Experiments in Abstract Watercolor

I've been taking an abstract watercolor class which is challenging for me because I am a realist and not an abstract painter at all. But it has been fun experimenting and loosening up in my work. Seeing abstract work doesn't come easy to me, I found a good starting point is to take an image or scene and attempt to abstract it. These two pieces are from reference photos I took at an aquarium of jellyfish swimming in a tank. The sepia toned top piece is by far my favorite of anything I have done in this class. I like the shapes, dark and light values and the lines I have added. 

As a class we are focusing on: 

Composition • Value • Color • Line • Shape • Form

As well as techniques using watercolors, acrylic inks, watercolor pencils, watercolor papers, yupo papers, 

The lionfish is also a reference photo from an aquarium. I have experimented with just the patterns of the fish itself. Not sure what I am going to do with the bottom piece, the negative shapes of the lionfish. I am still contemplating changes. 

These next two pieces are also the jellyfish swimming around at the aquarium. The top is the first layers of color and the second piece is after more colors were added. I like seeing them together, both are really fun exercises.

This watercolor is of seaweed flowing underwater. I played with four color schemes (clockwise): Monochromatic, Analogous, Double Complementary and Complementary. I think I would like to try this one again but without the dividing lines, letting them flow into each other. 

For this exercise our instructor brought in slices and leaves of green and purple cabbages. We looked at shapes, how lines intersect and form shapes and patterns. In my experimenting and painting, I am finding that I often use colors right from the tube or slightly mixed with other colors. Apparently I like a bright colorful palette.

 

Last one for this post is working on Legion brand Yupo with acrylic inks and watercolor added afterward. I am still trying to figure out this Yupo surface which is very slick. It accepts inks and watercolors very differently than regular paper as it doesn't absorb and takes a long time to dry.

Two New Workshops!

I am teaching two workshops:

UPCYCLED BOOK SCULPTURE WORKSHOP 

Tuesday & Wednesday July 13 - 14, 2021, 10 am to 4 pm

Warwick Center for the Arts

3259 Post Road, Warwick, Rhode Island 02886 • (401) 737-0010

Members: $130 / Non-Members $150

In this 2-day workshop we will transform your book into a unique piece of artwork. There are endless possibilities of ideas for repurposing books into something fun and imaginative. A book sculpture can create a special memory or just a fun piece to embellish you home. Students will learn about techniques for altering books, folding pages and adding embellishments such as collage and color to pages.

This will be an in-person program, so we will be taking covid precautions. 

SESASIDE TREASURES IN WATERCOLOR PENCIL WORKSHOP 

Saturday, June 26, 2021, 10 am to 4 pm

Warwick Center for the Arts

3259 Post Road, Warwick, Rhode Island 02886 • (401) 737-0010

Members: $90 / Non-Members $125

In this one-day workshop we will be capturing the essence of the coastline by drawing and painting shells and other seaside treasures. Artists of all levels can discover the versatility when working with watercolor pencils. We will learn about tips and techniques on how to manage the color wet or dry as well as how to mix and layer colors, create washes and textures. Watercolor pencils are portable, versatile and great for travel, quick sketching or a detailed drawing. They can be used alone or combined with other mediums.  This will be an in-person program, so we will be taking covid precautions. 

For More Information Click HERE for the WCFA website

Hot Spots!

What I am doing while the Coronavirus spreading and scaring us all is working on new drawings. I started and finished this colored pencil drawing within two weeks, however the idea as been percolating in my thoughts for about two months. I have been working on some new drawings with stacked tea cups as my subject matter (I will post the others later) and wanted to create a drawing with dots reflected from the surface onto the cups. I wanted to achieve a design with brightly colored cups against a dark background.

My reference photo is the last photo, I couldn't find a dotted paper for the tea cups to sit upon so I created my own in Adobe Photoshop, printed them out and taped the sheets together to form the surface. The next step was to place the tea cups in order to achieve interesting reflections on the cups themselves. I moved them around and pulled down window shades so less light was reflected onto the shiny surfaces of the cups. I took many photos and later chose the one I liked best. 

I chose UArt 800 grit sanded pastel paper for the surface. This paper holds many layers of pencils and builds brilliant color quickly. It also smudges easily, you can see the marks on the paper below. I used Faber Castell Polychromos colored pencils for the first layer of color. Polychromos are an oil based pencil and keep a harder point than some of the waxier brands. They are perfect for this sanded surface and for burnishing the color into the paper with a bristle brush in order to create a solid surface of color. I continued with Polychromos for subsequent layers but also used Caran d'Ache Pablo and Prismacolor colored pencils if I needed other colors I didn't have in the Polychromos box.  Pablo pencils are also oil based and keep a harder point, Prismacolor are wax based and softer so they are better for top layers of color. 

I spray the drawing in between layers with workable fixative to keep the color in place. 

To create the solid background, I used a Staedtler Karat Aquarelle black watercolor pencil. I loosely and lightly apply the strokes to the surface without worrying about putting them on evenly. I keep the layer light because when I add water with a brush, it becomes a vibrant black (the surface behind the cups). Add just enough water to dissolve and move the pencil around, try to keep it as evenly toned as possible.

I have a solid black surface and after it dries I will add lighter colors that will give me a variation in colors and tones for my background because I don't want it to remain a solid black that will overpower my tea cups. I used three colors predominantly for the background: Polychromos Caput Mortuum, Pablo Greenish Black and Pablo Dark Gray. I spray with workable fixative.

I work on my light colors last because of all the pencil dust that moves around. I add my white dots and punch up all the light colors just before the drawing is finished.

I am excited about this piece! Maybe I should create a series!

Below is my reference photo I took from my still life set up:

Autumn Leaves with Watercolor Pencil

These are a few of my student drawings from our class today. Colorful autumn leaves and berries were the subject. We worked on hot press watercolor paper and started with layers of watercolor washes with watercolor colored pencils. The next layers were building up more layers and detail watercolor pencils and adding colored pencils (when dry) for details. 

We used a variety of watercolor pencils: Derwent Watercolor, Derwent Inktense, Caran d'Ache Supracolor Soft and Prismacolor watercolor pencils. 

Ampersand Pastelbord & Accordion Star Book

Started practicing using Caran D'Arche Supracolor watercolor pencils and water on 5x7" white Ampersand Pastelbord as an underpainting for colored pencil. I started with a simple line drawing, then added the watercolor pencil dry. Next step, I wet the pencil with water and brush and dissolved the pencil flowing it around the surface as a wash. I'm experimenting a little with what colors I would use for my underpainting. I found that when I started working in regular colored pencil over the watercolor washes, I liked having darker background colors. I finished the piece with Prismacolor colored pencils, softening edges and colors. 

Here is my finished accordion style star book with finished cover pages and ribbons to tie it closed when not on display. I'm happy with the result and can't wait to find an exhibit to display it.

Art Boot Camp Watercolor Class

These are three photos from my recent watercolor class during the Art Boot Camp that Felicia and I teach at Beach Studios. The students are working from still life objects they put together according to their liking and what they wanted to paint. I had each of them decide on a composition in their viewfinder, then sketch it out in pencil on the Fabriano hot press watercolor paper I provided. The next step was to apply watercolor washes to build color after which they experimented with watercolor pencils and water. The resulting paintings were anywhere from very detailed to very loosely painted. I always enjoy seeing each student's expression and style evolve in their work.

Two Upcoming Classes at Beach Studios

Felicia and I are kicking off the year with two sessions of classes. Our Art Boot Camp focuses on 2-week sessions of drawing, watercolor, monotype prints and colored pencil. It's a good way to try out the different mediums and experiment with them. Students will be working from still life set ups and this boot camp includes materials so our students don't have to spend extra money on the supplies.

The second class is a two-morning colored pencil class in which we will be working on Ampersand Pastelbord using watercolor pencils and colored pencils. I have prepared the project and we will be working from a photo reference.

Any interest? Contact us, there are a few spaces left in both classes.

CPSA Convention and Exhibition

 I had a wonderful time last week spending time with good friends, Lynda Schumacher, Debbi Friedman, Elizabeth Patterson and Dianna Soisson and our happy and wonderful CPSA President Cindy Haase (on the left). It was nice to see so many friendly faces and reconnect with members I hadn't seen since last year. The exhibition was exceptionally fabulous this year with 120  amazing works of art in the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center in Covington, Kentucky.

 Here is a portion of the CPSA silent auction table. Debbi Friedman's piece is on the left, my piece "Flying Away" (Bird of Paradise) is in the middle and Shawn Falchetti's drawing is on the far right.

While at the convention, I took a one-day workshop with John Ursillo. John works very successfully on canvas and taught us all about his techniques. He works on Fredrix Watercolor Canvas boards or Fredrix watercolor canvas paper which comes in a pad. He explained that you could actually work on regular oil paint canvas however, the weave of the canvas for oil painters is more coarse and not as tightly woven making it a little more difficult to achieve fine detail. The photo above shows my choice of a reference photo of the hummingbird and some of my materials. After I drew the outline of the hummingbird in regular pencil, I began drawing lightly with watercolor pencil and then blending it with water to create and build underpainting washes. John suggests spraying each layer of dissolved watercolor pencil with workable fixative before adding subsequent layers of washes. This is a helpful tip but I also found the workable fixative changes the surface of the canvas, makes it less absorbent for subsequent washes.

Next I added color and detail to the bird with regular colored pencil. I like the texture of the canvas, it is smooth enough for detail yet gives the appearance of a textured painting. The bird isn't finished but we were running out of time in the workshop so I began to work on the background and learn how to use solvent on the board. First I laid down a layer of Cool Grey 90% and then a layer of Indigo pencil on top of the grey. I tried John's technique for applying solvent to smooth out the background. I took the yellow brush (bottom left) dipped it in solvent and "pounced" all over the background to melt and blend the pencil. It was a bit of a challenge for me because I'm used to brushing solvent over pencil on other surfaces yet found it resulted in streaks if I used that method on this canvas. I found I just had to keep "pouncing" away to cover the area, it takes some patience and time. To work around the edges of the bird, John suggests sticking post-it notes on the edge as you work so the edge stays clean. My background wasn't completed by the end of the workshop, I hope to finish it in the studio and try working on canvas again. Also, to frame and present work on canvas, John sprays it with coats of Krylon UV Resistant Clear.