Good Advice

Line Drawing, Lucca

About drawing: When you can just plop down and get a drawing, there is a real sense of freedom. Had I gotten a quick photo, I would have missed a wonderful conversation with an elderly Italian woman, clad all in black, who had worked with the American Embassy in her younger years. While drawing, I can listen to conversations wash over me, smell the enticing food and observe all the activities surrounding me. I LOVE that. 

 

I found this quote on a daily calendar this past year. I keep it posted in the studio since it is such good advice for artists of all mediums as well as a guide for daily life.

"Be a first-rate version of yourself, not a second-rate version of someone else."

Judy Garland to her daughter, Liza Minelli

Several years ago I had a watercolor student who was painting quite well when she came to my beginning class. I found out why when she began to work through the exercises I presented. She had gotten into the habit of following the step-by-step photographs of paintings in books and became used to good results for each effort. She didn’t realize that all the decisions, which make painting a challenge and a joy, were made for her – subject, composition, color-scheme, value pattern, etc. etc. The only thing left to do was copy.

Please do not misunderstand. There is a valid reason to emulate the paintings of others. The trap is thinking that it is your own creativity working. Any painting taken from another should be signed with the copyist’s name followed by “after so and so.”  

Because she had gained competency, it was very hard to go back to the beginning. After I explained to her why she was feeling frustrated, she made the decision to go at it again, building her own foundation of skills. That was courageous on her part since she had many compliments on her work and she was giving paintings to friends and family. But they weren’t her paintings; rather they were a poor imitation of someone else’s work.

As in many aspects of our lives, short cuts aren’t always a good way to go. Building competency takes longer but the more you work at drawing, composition, and all the other aspects of painting, the better you will get. There is real progress in direct relation to effort and age is not a factor. I tell my beginning students that you don’t need “good knees” to draw and paint. And even arthritis was not allowed to stop Renoir…he simply taped the brush to his hand.

May 2011 bring out the very best of YOU!

Watercolor Musings: A No-Excuses Travel Kit

Watercolor Musings: A No-Excuses Travel Kit: "Materials with the first drawing of an oak tree outside Tablas Creek Winery This last weekend we were in the Central Coast with a group ..."

A No-Excuses Travel Kit

Materials with the first drawing of an oak tree outside Tablas Creek Winery

 This last weekend we were in the Central Coast with a group of University of Redlands Alumni on a wine-tasting adventure. I put this small kit together that would easily fit in my purse to have "just in case." I have been in too many places without materials and either waste time finding something to use or been frustrated. I included a "palette" of 6 colors (2 yellows, 2 reds and 2 blues) in a pastilles box. Empty pans are available at many art stores and online. Any metal box such as altoids work well. A white lid would be preferable since it would show the color better than this metallic one...but I had this one already. I also included a Niji waterbrush and a pentel ink brush with water soluble sepia ink. The Moleskin watercolor sketch book is 5"x8" and makes a nice wide panorama when opened. The book has an elastic band which holds it tightly closed. That's all I used for this work.

My chance to draw came with an "oops" on the bus drivers part...he took a corner a bit too close and got hung up. We later found out that buses do this routinely. When it looked as if we'd be there awhile, I got my kit out and drew the oak tree. As time progressed I began another drawing and had time to add color.

Tablas Creek #2

We stopped for lunch at Denner's Winery and I had just a small amount of time before we were off again. In this drawing you can see the advantage to the ink line. I only had time to add color to the central part of the drawing but I like the way the lines extend that. I later found out that my nephew's young vineyard is in the distance. I visited with my sister before we came home and hadn't realized the proximity when I drew this.

From the patio at Denner Winery

At the last winery, I let everyone else go taste and I just drew. Vines are in the foreground and the oaks with their dark foliage are a wonderful contrast to the warm tones of the vines and golden hills.

Last winery stop

Each of these drawings is as I left them at the time of drawing. The second image took about 30-40 minutes and the final two under 30 minutes.

Having a small, portable watercolor or drawing kit is a real advantage. I hadn't expected to have time to do anything, but have learned the hard way to be prepared.

Watercolor Musings: Provencal Pumpkins - Mixed Media Stained Collage

Watercolor Musings: Provencal Pumpkins - Mixed Media Stained Collage: "I love working with a combination of materials. Stained paper collage is an exciting way to work in the studio. Watercolor-stained rice pa..."

Provencal Pumpkins - Mixed Media Stained Collage

I love working with a combination of materials. Stained paper collage is an exciting way to work in the studio. Watercolor-stained rice paper is affixed to a sturdy ground (I use 300# watercolor paper) with matte medium or a mixture of white glue and water. The whole surface is covered with the rice paper. Some of the drawing shows through but you can't count on that. Too much medium or glue will make it difficult to paint watercolor on top.

After the first step is thoroughly dry, the painting is finished with both watercolor and white gouache. The final version is pulled together by the painting process and is enhanced by the wonderful colors and texture provided by the collage beneath. In this one, I was slightly worried that I'd made a hash of the first step. It was so "clunky" compared to what I had in mind.

 

 

 

 

If the painting looks familiar, it was in an earlier post about paper surface. In that post, only the final version was shown so I thought that the beginning might be interesting for others to see. The size here is about 6" square so I like to work on several at once.  They can be done in any size but this small image with a larger mat is jewel-like when framed.

Watercolor Musings: Paper Makes a BIG Difference

Watercolor Musings: Paper Makes a BIG Difference: "Provencial Pumpkins on Yupo by Judy Schroeder Two paintings of the same subject, painted on paper with watercolor yielded completely diff..."

Watercolor Musings: Crystal Cove and the Benefits of Working on Locat...

Watercolor Musings: Crystal Cove and the Benefits of Working on Locat...: "Usually I try to get several reference photos when painting on location. Once I've visited and painted a place, I feel comfortable p..."