Mounting your watercolours on a wood panel

Lately, I've been noticing that local galleries no longer sell all paintings in traditional frames. Floating frames and canvasses with black sides are the "in thing". Also at recent art shows, I've sold more watercolours mounted on wood panel than in frames with glass.

Last Spring, I started gluing my watercolours to wood panel. The first one I tried was a triptych. Here is a photo of it hanging in a local gallery.

At recent art shows, I've been getting lots of questions from other watercolorists on how to do this. Therefore, today's blog is about the process that I use to affix watercolours to wood panel.


1. Painting your watercolour

For large surfaces that are greater than 10" X 12", I suggest that you use 300 lbs paper. When I have used 140 lbs paper on a large wood panel, I have had mixed results with the paper buckling. Ensure that your finished painting is slightly larger (about 1/2 inch - 1.25 cm) than the wood panel Before starting, trace the outline of the wood panel on your paper and extend the lines to the edge of the paper. These lines will be used later line up the wood panel on the back of your painting. Now paint your masterpiece.

2. Prepping the wood panel

First apply Golden's GAC 100 Multi-Purpose Acrylic Polymer the top of the wood panel. When dry, it will seal the top surface and have a rough texture.  Next you finish the sides of the wood panel. Here are two options:

• you can apply a clear acrylic water-based varnish such as MinWax Polycrylic finish which dries fast.

       or

• you can paint the sides with a color such as black. I apply two to three coats of Golden's carbon black acrylic paint to the sides of the panel. I add a bit of water to paint to obtain a softer consistency to provide smoother sides. Sand the sides with a fine grit (220) sandpaper between coats and be sure to wipe any drips.

3. Gluing the finished watercolour painting to the wood panel

Ensure you are working on a very clean surface. Before gluing, you must first indicate on the back of the painting where the wood panel will be placed. I'm sure there are a number of ways to do this. Here is my approach: 

• 3a - To mark the back of the painting, I start on the front of the painting by extending the lines of the painting  (lines from step 1) to the edge of the paper. Then I cut a small notch on the lines.

• 3b - Turn the painting over and using the cut notches on the back of the painting, mark the lines where the edge of the wood panel will be glued.

• 3c - I've been using Golden's Soft gel as an adhesive. The soft gel gives you a few more seconds than regular gels to adjust the wood panel to the paper should you need to adjust it. Apply generous amounts of the soft gel with a flat brush to the entire surface of the wood panel where you first applied GAC 100 Multi-Purpose Acrylic Polymer. Now turn the wood panel over and line it up with your markings. Turn the wood panel over again and push out any air bubble under your painting. I use my pastry roller for this step. If anything doesn't stick well, lift paper and apply more gel. Turn the wood panel over again and place several weights on top of it and let it sit overnight. This will press the paper tightly to the wood panel surface.  Using a paper towel, remove the excess gel from the sides of the panel where is meets the paper.

4. Trimming the extra paper
Once the glue is dry, you can carefully trim the extended edge of the paper with a sharp utility knife. Putting another piece of paper underneath ensures a cleaner cut.

5. Finishing the sides of the paper
You'll note that the white sides of the paper stand out and are distracting. This is especially true of 300 lbs paper. Using the same diluted Golden's carbon black acrylic paint as the sides of the wood panel, paint the sides of the paper. This is the step that makes me nervous since my hands shake. The more parallel the brush is to the sides of the wood panel, the least likely the paint will make its way to the front of the painting.

Note: I have not found a way to remove this acrylic paint from watercolour paper if the paint finds its way to the front.

6. Finish the painting
Since the painting is not protected by glass, you should finish the watercolor with several light coats of spray varnish. I use Kylon's UV Archival varnish. This spray varnish offers non-yellowing protection against fading, dirt, moisture and discoloration.

I hear that some people use wax to protect their watercolours. However, I do not know if that approach offers UV protection and if it tends to collect dust. Wax needs to be buffed after a period of time.

7. Hanging the painting
The final step requires that you attach D-rings and wire to the back of the wood panel for hanging.

I wish you good luck if you attempt this approach to framing your watercolours and feel free to contact me should you have any questions.

If you wish to enter a mounted watercolour into an exhibit, this approach may not be accepted as many watercolour societies still insist that watercolours be shown with mat and glass in frame. This is the case for some of the shows of the Ottawa Watercolour Society.

This week's art find is not an artist but an Australian TV company that produces some great videos showcasing some well know international artists.  The videos are now available on this Youtube channel.   In particular, you might like this one with the Three Amigos. Enjoy, I know I will.

Have a good week,

Danielle

  

Painting and additional stress during the holiday season

At any time during the year, you may feel like you’re on the edge of overload. This situation seems to get worse during the holiday season. I know that I’ve been feeling like this for the past few months. I participated in five art shows this fall (thankfully all successful), work full time, teach fitness classes and then for some unknown reason I’ve been volunteering more and more with some of the local art associations that I belong to, much of this while I recover from a concussion. In addition, I’ve been trying to keep this blog of collections of learnings and my personal blog going. Lastly, but not the least important, is family. Amidst all of this I try to find time to paint – my escape from all of the above (except from family) and source of rejuvenation.

Though I am fortunate to have a high stress tolerance, I was beginning to feel the weight of the stress when you start adding the additional stress that comes with the holiday season. No matter what I do, I felt that I am falling just a little further behind in accomplishing everything I wanted to get done. Of course, that adds to my stress level.

I’m sure many of you are experiencing exactly the same predicament at this time of the year.

Maybe we can all learn from some basic time management principles to help us deal with the stress and allow us to paint – which is the truly relaxing activity most of us seek.

To learn to plan the ideal week, I invite you to read Michael Hyatt’s blog.  I won’t attempt to repeat everything Hyatt writes, but the basic concept is that by creating a template of your week – scheduling out your time in blocks – you become more efficient and complete your most important work. This might not be a novel idea since many time management gurus advocate something similar. It’s important that we find the tools and source of inspiration that motivates you.

Stress can be overwhelming and interfere adversely with our daily activities by contributing to feelings of uneasiness, anger and irritability. Our attitudes, perceptions and personality traits have a direct correlation to whether a source of stress is able to affect the body. If you feel that you need some extra support during the holiday season, please follow-up with a healthcare professional.

One tip to managing holiday stress is to find a stress-relieving activity. This will vary for everyone. However, I suspect that painting is common to many of us.

In my case - and hope yours also - I find myself fortunate to have discovered watercolours which offers an escape that is truly relaxing. This may seem oversimplified, but it’s amazing how taking control of my painting time has impacted my outlook on life. At the end of each day, I can now look back with satisfaction on the work I’ve accomplished and the progress I’ve made toward my goals, instead of feeling guilty that I didn’t get everything done.

Managing stress during the holidays is important because it affects the way we look at what we have to do and our relationships. How does your control of your time impact the art you are creating?

Today's art find is from Juan Lobaton.

Alors, je vous souhaite tous un Joyeux Noël!

Danielle

Painting recognizeable trees

After a very dry article last week, this week's blog will be more practical. Many of us paint landscapes. Trees often provide the greatest clues as to what area of the world the landscapes are from. Today, a bit about the shapes of some trees.

Look at the silhouette and the general shape of a tree. For example, the shape of an oak should not be confused with a fir or weeping willow or a Cyprus cedar.  Painting trees that look like green lollipops on trees is not right. That practice should come to an end. But first you need to start seeing trees instead of just looking at them.

The 'secret' to painting believable trees is an understanding of the underlying structure of trees complemented by observation of different species. One of the fundamentals to successfully painting realistic trees is learning to recognize the characteristic shapes of different species. Look at the overall appearance of the tree and identify the overall shape of the tree. Is it shaped like a sphere, umbrella, cone, or tube, or is it simply irregular? Is it short or tall, fat or thin, straight or spread irregularly? Do the branches point upwards or downwards? Are the leaves dense or sparse? Has it spread naturally, has got broken branches, or has a gardener pruned it?      

And remember to look at the tree's root system. Trees don't just stick up out of the ground

 

Trunks:

• Taper the width of the trunk from bottom to top, as well as branches and twigs.
• For more character, paint trunks sideways in small strokes rather from top to bottom in one long stroke.
• Trees in dense woodland tend to be vertical; lone trees may be angled due to wind.

Branches:

• Branches aren't straight, aren't the same width throughout, and don't grow parallel to each other.
• Avoid putting branches opposite each other on a tree trunk; trees aren't symmetrical unless they've been pruned that way.
• Make branches cross over each other to create depth. Add appropriate shadows.
• Leave gaps in the foliage and show branches in the gaps

Check out these various trees (photo from unknown source on Pinterest):

 Have a great week.

Danielle

Have you ever wondered what is in watercolour paint?

Today’s blog will discuss standard paint ingredients. Information on these topics is scattered across a wide range of sources, from chemical engineering texts to art conservation studies. Hopefully, this article isn't too dry.  It was extracted from various sources on the web.

Every paint is a mixture of microscopic pigment particles, which provide the paint color, mixed in a liquid paint vehicle that holds the pigment in suspension and allows it to be applied with a brush, then dries to bind it to the support (paper, board or canvas). The vehicle also contains other substances that reduce manufacturing costs, adjust the visual appearance and handling attributes of the paint, and increase its shelf life in the art store.

The Backbone Composition
Each paint manufacturer develops a proprietary backbone composition — a basic recipe of pigment and vehicle ingredients — that is fundamentally designed to keep manufacturing costs under control and to get the best possible handling attributes for every pigment in the watercolor line.

The manufacturer then tweaks the exact proportions of this recipe from one pigment or paint color to the next, so that the texture and color of each pigment is put on best display and the differences in pigment dispersability, tinting strength or staining across the different paint colors are minimized.

The backbone composition is the foundation of the manufacturer's brand style and quality standards. It usually includes most or all of the following ingredients:


One or more pigments:
Pigments are chemical compounds with appealing or useful color attributes and that do not dissolve in water. Paints are a dispersion of tiny pigment particles suspended in the vehicle. All professional quality tube and pan watercolors are made with pigments.

Brightener, transparent or "white" crystals:
These substances lighten the value and increases the chroma of the dried paint. A few watercolor brands add one or more highly refracting substances as a brightener, to adjust or enhance the lightness or chroma of the finished color. These traditionally include alumina trihydrate (aluminum trihydroxide), titanium dioxide, or micronized barium sulfate (blanc fixe), but newer, more effective compounds are available. The particle size and specific gravity of brighteners is usually similar to the pigment, so they do not separate from the pigment when the paint is mixed with water.

Excessive amounts of brightener can impart a whitish or sparkly appearance to the dried paint, or can form a thin, whitish coating on top of dried paint applied as a juicy brush stroke. They often can compromise the lightfastness or permanence of the color. The most reliable method to assess paint formulations is the tinting test, which directly reveals the proportion and the quality of pigment used in the paint by dissolving it water or a large quantity of titanium dioxide.

The above are dispersed in a vehicle or medium consisting of:

Binder:
Traditionally and still commonly said to be gum arabic but, in some brands, actually a synthetic glycol. Pigment particles are dispersed through milling in a liquid vehicle that consists primarily (about 65% of vehicle volume) of a transparent binder. The binder carries the pigment particles as a viscous liquid so they can be applied with a brush; it binds the pigment to the watercolor paper; and it produces a brighter color by holding the pigment particles on the surface of the paper, rather than letting them be pulled by capillary action deep between the paper fibers. A diluted solution of gum arabic can be applied as a varnish or top coat to dried paint to reduce surface scattering and give the paint a deeper, richer color.

The binder usually determines the name of a medium — linseed oil for oil paints, acrylic polymer emulsion for acrylic paints, egg white or yolk for egg tempera. Watercolors are named instead for their solvent (water) and historically have used a variety of gums, starches or animal glues as binder. As is true with industrial pigment manufacture, watercolor and pastel manufacturers use only a tiny fraction of global gum arabic production. Some manufacturers have shifted to alternative binders. Very satisfactory watercolors can be formulated entirely of synthetic materials.

Plasticizer:
Usually glycerin is used to soften the dried gum arabic and help it redissolve. Unfortunately, watercolors formulated only with gum arabic and water have significant drawbacks. Excess paint in the mixing well will dry to a hard, glassy block that is very difficult to redissolve. To counteract these problems, the gum arabic is buffered with a carbohydrate plasticizer, usually 20% or less of vehicle volume. Nowadays this is most often glycerin (glycerol), the trihydroxy form of alcohol. Glycerin reduces the native brittleness of the gum arabic and minimizes the cracking or chipping of dried paint. It also helps the gum arabic to dissolve in water more quickly, and inhibits hardening (drying out) of the paint in the tube. 

Paint manufacturers can also use methyl cellulose, the binder commonly used in pastels and chalks, as a plasticizer, because it is very flexible when dried. In paints it also acts as a mild binder and solvent or dispersant.

Humectant:
Traditionally simple syrup or honey were used but now often inexpensive corn syrup, to help the paint retain moisture (especially in pan paints) is adopted. Unfortunately both glycerin and gum arabic will dry out relatively quickly, even if stored as tube paints. So some other substance is necessary to retain water or act as a humectant. Since the middle 19th century paintmakers have softened watercolor paints with a carbohydrate moistener, either a sugar syrup (nowadays glucose, in the form of corn syrup) or honey. 

Like gum arabic, these sweet carbohydrates are hygroscopic — they tend to absorb and retain water from the atmosphere — which makes the paints considerably easier to redissolve once they have dried, and extends the life of the paint in the tube. Humectants also extend the paint drying time so that washes can be manipulated more easily, and they may increase the staining effect of watercolors by prolonging the capillary action that pulls small pigment particles deep between the paper fibers. 

Honey is more effective than corn syrup at retaining water (in fact, honey will crystallize but never dries out), but it is also roughly 14 times more expensive. Used in excess, the sugars will also attract insects or mold.

Extender or filler, such as dextrin:
These are used to bulk out and thicken the paint without noticeably affecting the color. As larger amounts of glycerin and gum arabic are added to the paint — for example, in strongly tinting or finely divided pigments — the paint texture becomes stringy or taffylike, the gloss of the paint increases, and the paint bronzes more readily. These paints tend to lift (redissolve) too easily from the paper, which can lead to undesired blurring, bleeding or lifting of color areas when new paint is applied over or alongside them.

To counteract these problems, many watercolor paints are formulated with a colorless, inert filler added to thicken the paint and to make the various pigment and vehicle mixtures within a watercolor line of similar consistency. Filler is also used to subdue intensely tinting pigments such as the phthalocyanines or quinacridones, or simply to reduce the proportion of costly pigment in the paint.

The most commonly used filler is dextrin — a clear, gelatinous processed wheat or corn starch — which thickens the paint, alters the taffylike vehicle to a smooth, buttery consistency, and reduces surface gloss or bronzing in the dried color. Sometimes conservation grade, water soluble adhesives, including carrageenan or funori (a gelatinous polysaccharide extracted from a type of Japanese seaweed [genus gloiopeltis]), are used for the same purpose. Dextrin also acts as a binder in combination with (or, in poster paints, in place of) gum arabic.

Dextrin can also be used as an extender, to bulk out the paint and cut down on the amount of costly pigment used, especially in cobalt and cadmium paints. However, if too much dextrin is used, the paint will dry to a dull, matte finish and will be prone to flaking.

Manufacturing additives:
In particular dispersants (to prevent clumping of the raw pigment after manufacture and to speed up the milling of the pigment and vehicle ingredients) and a fungicide or preservative to suppress the growth of mold or bacteria. Binder, plasticizer and humectant are standard vehicle ingredients — even paints you make yourself will contain them. Most commercial paints also include additives, which are put into the pigment batch when the pigment is packaged in bulk, or are put into the paint during milling, and are passed along to the artist with the paint.

Most common is a dispersant or wetting agent that accelerates and improves the milling (wetting and mixing) of the pigment in the water based vehicle, much the same way as dishwashing soap divides and dissolves greasy dirt. Dispersants can be used as a labor saving shortcut in any paint, but they are more common in finely divided or water repelling synthetic pigments such as carbon black, phthalocyanines, alizarin crimson, transparent iron oxides and prussian blue; and in soft pigments that can compress or cake during milling, such as the cadmiums or ultramarine blue. Ox gall (the yellowish extract of dried bovine gall bladders) was and still is commonly used for this purpose, but synthetic surfactants are sometimes used instead. 

The painter notices the presence of wetting agents in the paint because they reduce the time it takes the paint to dissolve, cause the paint to stain papers (especially absorbent papers) more readily, and make the paint diffuse aggressively or shoot outward when applied wet in wet.

Water:
Water dissolves or suspends all the ingredients, carries them onto the paper, and evaporates when its work is done. Tube paints contain about 15% by volume of water — the miraculous substance that gives life to you and unpredictable energy to your watercolors. 

Paints are manufactured with excess water in the vehicle, as this reduces the viscosity of the vehicle and decreases the amount of time (labor) and electrical energy necessary to mill the paint. This water mostly lost through evaporation during milling, but also after milling when the paint is left to sit and age or stabilize. Some pigments or fillers absorb water very slowly, causing them to expand: these are the paints that "explode" or squirt from the tube when it is first opened, because they were not aged adequately before packaging. 

Creating an effective watercolor vehicle is a complex balancing act. Each ingredient contributes its own benefits and drawbacks to the formulation of the paint, and the best formulations are based on considerable manufacturing experience and consistently maintained quality controls.

The manufacturer's cost considerations aside — and those are usually a major consideration in commercial paint design — the pigment particle size, tinting strength and dispersability primarily determine the adjustments made to the backbone formulation.

This week's watercolour discovery is Irap Ashish who won the outstanding watercolour painting at the October 2014 BoldBrush Painting Contest.

 Have a great week
Danielle

Coming up with titles for artwork can be a real drag

I recently went to an open house in a studio of a friend of mine. She had a beautiful painting of frogs on lily pads. The frogs were all facing the inside of the painting which kept the eye within the painting. Great composition! Then, I looked at the title of her painting. It was called “Executive meeting”. So then I looked up at the painting again and saw the artist’s witty and whimsical personality come through that painting. I was smiling at the painting.
 

I don’t know about you, but for me coming up with great titles for artwork can be a real drag. Sometimes it seems like it’s more work to come up with a title than it is to create the painting. If I were a natural wordsmith I’d have ventured into poetry and not trying to become an artist. So, the question is, do titles really matter, and how much time and effort should you spend titling your work?

 

 

If you’re going to exhibit your work then I do believe titles matter. A buyer wants to feel like that artwork they are about to purchase from you is one of your best ever – that it truly is one of your masterworks. They’re going to have a hard time believing that if you’ve called the piece “landscape No. 427″. 

 

 

So what makes a good title, and how can you come up with good titles without going insane? After a bit of research, this is what I have found: 

• A good title will provide insight into your inspiration for the artwork, and may help the artwork tell its story.
• A good title will leave room for the viewer to bring his or her own meaning and interpretation to the artwork.

Additionally, a good title will:

• be memorable and catchy;
• be original (or at least as original as anything can be in a world where nothing is ever truly new) ; and
• not be too cheesy.

So where do we start?

• Start with the obvious – if there are elements in the artwork that are key focal points, use those elements as a jumping off point.
• Was there a driving emotion or inspiration that lead you to create the work? If so, try and draw a title from that inspiration.
• Is there an underlying story behind the work? Try to clue the buyer into the story with your title.
• Try to put yourself in your viewer’s shoes – what will they see when they look at the work? What do you want them to focus on?
• Keep it short. While there are obviously exceptions, if you need a 30 word title, you are probably doing something wrong (and maybe you should have become and author instead of artist!)

I imagine that the more one paints that coming up with titles can become more difficult over time. This all sounds great in theory, and will work for the first dozen or so pieces an artist creates, but what about after you’ve created hundreds of pieces? You might run out of creative, unique titles. I know I certainly will.
 

To combat this issue, try to come up with a naming system. Some artists look to poetry or mythology for inspiration. Try visiting galleries to see what reputable artists are using for naming conventions.
 

Best of luck in finding the titles that makes you stop and think, and the more you think about it the more intriguing you find the piece.
 

This week's watercolour discovery is Michal Suffczynski. Here is one of his paintings

Danielle

p.s. publishing early this week since I'm participating in a 3-day art show

Creating Beautiful Skies

There are many elements  that contribute to beautiful landscapes. This week when looking at Anita Bentley''s recent painting (see below), I was struck by how beautiful her sky was.

Probably one of the most important things to learn in order to paint captivating skies is the value of observation. Just from watching a sky you learn an awful lot and that will be of great use later on when you try to paint it. 

Certainly, being the source of light, skies are an ever-present bonanza for the watercolorist whose fresh transparent washes over white paper are the closest approximation in visual art to the glory of light.  The essence of sky is transparency. You look through it into infinity.

Although it's difficult to go wrong during the first wash, a sky is the most dangerous area to go back into after  it is dry.  You certainly do not want to introduce any opacity or different edges often cause by partial washes.

Clouds make or break the sky and cumulus clouds are likely the most difficult because they are constantly boiling and puffing. To the casual observer, the edges may appear sharp. They are not. Their edges must be treated so they look soft and the highlight must be kept inside the soft edge. As with other design elements (e.g. rocks, trees, etc), put the larger objects in the front to create the feeling of distance. When you have variety in size and larger shapes forward you achieve nicer design.

Cumulus clouds also have holes and caves which is somewhat similar to foliage. Notice how distant cumulus are smaller and have flatter bottoms.

The distant sky is colder and it keys into the clouds. Always have one area of interest in the sky - one place that is more aggressive. It's suggested that you exaggerate the cools and warm colours under the clouds and that this be done on wet paper. An occasional hard edge will add variety and interest.

You should keep the texture to the inside of the cloud and not in the sky. Work on achieving  subtle colour varieties in the cloud and sky.

 

Other cloud formations and cloud types to be explored on another day include

• Stratus - Wispy light clouds
• Dramatic – rain clouds - thunderheads
• Back lit clouds - sunsets

Check out the nuances and cohesiveness in this sky from Anita Bentley.

Start looking up to the sky and observe cloud formations. Take photos of clouds and you will be amazed at what you will start to “see”!

 

You might be interested in a companion article about skies in my other blog.

 

Danielle

 

How to Boost Your Creativity

Here is a second spin on creativity.   This one is from Kendra Cherry a Psychology Expert.

According to cognitive psychologist Robert J. Sternberg, creativity can be broadly defined as "...the process of producing something that is both original and worthwhile." Creativity is all about finding new ways of solving problems and approaching situations. This isn't a skill restricted to artists, musicians or writers; it is a useful skill for people from all walks of life. If you've ever wanted to boost your creativity, these tips can help.

 1. Commit Yourself to Developing Your Creativity
The first step is to fully devote yourself to developing your creative abilities. Do not put off your efforts. Set goals, enlist the help of others and put time aside each day to develop your skills.

2. Become an Expert
One of the best ways to develop creativity is to become an expert in that area. By having a rich understanding of the topic, you will be better able to think of novel or innovative solutions to problems.

3. Reward Your Curiosity
One common roadblock to developing creativity is the sense that curiosity is an indulgence. Rather than reprimanding yourself, reward yourself when you are curious about something. Give yourself the opportunity to explore new topics.

4. Realize that Creativity is Sometimes Its Own Reward
While rewarding yourself is important, it is also important to develop intrinsic motivation. Sometimes, the true reward of creativity is the process itself, not the product. 

5. Be Willing to Take Risks
When it comes to building your creative skills, you need to be willing to take risks in order to advance your abilities. While your efforts may not lead to success every time, you will still be boosting your creative talents and building skills that will serve you well in the future.

6. Build Your Confidence
Insecurity in your abilities can suppress creativity, which is why it is important to build confidence. Make note of the progress you have made, commend your efforts and always be on the lookout for ways to reward your creativity.

7. Make Time for Creativity
You won't be able to develop your creative talents if you don't make time for them. Schedule some time each week to concentrate on some type of creative project.

8. Overcome Negative Attitudes that Block Creativity
According to a 2006 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, positive moods can increase your ability to think creatively. According to Dr. Adam Anderson, senior author of the study, "If you are doing something that requires you be creative or be in a think tank, you want to be in a place with good mood." Focus on eliminating negative thoughts or self-criticisms that may impair your ability to develop strong creative skills.

9. Fight Your Fear of Failure
The fear that you might make a mistake or fail in your efforts can paralyze your progress. Whenever you find yourself harboring such feelings, remind yourself that mistakes are simply part of the process. While you may occasionally stumble on your path to creativity, you will eventually reach your goals.

10. Brainstorm to Inspire New Ideas
Brainstorming is a common technique in both academic and professional settings, but it can also be a powerful tool for developing your creativity. Start by suspending your judgment and self-criticism, then start writing down related ideas and possible solutions. The goal is to generate as many ideas as possible in a relatively short span of time. Next, focus on clarifying and refining your ideas in order to arrive at the best possible choice.

11. Realize That Most Problems Have Multiple Solutions
The next time to approach a problem, try looking for a variety of solutions. Instead of simply going with the first idea you have, take the time to think of other possible ways to approach the situation. This simple activity is a great way to build both your problem-solving and creative thinking skills.

12. Keep a Creativity Journal
Start keeping a journal to follow your creative process and track the ideas you produce. A journal is a great way to reflect back on what you have accomplished and look for other possible solutions. This journal can be used to save ideas that can later serve as future inspiration.

13. Create a Mind Map
A mind map is a great way to connect ideas and look for innovative answers to questions. Create a mind map by writing down a central topic or word. Next, link related terms or ideas around the central word. While similar to brainstorming, this technique allows for branching ideas and offers a very visual way of seeing how these ideas are linked.

 

 Here is a watercolour from Guillembe. I love the creativity in this one.  Do you?

 

 

Have a great week

Creativity and Artistic Growth

Defining creativity will never receive a satisfactory answer and not everyone will totally agree on its meaning. However, we probably all agree that creativity is subjective and can be applied in many ways. Many blog articles could be written about this topic.

We use creativity in a wide range of circumstances and it has its strength across a vast array of applications. It can be applied to many areas to generate anything ranging from new ideas to tangible objects and everything between. In fact if there is a need, creativity is always there to offer the answer. 

On one end of the spectrum is artistic creativity, which is personal and is closely associated to the arts and other intuitive activities, and is generally seen as being pleasing, aesthetic or beautiful. 

On the other end is technical creativity that is closely linked to theories on creative thinking, commercial design and business. We see this in domains where people structure new theories, technologies or ideas in a logical manner to create something functional, or for a purpose. 

Between the two, there is a varying mix of artistic and technical creativity. Some activities may require a more technical approach whereas others may well tend more to the intuitive side. 

Because of our focus on art and paintings, I won’t focus much on the technical creativity which is more logical and is inclined to the left-brain way of thinking. For those of us who do not have the luxury of painting full time and hold more typical jobs, we know that this type of creativity is more structured or objective and is strongly influenced by analogy, science, language and time. 

Most of us associate artistic creativity with being more intuitive and associate it with the right brain way of thinking. It is more impetuous and plays to typical right brain characteristics such as being subjective, random, spatial, and spiritual with a tendency to risk taking and personal bias.

A typical characteristic of artistic creativity is that it is impulsive and tends to respond to, or act on current incentives. It gathers information via perceptions and expresses those perceptions through a medium or particular art form. Both of which are subjective to the artist’s abilities and state of mind at that point in time.

Artistic creativity is by nature personal and consequently not readily defined or understood. It is for that reason that the definition or understanding of creativity starts to break down and gets a little fuzzy.

 

 

Artistic Growth

Creativity is a contributing factor to the growth of an artist. An awareness of those contributing factors that influence the way the artist creates art is important.

Creating art is not a light bulb moment but rather a progression of evolving ideas in partnership with practical knowledge and lots of practice. Practical knowledge is logical, and can be learned from the classroom reading, experience or from an actual event.

Creativity often goes through the following stages:

• Collection: the artist collects the raw material for creativity. He or she is constantly asking questions, talking to different people, observing different art and processing as many inputs as possible.
• Assimilation: the artist then takes the raw material and combines it in new and interesting ways. He or she is playful and imaginative with no concerns about judging the quality of what he or she is creating.
• Assessment: the artist assesses the ideas and determines if they’re practical. He or she thinks critically and realistically about what can actually be done.
• Execution: the artist takes an idea that is deemed worthy and tenaciously follows it to completion. During this phase, artists overcome resistance, are courageous, and champion the idea.

The growth of the artist is not founded on a single event or idea, but rather by an endless process of examination, experimentation and innovation. Creativity is an ongoing process. So much of creating art is personal. Every artist has unique abilities to produce art that is distinctive and unmatched. They can adopt practical methods and techniques that are tried and tested or they can become innovative and develop their own. But ultimately, they are the artist, it is their journey, and they have to make their own decisions on what is needed to develop their own style of art. 

 

Painting from Bonnie Paruch.

 

What role does creativity play in your paintings?  Do use it to interpret photos, lessons, other paintings or do you try to create a unique body of work?
 

Danielle

International Watercolour Society

Canada, like many countries now has it's own branch of the International Watercolour Society (IWS). Many other countries (e.g. Spain, US, Italy, Greece, France, etc.) already have chapters.

This is a different kind of watercolour society. It is not meant to compete with other, already established local societies or associations, but rather to unite them. The goal of the IWS is to promote universal peace and love through art, and to promote the medium of watercolour. As such a society, it is friendly, and networking, festivals, exhibitions and workshops on an international scale are the primary ways it aims to go about achieving that goal. For more information about the IWS, please visit their new website: www.internationalwatercolor.com or their Facebook page.

Many chapters organize wonderful exhibits and workshops. Sign up with your local chapter.

The festival in Aiguillon ends tomorrow.

Danielle

“Stretch” Concept Applied to Painting

Artists create because they are looking to widen their horizons or their passion makes them do so. Some might learn, study, develop their art. They might decode it, try to explain, create consciously. And then graduate to the intuitive phase. It’s very similar to learning a sport; where you first break down the mechanics of a move and with time to learn to do it intuitively. With time we will just make art and won’t think about all the theoretical wisdom we have acquired.

Have you heard about the concept of “stretch?” This is the notion that emerging artists who are trying to grow will exhibit certain types of errors, one of which is the lack of use of full spectrum of values. Not all errors are equally damning and that the number of errors is less important than the types of errors we make.

Students of art who will try to learn by watching a watercolour tutorial or video will likely struggle to use some of the techniques they’ve just learned. It’s probably best to make stretch errors because it pushes your limit rather than using the same old tactics. While the results were not great for the students who exhibited stretch, at least they are trying to apply more sophisticated techniques and will probably improve over the long haul.

On the surface, some mistakes might seem very serious, however, below the surface they present you with the perfect opportunity to learn, to grow and to improve yourself. 

Think back to all the mistakes you made in your earlier paintings and consider how they have strengthened your skills and ability to solve problems. Consider the plethora of skills that your mistakes have taught you, and also how they have shaped your knowledge and development.

Mistakes are valuable. However, for them to be of value, you must first see them as a beneficial and critical part of your life that you cannot avoid and must instead embrace with an open heart and open mind. Who knows, your biggest mistakes could end up turning into your most glorious victories, as long as you are open to learning and growing from the experience.  At least that's what Neal always says.

It’s important that we stop viewing mistakes as something that’s negative and worthless. Instead, begin viewing mistakes as opportunities to re-evaluate the progression as an artist. Mistakes present opportunities to analyze the decisions and techniques you made or used during a painting. As Neal would say, it’s all good. They are evidence that we continue to challenge ourselves and part of the learning process.

We don’t have to make all of the mistakes, sometimes we can learn from the mistakes of others. Here is a little online quiz (only 10 questions) to see if you can identify the weaknesses in these paintings. Try it and share how well you did.  You'll need to scroll down half of the page to start with the first question.
https://www.artbynolan.com/top-10-mistakes-artists-make/

Once you are done this quiz, you will have the option to sign up to a newsletter which you will receive every few days and will focus on looking at the top mistakes that artists make so that you can avoid making the same mistakes in your paintings and drawings.

Today's art find is from a regional artist called Debra Tate-Sears. If you could believe it, this is a watercolour on slate. She first applied a clear coat of gesso to the stone before painting with watercolour. What a stunning effect.

Don't' forget to tell us how you did with the quiz. You may use the comments section below to share your results

Have a good week,
Danielle

Finding Your Own Voice

As we develop as artists, it’s natural to examine the work of others. You’ll note that what attracts you to those paintings isn’t anything technical but more likely the passion that went into those paintings. 

You can apply all of the theory that you know in a painting, but the energy transmitted by your painting will be based on the feelings you have about the subject that you choose.  When a skilled painter finds the right subject, he or she can normally feel the vibe from the painting. Values are important and so is good solid design skills, but none of these seem to matter if the artist cannot connect with its subject. The painting ill lack pizazz.

After painting a few years our techniques improve, but after a while we might start to experience an identity crisis.  Something is missing.  That’s probably the time to think back on what attracted us to art in the first place. What paintings most speak to us? We must find our guiding light.  The combination of increased skills and finding topics that speak to us will only help us progress as artists.

Most of us have tried our hand at a variety of topics with no commitment to any.  However, I’m sure that you probably know instinctively when you are connecting with a topic.

The Art Tutor gallery contains some paintings that were made with heart while others were exercises for practicing techniques. Most likely, you can spot the differences.  It addition, we can all see how some artists have started to develop their own recognizable style in communication their passion.

Not only have the paintings matured in the gallery since we all signed up, I’m also noticing a wider variety of discussions between artists, including the groups. The topics of discussion are much more advanced.

We are all fortunate to be on this journey of finding our own voice with paint.

Here is a painting by Jan Palmer who won first place in the recent “Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors”.

 

Danielle

Leonardo da Vinci’s impact on today’s art

In previous blogs I’ve talked about modern day teachings about art. But to get to where these teachers are today and what we know of art, it took others to make some earlier discoveries.

We all know of Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519) because he painted the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, and many more famous paintings. These works were made famous because of Da Vinci's understanding linear perspective, his integration of light and shadow, and his superb understanding of anatomy. In his time he was accepted as a very talented artist. Many artists after Da Vinci mimicked his methods in hope to make their paintings more realistic.

He developed a linear perspective that is a mathematical system for representing three-dimensional objects and space on a two-dimensional surface by means of intersecting lines that are drawn vertically and horizontally and that radiate from one point (one-point perspective), two points (two-point perspective), or several points on a horizon line as perceived by a viewer imagined in an arbitrarily fixed position." Da Vinci used linear perspective in all of his paintings to make them more life-like and three-dimensional. He was also one of the first painters to incorporate light and shadows into his paintings as well.   This created the effect of 3D shapes in paintings, as we know it today. Also, because of Leonardo's understanding of human anatomy, he was able to make the subjects of the painting three-dimensional as well as the setting.

Da Vinci's paintings were different than most others painted during the same time. The majority of the paintings of the renaissance period were flat, and two-dimensional, and never very proportional. Da Vinci changed all of this with his new and revolutionary methods. With all of his new painting methods, he changed paintings of the time from flat (2D), and disproportionate to impossibly graphic and real. Although he was such a painting phenomenon, he rarely finished his works, only managing to complete a few.  Less that 20 complete works of Da Vinci exist today. Even so, his impact in the field of art was immense.

Da Vinci did more to create the artist genius than anyone else. By continually stressing the intellectual aspect of art and creativity he transformed the artist’s public status. Invited by King Francis I to live at Le Clos Lucé in France in 1516, Da Vinci designed grand projects: the palace and the ideal town at Romorantin, the draining of the Sologne marshes, the surprising staircase with double turns at Chambord castle, among others – many surprisingly modern challenges. Today, the Château du Clos Lucé holds a wonderful exhibit about Da Vinci about his 10 years in a few local castles. I’m fortunate to have visited this exhibit twice.

Following Da Vinci, there were Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian and so many more artistic geniuses. Who do you consider to be a living artistic genius?

 

Danielle

Evaluating watercolour papers

As watercolourists, we have a huge dependency on our watercolour paper.   There is a plethora of watercolour papers available in stores across the world and online. It’s important to experiment to find which ones (or one) suite our individual styles. I can assure you that paper can make a difference in your paintings.

There are a number of factors to consider when selecting a watercolour paper suited to your style and budget. Here are some suggested criteria to evaluate which paper is best for you. It’s important to note that not all factors are important to everyone. For me I need an affordable paper that doesn’t buckle too much as I don’t like to stretch my paper and can withstand lots of scrubbing, including the use of magic sponge on occasion are necessary attributes.

Brightness: the paper provides an essential background brightness that displays paint colors accurately 

Colour: whether white or tinted, the color is subdued and pleasing and does not yellow or fade when exposed to sunlight. 

Sizing: the paper has an external and/or internal sizing to control the absorption and retention of water; paints do not blotch or soak outward due to excessive absorbency, and paint edges remain crisp after they have dried 

Strength: The paper does not disintegrate or excessively cockle when completely saturated with water 

Receptive: The paper is responsive to all paint application techniques, including all types and sizes of brushes, dilutions of paint, types of pigment, wet in wet methods and multiple glazes.

Durability: the paper resists damage from editing techniques (scrubbing, blotting, scraping, erasing) and the removal of resists (latex compounds, rubber glue or masking tape). 

Bonding: The paper bonds securely with the paint vehicle and pigment, and display dried paint colors accurately and in the full chroma and tonal range (color gamut). 

Archival: The paper will not change color, flexibility or strength over time due to chemicals in the paper, mounting or air. This will ensure that they will last unaltered for centuries under proper care and storage.

Two other important factors are price and retail availability. We must find a paper that suits our style and that we can regularly obtain.

My "go to" paper these days is Fabriano Artistico 300lbs extra white. It's affordable when compared with Arches and resists to a lot of scrubbing. 

If anybody in North American wishes to order a sample box of watercolour paper, you can order it from Legion paper at http://www.legionpaper.com/samples/. I’ve been trying many of the papers in the box and am still sticking with my Fabriano Artistico… at least for now.  My intention was to prepare a table and provide a review of each paper branch. Although each paper performed slightly differently, I realized that the reacted differently due to my style. Hence, who am I to provide a review of various papers.

Neal recently started an interesting discussion on AT watercolour groups on this topic:
http://www.arttutor.com/group/watercolours-group/discussion/watercolor-paper-opinion-and-question

I encourage you to learn about and evaluate papers and put your observations in a notebook. First impressions and accidental observations are easy to forget or to attribute mistakenly to another paper brand or to a different weight or finish. It's much easier to review your notes than to evaluate a paper all over again.

 

Recently, Ingrid helped be discover Jeanne Dobie. I've since purchased her book and am discovering new ways to think about colour. I might transmit some of these learnings in an upcoming blog. Here is a painting of hers entitled Blueberry Cove.

Who wants to write the next blog? 
Danielle

Learnings from Edgar Whitney – Part 2

Last week this blog covered the seven elements of design increase the quality and substance of paintings as taught by Edgar Whitney. This week I’ll share his eight principles of design, the bricks of knowledge, that show in every painting. Here we go. 

1. Unity
What you design on paper to make the painting interesting must be a complete unit, rather a collection of several. The treatment of the element that appears in one section of your painting should be echoed in another part so that all sections are related.

2. Conflict
Conflict is the tension between opposing versions of an element, creating interest and e excitement and is an essential part of any design. For example, in colour, conflict is created when you use two colours that are directly opposite from each other in the colour wheel. With regard to value, this is setting the light against the dark. You can also apply this principle to shapes, size and direction.

3. Dominance
Dominance helps resolve the conflict and regains unity. There are different ways to get dominance. It could be making straight lines dominant, large areas of a dominant colour, having a larger shape of a certain value or soft textures.

4. Repetition
Repetition can be used to unify and make the painting hold together. Another way is to create rhythms for the eye can enjoy repeated shapes or colours. We should try to achieve repetition without redundancy to avoid monotony.

5. Alternation
Closely related to repetition, alternation occurs between repetitions. This can be achieved in a number of ways, including alternating warm and cool colours.

6. Balance
Balance can be achieved in two ways: with symmetry and asymmetry. Although two equally-sized spaces can be balance and represent stability to the subject, it is also boring and static. To bring some visual excitement, consider asymmetric shapes, such as trees of different sizes, or smaller shapes farther out closer to the paper’s edge.
 
7. Harmony
Elements with harmony are those that are similar or have an affinity for each other. The degree of harmony or discord in a painting can be used to show either tranquility of dynamic movement.

8. Gradation
This is used to entertain the viewer and is normally used in colour, value and texture. We find gradual transitions in dark to light, warm to cool, smooth to rough, perpendicular to horizontal, and in diminishing size.

With these eight principles and the seven elements identified last week, we can think, plan, build, organize and express ourselves on paper.

Tell us which principles you can spot in this painting by Whitney.

Danielle

Learnings from Edgar Whitney – Part 1

I started my watercolour adventure a few years ago and during that time acquired numerous books and videos.

Most watercolour books and videos are “how to” books that provide exercises for the reader to follow and reproduce a piece of art. It is an excellent way to learn. For the first years, I was very pleased with this approach. However in the past year, this type of approach is losing its appeal.

I find this approach akin to riding a bike with training wheels on a pre-set course. I’ve been wanting to do away with the training wheels and ride my bike wherever I please. To do so, I want to develop slightly different skills that will allow me to ride anywhere. With regard to my watercolours, I want to be able to look at a scene or photo and be able to develop my own creation from what is before me or in my head.

The books recently acquired focus on developing those skills. Recently, I’ve been reading up on Edgar Whitney (1891 - 1987). Although Whitney was a very good watercolorist, his legacy is his teachings. From the mid-1950's until the early 1980's Whitney and his contemporaries laid the groundwork for a new generation of painters that in many ways remains unchallenged.

Although the principles of design which he taught had been established generations before him, he was able to distill these elements and principles in manners that allowed his students to create strong,  emotionally and relevant paintings that were aesthetically pleasing.

This week, I want to share how he communicated the seven elements of designs. Next week, I’ll recap his principles of design. Whitney called the elements the “tools” and the principles the “rules”.

Together, the seven elements of design increase the quality and substance of paintings. Here is a snapshot of the elements as described by Whitney:

1. Line
Any painting can possess lots of line variety but only one type should dominate. This is particularly true when considering if the dominance should be curved or straight or thick or thin.

2. Value
Values alone can be used to express form and are more important than color for readability. Color merely embellishes appearances. The mood of the painting can be set by a dominance of one value throughout and is called the “key”. I learned this from Neal (nmserie) a couple of years ago.

3. Colour
Colour has three properties: hue, intensity and value. When colors are adjacent (see colour wheel), they harmonize, hues diametrically opposite to each other on the wheel are complimentary and tend to enhance one another when set side by side. Intensity is the strength of the colour. Value is the lightness or darkness of any colour

4. Texture
Texture has four qualities – rough, smooth, soft and hard. It enriches and augments and is an antidote for monotony in a too pure area.

5. Shape
Shape is anything that has height and width. Shapes can be curved, angular or rectangular, and all three can be used in one painting, but only one category should dominate. There are also positive and negative shapes. A good shape has two different dimensions – wider than it is tall or taller than it is wide, oblique or slanted with interlocking edges.

6. Size
It is the relationship of sizes in a painting that must be carefully planned. To entertain the eye, use a variety of size in objects as well as positive and negative areas. 

7. Direction
The lines and shapes have a directional thrust which is either horizontal, vertical or oblique. Again, only one direction should dominate to convey the spirit of the painting. Horizontal dominance suggest tranquility and repose while vertical shapes and lines suggest austerity and strength while oblique dominance expresses drama and excitement.

                         "Remember – texture is where the value changes." Edward Whitney

There are many modern day watercolourist who credit their success to the teachings of Whitney. Some of them include: John Salminen, Tony Couch, Judi Wagner, etc.

Here is a painting from Whitney

Notice how the white shape of the lighthouse connects down to the white shape of the wave spray. Midtones and some darks surround and interlock with this well-designed white shape which is of two different dimensions -- oblique with interlocking interest on the edges. The three midtone shapes are all different in sizes and shapes.

You may not have realized that you can sign up (see right side) to this blog to receive it in your emails every week.

Have a great week
Danielle

Taking great photos of your watercolours

Whether you want to share your photos of your paintings online (e.g., FaceBook or Art Tutor gallery) or simply want to keep a record of a painting before you sell it or give it away, it is important to know how to take a decent photograph of your paintings. Any good camera digital point and shoot or SLR will work

 

The main advantage of a digital camera is that you can review the effect of your shot, the focus, the exposure, and any glare issues immediately while you’re shooting, or shortly after, rather than waiting days for pictures to develop only to find out something went wrong. In addition, you have the ability to work on your photos afterwards in software such as Photoshop to make edits.

 

Traits you are looking for in a good photograph include: 

• Proper exposure 
• Colour balance (important when using artificial light) 
• Appropriate cropping 
• Straightened the photo 
• Sharpened of the image 
• Void of any reflections

 Lens

 

If you are using a zoom lens, you should check out the numbers on the lens to make sure you are zoomed to around 50mm or above. If you us as smaller number, say 35mm, then such a wide-angle will distort your painting outward and you’ll see the straight edges of the frame or painting curve and bulge toward the edges, distorting the finished photo of your painting.

 

Linear Polarizers

 

You might want to use a linear polarising filter over the lens. This device selectively allows the passage of only certain orientations of plane polarized light. Why is it useful? Well, most light sources put out randomly polarized light, i.e. an equal mixture of every kind of polarization. Also, polarizers can also increase the saturation of colors by eliminating some of the light reflected.

Do not use a circular polarising filter, even though they are more common these days (because they work better with autofocus). They will leave large portions of your painting full of glare. I find the autofocus usually still works fine with them, but if not, just manually focus.

 

The lighting

 

Most of us do not have 500-watt tungsten (3200K) lights which many professionals use. The basic principle is to have an even light.

 

Natural indirect lighting is the best option, however, do not take photo in full sun.

 

A room with windows can offer indirect sunlight, even on an overcast day. You do, however, want to avoid sunlight striking your object directly, as this will cause glare.

 

In the absence of natural light or inclement weather, we can use two single lamps and use them to light the painting from both sides to avoid any “hot spots”. Not that the polarising filters cut down a significant amount of the light reaching the camera sensor as well, which is another reason to have a good, strong light.

 

Avoid the use of a flash aimed directly at the piece. 99 times out of 100 this is your enemy.

  

Set your camera

 

You might want to select the manual mode for setting your exposure and shoot at about a five-second exposure with a focal length of around f/10, which gives me a little extra focus depth to make up for any error in focusing.

 

Always use the lowest ISO setting on your camera (usually ISO 100), since this will also give you the sharpest picture possible – the ISO setting traditionally refers to the sensitivity of film and in digital cameras it also refers to the sensitivity of your image sensor; the higher the ISO number, the grainier the image will appear.

 

Remember to use the white balance setting on your camera.

 

Take your picture

 

Simply look through your viewfinder and rotate the polarising filter on the front of the camera lens until you see the painting darken slightly and the glare magically vanish!

 

If you are having difficulty seeing exactly when the glare disappears, move the camera closer to the painting to adjust the lens filter. Once the filter is adjusted properly, you won’t have to change this setting when you move back or shoot additional paintings.

 

When taking the picture, I use the camera’s timer set at two seconds so I can press the shutter, remove my hand, and then wait for it to start the exposure. This means I don’t have to worry about my hand jostling the camera and creating a blurry image.

 

Composing the shot (the most important)

 

Make sure your camera is at a right angle to the piece being photographed. It’s probably best that you lay your painting flat on the floor and shoot from above looking down (use a chair or step-ladder to obtain ample distance if it's really large). You do not want to distort the view.

 

You also want to ensure the photo is square and properly cropped.

 

Have a great week and look forward to seeing great photos in the gallery

Danielle

 

 

Overwhelmed by watercolour vocabulary?

If you are new to watercolour, you may be overwhelmed by the different terms you see or hear. If you’ve been painting for a while, you probably didn’t realize that you’ve acquired a large vocabulary.

See how many of these are unfamiliar to you. 

 

Terms related to paint

• colour: the perceived wavelength of light reflected from the surface of the subject
• paint: a mixture composed of pigment, vehicle, and binder
• pigment: the colour substance (clays, stones, animal and vegetable matter, synthetic dyes, etc.) found in paint
• vehicle: the element fund both in paint and added to paint which allows the pigment and binder to spread
• binder: the substance in paint which holds the pigment together; in watercolour the binder is soluble gum/gum Arabic
• gouache: the term used to describe opaque watercolour

Terms related to paper:

• hot pressed: paper which is passed through a hot press during the drying process. Smooth surface.
• cold pressed: paper which is passed through a cold press during the drying process. A medium surface, slight tooth.
• rough or not pressed: paper which is skimmed from vats with a screen and left to dry. Very coarse. Deep tooth.
• watermark (papermark): created by laid and chain wires laced and stitched into the mold. 13th century. papermaker's symbol/location of mill or labeling molds in sets of two.
• ream: standard amount of paper. 20 quires (20-25 sheets). 480-500 sheets. occasionally 472 or 516 sheets.
• paper weight: actual measured weight of a ream of one kind of paper
• watercolour block: a tablet of watercolour paper which is glued on all four sides. a painting is executed on the top sheet and when completed is cut from the block. a clean piece of watercolour paper is revealed when the painting is cut away. Using a watercolour block eliminates the need to stretch paper.
• sizing: Gelatin sizing is a surface sizing of animal glue or gelatin it helps to keep the paint from sinking into the fibers and becoming “muddy” and lets the artist make the necessary changes and corrections when painting, such as having the ability to lift and remove colour.

Terms related to colours

• primary colours: colours which cannot be mixed (red, yellow, blue)
• secondary colours: a colour created by combining two primary colours (green, orange, violet)
• triad: three colours equally spaced on the colour wheel.
• intermediate colours: colours found btwn primary and secondary colours.
• complementary colours: colours which are directly opposite one another on the colour wheel
• analogous colours: colours which have a common hue
• polychromatic colours: a random selection of colours
• neutral colours: colours which have their intensity/saturation reduced. The most effective manner to reduce intensity is to add the complement. Adding black or white also reduces intensity
• intensity/saturation: the brightness or pureness of a colour
• value: the lightness or darkness of a colour
• tint: the addition of white 
• shade: the addition of black
• achromatic colour: refers to the absence of colour (blacks, whites, greys)
• warm colour: the visual temperature of colour. yellow, red, orange, etc.
• cool colour: the visual temperature of a colour. green, blue, violet, etc.
• subjective colour: colour chosen at random by the artist and not commonly associated with a particular subject

Terms related to watercolour techniques

• wash: thin transparent layers of colour which allow the white of the paper to show through. Washes can be flat, graded, variegated or random
• graded /graduated wash: Paint an area that goes from light to dark using a wash technique so that no brush marks are showing.
• variegated wash: a wash of two colours that bleed into each other. You achieve this by doing a graded wash first, and then introduce the second colour slightly overlapping the first colour.
• spattering: spots, dots, of colour created by flicking a brush or toothbrush loaded with paint
• stippling: using the tip of the brush to paint small dots of varying tone and density
• masking/ resist: using a rubberized liquid to preserve the white of the paper or lightly tinted areas which protects the paper from further development during the painting process, applies to the surface and allowed to dry before the first wash is laid. 
• tachisme: the application of paint by throwing, dribbling, or blowing paint across the paper
• dry brush: created by painting with a brush with is damp with colour. hard/fuzzy edges & lines created by brush hairs.
• wet on wet: the application of wet paint to a wet surface. The result is soft fuzzy edges and bleeding colour
• wet on dry: a wet paint loaded brush applied to a dry surface. the end result is hard crisp controlled edges and forms clearly defined.
• scumbling : holding the brush on the side and making loose, circular movements
• charging: act of loading another colour into a wet or moist field. It is very much like wet into wet painting
• backruns/dropping in/blooms: often occur by mistake or you can create them deliberately. If you apply more of a wet colour to a wash before it is completely dry, the new paint will bleed into the old, creating a blotch with a hard jagged edge.
• engraving: marking the paper with a sharp instrument to allow pigment to flow along the lines, or marking a semi dried wash to create white lines.
• sgraffito: scraping out using a sharp point or knife to scratch into dry paint
• lifting out: using a damp sponge or wet brush on dry paint to loosen the pigment then immediately blot it. A tissue can be rolled or scrunched for different shapes when lifting out. Lifting out works brilliantly on hot pressed paper.
• glazing: is the term used for a wash laid over other dry colours, and is a way of mixing colours on the surface, either the same colour or a different colour. Glazing should use a transparent colour.
• positive painting: painting an object
• negative painting: painting behind and around and object to show its shape

Terms related to brushes

• round brush: ‘round’ brushes is perhaps misleading because the heads more closely resemble a teardrop in shape, when wet, being rounded towards the base and slimming down to a point at the tip. It’s this shape that’s behind the versatility of the round brush, and a lot of work goes into getting it just right. The ‘belly’ (the bulbous part) needs to be in the lower part of the head. If it’s higher up, the brush will lack the required springiness. The belly is the brush’s reservoir – it’s where most of the wet paint is held.
• flat brush: These are chisel shaped brushes with a straight edge
• rigger: Brushes with very long, thin hairs that come to a precise point, originally used to paint the rigging lines in nautical paintings, but great for any rendering of very fine, long lines
• mop: Rounds made with very fine, soft hairs (usually squirrel hair) that can hold a large quantity of water when wet or can wick up a large quantity of water when thirsty. Because they take long to dry and take more effort to rinse completely, mops are not the best brush for paint application, but they are exceptionally good for wetting large areas of paper
• liner/script: Basically a rigger wrapped in a round. The hairs often do not come to a needle point (as in a rigger), so that the line rendered has a consistent thickness, which is scaled to the size of the tuft.
• fan: a brush with a fan shape used for drawing grass-like or twig-like clusters of parallel lines, for irregular line hatching or texturing, and for softly blending the edges of or gradations within wash areas
• hake: wide flat brush are used to coax the distribution of paint or water in wash areas after the wash solution has been applied with another (wash) brush
• tuft: the bundle of hair, bristle or fiber that holds and releases the painting liquid.
• ferrule: the metal collar that connects the tuft to the handle, supports the tuft during painting, protects the end of the wood handle from moisture and determines the size and shape of the brush.

I'm sure this list is not exhaustive and I encourage you to add more using the comment function below.

In the past couple of weeks I've been watching some old videos of Zoltan Szabo. His teaching technique in infused with passion. Here is a painting of his entitled "Little Haven".

Danielle