water colour painting
Annick Ansselin
[to maintain sanity while doing full time research :-)],
I am looking for any good references on the subject.
I have a couple of books on techniques, but can anyone suggest anything
that is especially worth getting?
Also, part of an assignment is to study in detail the techniques used by a
master and use the same techniques to paint our own work (not just copy the
master's!). I am having trouble finding a water colour book which has a
good variety of reproductions - Any suggestions please?
Any one have any words of wisdom about techniques, papers, colours etc.?
Andrew Pearlman
>Having started classes in water colour painting early this year
>[to maintain sanity while doing full time research :-)],
>I am looking for any good references on the subject.
>I have a couple of books on techniques, but can anyone suggest anything
>that is especially worth getting?
A really good book is Painting What You (want to) See, by Charles Reid.
It is more a book on painting using watercolors and oils, but Reid uses
primarily watercolors. It goes into critiques of student works, he explains
what he sees in his own work that he thinks is good and bad, how to mix, use
values, color, and composition, etc... Lots of good reproductions. Also
has advice on drawing as well.
If you can't find it, write Watson-Guptill Publications, 1515 Broadway,
NY, NY 10036. I bought it a year ago for $19, but it may have changed since
then.
Andy Pearlman
Yes, as a Matter of Fact, I *DO* Own This Whole Damned Site
>Any one have any words of wisdom about techniques, papers, colours etc.?
Get a ream of paper. Get GOOD quality water colors. I have Cotman,
which is OK for student. Cheap water colors tend to be chalky and
not transparent at all. Transparency is what knocks your socks off
when you want to do say, a Mexican red poppy backlit by the sun.
I prefer little tubes to platters (cakes?) of water color. With
cakes, you can make them all messy. With tubes (and an old plate),
you use less paint and don't have to worry about turning that nice
lemon yellow the same color as three year old lemons in the back of
the fridge.
Back to paper. Get a lot. Experiment. Water color is demanding stuff.
For special, I use arches. For just seeing what colors look like, I
use whatever is at hand.
ER
Annick Ansselin
>which is OK for student.
I discovered hammered paper about a week ago. I love the texture of the
paper and have seen the effects you can get with water-colours.
I am going to try it soon, but I am keeping it for something I feel is
special since the stuff is very pricey.
I also use cotman ubes, but have some winsor/newton primaries to do things
I want to last. I believe Cotman's student colours fade more quickly.
I also have used watercolour pencils to do Christmas cards. While you can't
get the same effects, I found them to be pretty good for things like cards,
especially as I like doing pen and ink drawings with washes.
I mentioned an assignment we had to do in class this week - analysing a
master's painting. I ended up using a copy of Seurat's parade.
It's not a painting I like particularly (but another student nicked the
painting I really liked while my back wa turned!).
Anyway, with tracing paper, we had to draw the perspective lines, the
composition lines (horizon, verticals, horizontals ect),
how the subjects were positioned in relation to the edges (using the square of
the side) and to other subjects (triangles) etc.
How movement was/wasn't achieved.
We now have to design our own painting using a similar pattern of
interaction (but with original subjects).
The excercise is interesting in that having never studied art, I am
ignorant of composition analysis. I tend to follow instinctive balance
rather than mathematical. However, I found the excercise has limitations.
I also spent time analysing one of the Van Gogh (spel?) paintings which I
particularly like and which broke every rule in the book.
The real use of the excercise as I see it, is that I now have a better feel
for why some things work while others don't, and how some artists have created
a special effect.
While part of it appeals to me (I like analysis :-)), I think it could get
out of hand with paintings looking contrived and mathematical.
Comments anyone?
Chris Ischay
++Having started classes in water colour painting early this year
+[etc]
++Any one have any words of wisdom about techniques, papers, colours etc.?
+
[and someone replied]
+Get a ream of paper. Get GOOD quality water colors. I have Cotman,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+which is OK for student. Cheap water colors tend to be chalky and
+not transparent at all.
I say amen. A good friend of mine, a very talented artist, worked in
watercolors for several years -- beautiful stuff, lots of water, very nice.
I bought a few, got a few as gifts, commissioned one for a gift to my
mother.
So we were all very happy for a while. Until the color disappeared. Blue
went first (very painful in water pictures). It's now all a dull brown
mess.
Another artist friend of mine here in Boston, this one a successful one who
makes a living from painting, says she only ever always uses the highest
quality materials, no matter what. Always has.
I guess the moral is that unless you're absolutely sure you're going to
discard whatever work you do, the investment in quality non-fugitive colors
is well worth it.
Andrew Pearlman
>The excercise is interesting in that having never studied art, I am
>ignorant of composition analysis. I tend to follow instinctive balance
>rather than mathematical. However, I found the excercise has limitations.
>I also spent time analysing one of the Van Gogh (spel?) paintings which I
>particularly like and which broke every rule in the book.
>The real use of the excercise as I see it, is that I now have a better feel
>for why some things work while others don't, and how some artists have created
>a special effect.
>While part of it appeals to me (I like analysis :-)), I think it could get
>out of hand with paintings looking contrived and mathematical.
Instinctive balance is great. The reason that painters often use the
triangles and framing elements, is that it is one way to unify a painting.
You can also unify with color, lines, planes, even a specific way of making
marks. Light can work wonders as well.
Rules: Rules are meant to be broken, but only when you understand why you
are breaking it. To paraphrase the Frugal Gourmet: So many people think
nouveau cuisine(including the cooks making it) is something special. Often,
they are just duplicating things that the Greeks, Chinese, or Romans have
known for centuries. Of course, if you are getting frustrated, that is often
a good time to break rules as well. :-)
The reason to look at the works of others, is to see how others solved a
particular problem. Decide if you like how they solved it and whether or not
to incorporate it into your style. Decide if you think you have a better way
of solving it. You may just have one.
Mathematical can be good. Contrived isn't usually.
Andy Pearlman
Yes, as a Matter of Fact, I *DO* Own This Whole Damned Site
>>In article <16...@physiol.su.oz.au> ann...@physiol.su.oz.au (Annick
>Ansselin) writes:
>
>++Having started classes in water colour painting early this year
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>watercolors for several years -- beautiful stuff, lots of water, very nice.
>I bought a few, got a few as gifts, commissioned one for a gift to my
>mother.
>
>So we were all very happy for a while. Until the color disappeared. Blue
>went first (very painful in water pictures). It's now all a dull brown
>mess.
It was probably Prussian blue. Its a beautiful color, but goes away.
Reds fade very easily as well.
The manufacturers of the pigments are pretty honest (by law, heh heh)
about how long the pigments last. Considering how much money good paints
cost, its worth writing to manufacturers to get a listing of what
chemicals last longer.
While you are at it, learn about the toxicity of those paints. I heard
of one painter who used to stick his brush in his mouth to give it a
point and now suffers neurological problems from the aluminum and other
things in the pigments. Be careful about the stuff, don't let it get
on your skin for long periods of time and definitely do not let the
stuff get in your mouth or in your lungs.
ER
J E H Shaw
>In article <20...@camex.COM> chr...@lloyd.Camex.COM (Chris Ischay) writes:
>>watercolors for several years -- beautiful stuff, lots of water, very nice.
>>
>
>While you are at it, learn about the toxicity of those paints. I heard
>of one painter who used to stick his brush in his mouth to give it a
>point and now suffers neurological problems from the aluminum and other
Paul Klee (my favourite artist) died of a surfeit of paintbrush-licking.
On fugitive paints: the `lots of water' mentioned can be a problem --
heavily diluted pigments (e.g. Alizarin Crimson) fade more easily
(or at least more noticeably).
I strongly agree about buying good quality paints (Winsor & Newton Artists'
paints are v. good). The colour is so much more intense that you just
don't need as much as you would with cheaper paints, so cheaper paints
aren't even much cheaper!
-- Ewart Shaw
--
J.E.H.Shaw, Department of Statistics, | JANET: st...@uk.ac.warwick.cu
University of Warwick, | BITNET: strgh%uk.ac.warwick.cu@UKACRL
Coventry CV4 7AL, U.K. | PHONE: +44 203 523069
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