 Turquoise Beads #100 (wahoo!) Learning a new set of skills can be daunting, scary and hard. A big problem for adults coming back to art after many years is high expectations – too high expectations. If you haven’t done any drawing since you were 7, you are likely to be picking up where you left off. Unless you’ve been able to continue your drawing, development is unlikely – you know what it’s like if you haven’t played piano for years (I can’t play my flute anymore, it’s very old and needs maintenance [as do I!] but obviously I haven’t practiced for a long time and my embouchure not up to scratch). Maybe you haven’t played golf for a few years only to return and find your swing is off. Your drawing, painting and creative muscles needs constant attention – regular and frequent SMALL STEPS and exercise. Remember the steps it took for you to learn how to write your name – the dotted letter diagrams we followed? Learning to draw and paint is a similar process, incremental baby steps are required. Many people tell me they can’t draw, I am a firm believer that we are all born creative, however, some of us get the chance (or make the chance) to pursue creative endeavours or maybe your creativity is pursued in a different way. I’m referring to my super creative engineering husband, among many, one of his skills is creating solutions for his clients. More than talent, desire and perseverance are keys to learning and developing a skill in drawing. Few people do not have the ability to learn to draw, if you can sew or knit, play golf, write a letter, you can learn to draw. More important skills are patience and observation along with key tools - time and focus. Time to relax and enjoy the process of creating without the pressure of having to make something. As soon as the artist decides to create a masterpiece – today is the day – it’s all over. Too much pressure makes us focus on all the wrong emotions and decisions, performance anxiety (I’ve only got today to do this), we’re too focussed on the result instead of enjoying the moment and focussing on what the paint is doing on the paper. Whether you want to be a professional artist or you just enjoy the process of creating, it’s important to exercise your creative muscle regularly and frequently – just like a body builder or marathon runner the more you practice the more you can flex your muscles. Poetry in watercolour is made in the freedom of the here and now. ciao bei pittori!! 
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 Il menu Piazza San Salvatore Lucca We've had these discussions before, it's not my intent to disrespect other artists but to caution you, my students and friends and help you avoid some traps, especially those of you who wish to build a genuine art practice. Recently I visited a cafe with lots of art on the walls, every painting was under $100. I then realised all the work was copied from photographs and other artist's work. I know it's not their photos because the subjects were too wide ranging – landscape, still life, portraits and many different birds from all over the world. There were also other improbable subjects and paintings I feel I've seen before. Depth and detail was missing - a level of understanding the artist had failed to perceive because their reference material was substandard, they lacked study and observation. If they had done their own preliminary sketches and workings and took their own photos they would have captured a greater understanding of their subject, form and atmosphere and detail. Of course, will the buyer/viewer notice? who knows? for $100 does it matter? Yes, it takes all sorts and let’s face it, times are not going to get any easier, we all need to put food on the table. But if your goal is to build an authentic art practice, break out the big guns, command higher prices, sell your work in a commercial gallery, it will show and it will matter. My caution is from an authenticity point of view, to help you build a genuine art practice. We don’t all have access to everything to paint. That’s excellent, you like to paint different subject from me, you’re already passionate about a subject that is meaningful to you. For example if you love birds and painting them, I suggest you get a good camera and go take your own reference photos. Go and sketch from life – sketch 1000’s and 1000’s of birds and get good at what you want to do. If you love painting landscapes go and get amongst it. I guess I get a bit antsy about this because I and many artists I know feel they’re doing the hard yards creating original works and series, only for someone to come along and copy. From the first inkling of an idea, some of my work took 3-4 years of brewing, mulling and working before they became a painting and then a series. The reason I bring this all up is because just last week I was asked "does it matter?". How can another artist prove their work is their work? Are we likely to be held up for breach of copyright? Yes it’s a distinct possibility, especially as times get tougher and the internet is more and more clever. If you are painting from other people's reference and photos, your paintings are not your work. More than this, your sketches show your integrity, your commitment to your artistic development and demonstrate a body of work which is your own. The devil is in the detail. Take your own photos (proof), create studies, preliminary sketches and workings (more proof). With a continued course of study you will capture a greater understanding of your subject - form, atmosphere and detail and develop a more interesting and cohesive body of work that is your own, beyond question. non ferma cari amici!! From TS Eliot TS Eliot once said “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different. The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different from that which it was torn”.  Custard Square Bookshop, Christchurch, New Zealand Jude asked: Do you always plan out everything ie... colours for everything and where bikes, cones etc might go? Yes I do plan everything out BUT as I'm a little haphazard (read Arty-Farty - aka rip sh*t and bust!) I'm also happy to let go and see where the "unplan" takes me. So sometimes my painting is not like my sketch (sometimes my sketches are not like the scene!!). You know that I pretty much always map out my design in a thumbnail sketch first. This sketch is about studying the pattern of the light and the dark and working out a composition. It's not about detail. I'm working out how I can use them to move the viewers eye around the painting. this sketch also helps me to learn about the scene/subject, it helps me to discover areas that could become a problem, or elements that I can take advantage of eg interlocking and overlapping shapes. I make a "shopping list" of elements in the scene that I may or may not want to add into my painting and choose the ones that I like or help me to tell my story. Once I've drawn my map onto my watercolour paper, I sometimes find there are areas that could be utilised or need a little filling up, these ideas come from my shopping list. with regard to palette selection, I'm often smitten with a particular palette for a year or two and then replace a pigment or two. I usually use the same foundation palette for my realism work, based on transparent primary pigments, just the three plus burnt sienna, the same three I recommend to beginners. These colours will mix into every colour you could possibly need - just as well if you're in lockdown and no art supply store!! Divertiti tutti!!  Watercolour is often viewed as if it occupies its own little vacuum. I remember a well-known artist friend collecting his paintings after a show: “I’m here to collect my paintings” “What do you mean?” “I’m here to collect my paintings” “Oh you mean your watercolours” As if watercolours are not paintings and are separate, not even a category – not art, nor paintings – urk! However, oddly enough, painted with a brush (in most cases!). It’s a common weird nonsensical bit of claptrap. Mamma mia!! Sometimes it feels like watercolour painters are set up for this. A popular art show I used to enter had a “professional” category for Oils/Acrylics. Does this make me not a professional? For a while I entered the professional category just to state my case and annoy them, really it’s just ignorance (mine or theirs??). I was particularly miffed to discover that my well-known watercolour artist Uncle started that show in 1954 (or thereabouts)!! Instead of being hailed the Queen (lol), my bags packed and cast into the snow!! My point is, no matter your medium (pastel, music, poetry, blogging, sculpture, watercolour or oils) art is art and all need the same kind of thought and emotive language – darkness brings the light, grey accentuates chromatic colour, dominance emphasises an accent, indications are mysterious. All art forms follow a set of guidelines (rules to be broken). Visual art is no different, we follow design principles created to help novice (and not-so novice) artists use pictorial or visual language to tell a story via visual impact. In particular, today, I’m talking about colour charging. My 2 ideas for you today are:
The watercolour painter has to be patient (I’ll just leave now!) and focussed and wait for the water-to-paint-to-brush-to-paper ratio to be just right. Mostly novice watercolour painters are taught to “let it dry” which is the biggest mistake ever. I say this because this damp time is the fun-zone of watercolour and you are missing out my friend! Boo!! Partly the issue lies in our process and planning and partly our lack of brush miles and then sometimes our courage flies out the window. But this FUN-ZONE is where the magic happens, what you and I have to do is be present and pay attention to what we’re doing and what’s happening on the paper. This level of focus is where you’ll learn the poetry of watercolour – choose your focal point and play with it. How fun would it be to paint a lemon with a dab of orange, a bigger dab of a cooler yellow and a master stoke of cool pink for a shadow? ciao belli pitturi!!  Harum Scarum, WNZ demo painting July 2021. 5th painting in my Pauatahanui series My workshops on how to generate design ideas came about because a student said they were not ever able to get a “good” photograph of the scene.
I worked very hard on the design of “pauatahanui” and the ensuing series because it’s a popular scene to paint. So how could I make mine different? I got all excited and had to see these boat sheds for myself (aka ROAD TRIP!!). It took 6 months to create a design concept I was happy with. So the subject of this workshop became how to design a painting and not be reliant on good photos because good photos are rare and don't miraculously turn up when required! Somewhat akin to how to paint from a bad photo. Another thought, it doesn't take courage to paint what you see - it does take courage to paint what you think and feel. I often turn away from my reference, it was pointed out to me some years ago that I rarely “look” at my subject. Through my study and observation I begin a path of understanding. I take reference photos, I create thumbnail studies which lead me to my design idea - I want my work to be unique, I want the essence of the subject, I want it to be from me. So, how to be less reliant on photos? it's all about getting an idea. one thing I must say to you is that, generating ideas is not easy, like everything it takes consistent and frequent effort. My typical practice revolves around drawing/designing (en plein air or in my studio) a thumbnail and doodling some of the shapes I think I will want. What do I like or not like? Leave out, add in, bring something relevant in from another scene. This is where I get to know my subject and the relationships of the other elements to each other. I have sketched/painted many boat yard scenes so I feel confident about bringing ideas in from previous study. And that's what this is about - study and observation. Even though I have no intention of creating a photographic realism painting, I need to understand shapes, light and dark, perspective, values etc to create a work based on simplified shapes. what could i do that was different/better? Firstly, I have the power of watercolour's fluidity; secondly, a unique composition. So the idea became the jumble and chaos of boatsheds and the ensuing detritus. ciao Amanda  with my notes about why I wanted to paint it, mostly memory joggers Students often struggle to understand what their painting is about. This understanding is key because it's all wrapped up in your story and what you want to say. It follows that students often feel they have little of import to say therefore this is irrelevant to them. Your story is important because it will help you design a work that you are passionate about and will help you to focus on the important elements that attracted you in the first place. Thereby helping you avoid over-stating support and background elements. What am I most interested in? your painting (story, poem, sculpture, composition, drawing etc) must have a purpose and, yes, the purpose can be learning but more than this – why paint it? What is it about? What drew you (pardon the pun) to want to paint it? Without your want, your passion to paint it, there’s no story, there’s no purpose. Might as well put your best foot forward and crack it! We’ve talked about this before, sometimes it comes down to making yourself want to paint “it”. Do your research, study your subject, create design thumbnails etc (this research and study also has another purpose for discussion later). Design your painting, what can you use to create a painting with strong design? So what made you want to paint this? Was it a fleeting light? Shapes interlocking and overlapping that piqued your interest? Unusual colours juxtaposed? A strong light/dark contrast? People involved in some interesting activity? An idea – what if I put this with that? Whatever it was that intrigued you is your story. It’s really only necessary to explain it to yourself, to keep you on track, write it down. So then your painting becomes a concept about how to tell this story and the visual language you’ll need to tell it. For example, let’s talk about a stiped canopy. I might want a strong light and use the stripes and shadows to help me describe the shape of the canopy. There’s probably a door or a window under the canopy, this could be used for a strong value contrast – lightest light against the darkest dark. There might be a group of people nearby, can you link them to the canopy/doorway? Is it a shop, they’re going to walk through the door? People walking out with shopping bags filled with goodies. My focus must stay on the canopy and elements that help me describe the scene and the story of the canopy, maybe it's blowing around in the wind. Exaggerate anything that leads to the focal area, minimise supporting gorgeousness. What's your why? ciao bei pittori xx |
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