perhaps the least effective part of the painting as it doesn’t have a great dal of tonal variety. When you used the masking method in the prep work mentioned above you also added in a little bit of tonal work and this really adds depth to the flowers. You are right in saying that the green foliage doesn’t quite work and I think this could be because of the over painting and lack of definition in the outside shapes of the leaves. It might have worked better if you had done a general pale green area as a backdrop to the leaves (leaving a few areas of white for highlights) and then over painted darker distinct leaves in the foreground. It is hard for me to say without knowing exactly what the leaves were like in the first place. Also in your outlined painting (above on your blog) the red is much deeper in parts on the flowers giving a lot more tonal depth to the flowers.

I think that the fruit would have benefited from a little bit of individual close up study, you are definitely on the right lines here with the loose quality you have but have a look at the fruits in the link below by Claudia Hutchins, if you haven’t already, (I mentioned her to you in the last assignment feedback)

http://claudiahutchins.com/gallery/WATERCOLOR%20Still%20Life/target53.html

Look at the looseness of her paint application. It is about the paint, as much as the object. It is just a suggestion that is needed and it invokes the object as well as capturing the fragile quality of the medium and perhaps the essence of the time in which it was being painted.

Have a go at painting like this. Lots of attempts, and they don’t take long to execute. Just repeated attempts on one page until you feel you have captured the essence of an object. I think you are moving towards this in some of your work. Let the water and the paint do some of the work, allow some of the application to be left to chance and see what the medium does. Put water on the paper first and then drop paint in to it.

Note how vivid the colours are in Hutchins work and also in Paul Klee’s work (that you include in your log book). Different water colour pigments have greater intensity, the more expensive ones are usually the most intense. You will learn this as you continue to work with different qualities of paint and different colours. I can see that your use of colour in this section has become more intense than in part one. You are getting braver with the paint and it’s versatility.

Feedback in general .

You have covered each of the exercises in Part two very thoroughly Patricia. You definitely have some very good illustrative skills with watercolour and you are able to accurately render objects using the different techniques introduced in the section.

I think your work could be a little looser and you can afford to be more expereimental with how you put the paint on. This is level one course, it is a time for exploration, making mistakes and playing with the materials. To help you loosen up I think you could try one of two things. The first is to do paintings in one minute. Just give yourself a minute to render an object and see what comes out. Limit yourself to two already prepared colours and a pencil, a larger brush and a small brush and do a whole series of quick painting sketches – say 10. See what comes of this, (in your sketch book) and make notes – you could try doing the mango again and see how far you can go to just suggest the form and make it still recognisable. The second thing is to try painting with your left hand. This might sound ridiculous (unless you are left handed!) but try it and see what happens. Do quick sketches in paint like this and also 2 or 3 longer five minute sketches. Then compare these sketches them to the mangos you did for the first attempt at the exercise and see which you think have more energy and which have the essence of a mango.

Tone and composition. Interiors. Again you have worked very conscientiously and to a good standard. You have a good range of tones coming through in your work now, your drawing skills are very good, particularly your outlining work and some of your finished paintings are very accomplished. You have completed all of the exercises looking at light and shade in interiors and I think your paynes grey painting is the most effective, as you yourself note, in the capturing of light in a room. However the composition of an interior monotone, 34 x 48 cm is also an excellent painting. It has real character, you have certainly captured a certain light, despite your notes about the light changing all the time. The composition is nicely balanced. The choice of colour adds to the atmosphere of the room, which gives the impression of a timeless day, bright but calm and peaceful. A lovely piece of work. (One small note is the perspective is a little out on the bookcase on the right hand side).

Overall I think the remaining work in this series is of a good standard. There is room to increase the intensity of the paint still. The paynes grey with the grand piano, in this painting the piano is approaching the intensity of colour that it would be good to get in some of the other dark areas of the your interiors. The room at night shows very dark tones in the window and under the table but I think the darkness around the edges of the room may also have been more intense. Again hard to know without seeing the room but it would have added interest to the far right hand side of the painting had the light faded into the corners . And whilst the uneven surface of the walls adds interest too in this painting I wonder how intentional it is. I think it would be worth you trying a very large brush to put your washes on in an attempt to get them a little more even. Having said that these painting do have a very charming quality to them, a character which it would be good to retain and that partly comes from the brush strokes.

Warm and cold colours.

This group of paintings is very appealing. The simplicity of them makes them quite intriguing. They are like little snapshots in to a story or a puzzle that needs working out. The household objects mixed with the childhood memories works very well somehow in a conceptual way. However, I digress. The fact that you have used similar colour ranges, greens, browns, blues and yellows, throughout the paintings pulls them together and makes it seem like these are meant to be part of one piece of work. Your own observations are also very insightful regarding detail and boldness of composition. The lack of very warm colours such as reds /oranges is very noticeable but not necessarily a bad thing.

Ones from a single layer

Here you are achieving a very intense grey in your second attempt. (Great you had another go at this.)

You are puzzling over brush size in your log notes. Where the application works best here is on the right hand side at the top of the table. You see where the smooth block of colour has gone on, as we go lower down the table it starts to be come a little scrubby again, not fluid and on the left hand side of the table this is definitely the case . And then directly above the right hand side of the table is the paler grey behind and again this has gone on better, leaving watermarks from the brush to add an interesting texture

Third attempt. Definetly good to have a try out sheet. I often use the side of the paper I’m working on if I know it is going to be framed over , but that’s probably just laziness! The paint has gone on better here. I have to admit I prefer a little more contrast but I can see why you prefer the subtler approach too. I think this is definitely the most successful of the thee attempts regarding your brush work and the application of the paint. Much less scrubbing of the brush and a definite fluidity in the mark making. Well done.

A couple of other notes.

I think the following two images work very well

from a composition point of view, and paint application and general choice of subject

http://ocawatercolour1.patricia-karsten.de/?attachment_id=468

http://ocawatercolour1.patricia-karsten.de/?attachment_id=459

Both paintings are of ordinary spaces but have an atmosphere about them, particularly the first one. You have captured an essence of the place in the painting. In this first example this comes through with the shadow of the plant on the back wall and the reflection in the window. The sense of a bright lit room at nighttime, in an ordinary room, but it gives us a window in to someone elses world.

NB. The Winsor and Newton website (no plugging intended) is very informative in general about watercolours, pigments, transparency, granulation etc. Definitely worth a look at some of the simpler sections if you get a chance.

Sketchbooks

Much of the sketchbook work is commented on above. You do a good amount of preparation for exercises. Sketching is a way of trying to understand an object, place, feeling, a colour, how something works, how to capture a specific type of surface, it is like a visual representation of your brain trying to understand how things work and you are using your sketchbook to enquire in to the subjects and ideas you are painting for the project work. Remember it’s fine to draw anything and everything and not only things related to the course in your sketch books. You still need to be bolder in your drawing style – it is a little bit tentative. Regular sketching, alongside the painitng, just quick sketches, would be of benefit to you using pens, pencils, rubbers, and developing your mark making. Drawing can often be an important part of watercolour work.

Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays

This is coming along really well. You think carefully about each exercise and note your discoveries. You also make notes on several artists for the research points. I think this research could be a little broader and I think it would be great if you could visit some exhibitions, particularly of watercolour paintings, and make notes on the work you see there. Visits to any exhibitions are always of interest and given that you are based in New York at the moment I hope you can find some time to fit some gallery visits in and reflect upon them. I would like to see you exploring other artists and also writing up and researching a little the artists mentioned to you in my last feedback.

Suggested reading/viewing

Did you get a chance to look at the work of the artists recommended last time? Could you make a few notes on what you think about their work and how they paint in your log notes.

Claudia Hutchins-Puechavy, Karen Armitage, Elizabeth Blackadder

Also have a look at Lucy Willis, her interiors and still life work are available to see here and also her African work, which I find particularly interesting.

http://www.lucywillis.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=22&Itemid=47

For the coming section the following might be of interest too.

Paul Nash, John Sargent, John Piper, Eric Ravillious. Just have a look at these and make a note if anything jumps out at you.

Pointers for the next assignment. You are working well Patricia.

Be a little more experimental with the paint, try wet in wet and see how you get on with this.
Be braver with depth of colour when needed.
Practise your washes.
Increase your sketching
Visit some galleries before the next assignment (I know you did during Part One of the course)

More artists: Chris Forsey

My attention was captured by a DVD advert for the film “pushing the boundaries of watercolour” on the Jackson Art Materials Blog. I found the trailer to this DVD very inspirational. Chris Forsey is a contemporary British artist. He mixes watercolour with many other types of media, for example acrylic paint and acrylic ink. The DVD trailer showed extracts from the artistic process, beginning with sketches and pen and ink drawings, and how the paintings are actually made. It was very interesting to see how Chris Forsey built up the visual effects in layers. I also found his mark making very interesting and unconventional.

Watching the trailer I realized that my own attempts in watercolour are really quite conventional and that there is much room for exploration. The DVD is the second to present Chris Forsey’s artwork. Unfortunately, they are quite expensive – around 28 GBP. Otherwise I’d have ordered right away…

My first impression from the trailer was that I could learn enormously by simply watching these videos and try some of the techniques, and generally be more experimental in approach. At the same time, I’m not absolutely sure about the “quality” of the paintings. There is a slight feeling of repeatable mass production – very pleasant to the eye, but lacking artistic substance. Quickly made, nice to look at, and easily forgotten because it’s so superficial. The paintings I saw in the trailer were interesting and I’m curious about the techniques employed. But I wouldn’t want to imitate the approach. I’d rather struggle to find my own way into watercolours…

I also found the artist’s website. As a first step, I thought it would be good to study some of the finished works and see whether I can analyse the techniques. Reviewing tutor feedback on assignment 2, I realize that I’m taking up my tutor’s recommendation to be more experimental. She was right and I’ve found something to help me get going with it!

Looking at the works of Chris Forsey

I first looked at the illustration section and did not like what I saw. It may be a matter of taste and of the briefing the artist received. Of course I wouldn’t be able to do this, technically speaking they may be on a very high level. Chris Forsey is a trained illustrator and self-taught watercolour painter.

The section with house portraits was more to my taste, but I found the paintings very conventional.

Those in the acrylics section were more interesting. There were some with fascinating light effects.

Then the watercolours with acrylics. I’m not really sure about these. The image quality isn’t very good, so details of how the paint was applied to the paper can not be seen. I think my suspicions of pleasant, but superficial work were partly correct. Nevertheless I realize that I can learn a lot about techniques from this artist. So even if I’m not convinced by the substance of every final work, I think I’ll order the DVD and see whether it contains techniques that I would like to employ myself. The City and St Pauls, Windmill and Staithes painting seem to be made dominantly with watercolour.

I selected City and St Pauls because I found it interesting how the dark pier with some people on it contrasted to the colourful bridge and buildings in the background. This is something I like a lot – marks that do not mimick details but provide just a cue to what they represent, and yet they can be interpreted to make sense.

In the windmill painting, I very much liked how the colours are flowing together. I think a masking technique was employed and the white of the mill wings corresponds nicely to the very light colour of the water surface in the foreground. The colours and coloured shaded area of the wooden pier in the front are very nice. I can keep looking and think this painting is a little masterpiece.

The watercolour of the Staithes cottages fascinated me with the red-brown roofs and the dark blue background. Again I find the flowing of colours really lovely. The white house fronts provide much contrast.

But then, the Riverside willow herbs and its sister painting Stour and thistles look very similar and overall less convincing. The technique is interesting, but for me these paintings do not get beyond a superficial appeal.

References

Chris Forsey’s website http://www.chrisforsey.com/

DVDs from Town House Films, with trailers http://www.townhousefilms.co.uk/our-dvds/artists/chris-forsey-r-i

DVD Recommendation on Jackson Art Materials Blog http://blog.jacksonsart.co.uk/2013/09/26/pushing-the-boundaries-of-watercolour-dvd/