One of the reasons I love watercolour painting is the speed at which I can achieve a painting. If and when I'm clever, I can have a painting today! It took me a long time to get to this point - I've been painting watercolour close to 30 years - it's not an overnight process!!
A huge obstacle for watercolour newbies is allowing the watercolour to have it's way. There's a saying "before I paint, I'm in control, once I put that brush down the watercolour takes over". The secret is, until you get a really good feel for water balance in your brushes, paint and paper, you need to let go and stop trying to control the uncontrollable. Watercolour, as it should be painted, will be difficult for you. Embrace "mistakes" and "accidents", runs and bleeds and allow the painting to speak to you and tell you what it wants. Have another read of my webpage "About Me" and note the last sentence - "I love watching paint dry!" Stop fiddling and controlling and start watching what the paint does and note that where the water goes the paint will follow. You'll start to notice the really cool effects and passages - watercolours will paint themselves if we let them and they'll certainly do it much better than we can! When we're painting watercolour it's time to stop and smell the roses! The scary secret is, you might not get the results you wanted or expected and you certainly might not know what to do next - that's the shock of it!! Use your artist's sense of composition, value structure and design to decide next steps - does it need more darks or lights? are the shapes correct? is it balanced and unified, etc etc. Make a cuppa and watch the paint dry!! ciao i miei belli amici!! Amanda
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Many of my students and fellow painters ask me "how did I get from this to that?"
When I’m out painting en plein air (or in my studio), once I have my idea and have taken a “mental snapshot”, I rarely refer back to the scene. I focus more on what my painting needs rather than creating a replica of a scene. The same for studio painting, especially from photographs (and when on location); the scene and your photo are merely your inspiration - your idea must come first. The same for studio painting, especially from photographs (and when on location); the scene and your photo are merely your inspiration - your idea must come first. Faithfully producing a scene, en plein air or from photos suggests the painter has to find the perfect scene. Yes there are plenty of perfect scenes but can you find them when you want them? probably not - jolly annoying. The serious painter has to make do with what is in front of them - we have to make a silk purse from a sow's ear. The point of this blog post is to remind ourselves to be not so precious about painting every little detail, every little nuance - paint your idea, turn away from your subject - stop looking and just paint - enjoy the process of painting the flower or the picket fence - focus on your painting!! if you have a photograph, turn it over, paint your painting and use your artist's license!! My painting Bait & Ice (Thames NZ) has won many awards and is not very much like the scene itself. Comments from collector's all say "this is just how I remember it!" ciao cari pittori!!
"I keep wanting to get photos of those sheds, but always seems to be wrong time of day, wrong tide or wrong weather for stopping. Or... we use the road on the other side of the estuary!"
This is what happens if you paint photo realism or you are too dependent on photos - you're probably sunk because you are waiting for ideas to happen. Ideas don't just happen - artists, scientists, engineers, poets, musicians MAKE IDEAS HAPPEN. We don't have time to wait. The ugly truth? No matter how long you wait, you will never get your perceived "perfect photo" the weather will be crap, the light will be wrong - whatever! This is really just another form of procrastination. There's 2 solutions:
when you get your horrible photos home, pick out the ones with the stuff you need and start doodling and sketching on a big sheet of paper. make lists. Sketching is an idea generator. ciao cari pittori xx
I discovered this scene on a road-trip to Wellington. For a few minutes it had great light, then it was gone. but not only that I couldn't zoom my camera in enough, I'd been driving all day and hadn't found my accommodation yet. no where to sit and soak up the ambiance so a little walk around the bay and a few quick snaps. Photos were terrible but quite a bit of information once I zoomed in.
I've seen many paintings of this scene and thought - wow, how boring - everything straight and lined up - how dull. What can i do to make this more exciting and engaging? I spent quite a lot of time doodling and playing and getting my head in the game! |
AuthorPaintBox Tips, secrets, random thoughts, Poetry in watercolour is made in the freedom of the here and now. Amanda Brett Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working - Pablo Picasso There are no mistakes in watercolour, just some extra surprises!! Categories
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What my readers and viewers have to say
Your emails are so informative! I must confess I've watched a couple of your demos from beginning to end, and it makes me want to watercolor!!! I've only ever painted with oil or acrylics and haven't know how to begin with WC. Your content is excellent!
Susan VN Hi Amanda
Thank you for your tips. They inspired me to practise and I realised I haven’t been loading the brush properly. I learnt about adding more paint, and not water, to washes. In today’s tips I like the idea of painting with purpose. Your tips are very helpful. I very much appreciate receiving them. Elizabeth Hi Amanda I enjoyed your post and generous tips. Looked up Dan Burt I begin to see that you can colour any subject to give it pizazz so long as the tone and form is correct Certainly adding value now to my attempts Thanks heaps Annie
Yes very wise words. Agree with not fussing and agree with comments about good quality paint. Well written and inspirational as always. Cheers Janet xxxx Archives
July 2023
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