BATIK WITH FLUID ACRYLICS

Once again I've removed a painting from its frame and changed things.  The three photos here show the original painting at the bottom, the painting as it was when framed in the middle, and the top painting, which is now completed and reframed. 

Notice the changes to the window and the posts beyond the door in the top painting.  The window sill was adjusted to create more interest and variety there.  The stone work was also quieted down by simplifying some areas as well as by bringing back whites to the brick work.  All of this has helped create more movement in the completed painting.  A cool wash on the bricks helped settle down those aggressive warm bricks, allowing more emphasis to be on the man. 

The bottom painting had way too many bricks with no place for your eye to rest.  The foreground was too light, also. 

The Tape Batik process is one that I developed and love to share at my workshops.  I really like the finished painting now and think it was well worth it to adjust it.  Hope you like it, too.

COMBINING IMAGES

Before Photoshop, the best way for me to combine parts of photos was with scissors and tape. This first photo had wonderful silhouettes of distant gondolas against sun kissed Venetian buildings. The second photo with the same lighting source pictures gondoliers up close, perfect for a center of interest in my painting. The skyline of both photos could have been more exciting, so one of the beautiful domed buildings from further down the Grand Canal was plopped into the background after it was flipped over to lend similar lighting. Some of the gondoliers were erased, and the balding head of the gondolier on the left was covered with one of the erased hats. The water line was adjusted to be at the horizontal phi, thereby dividing that length up to be the most pleasing division of space. The dome plus the pole of the gondolier on the left are on the vertical phi of the width of the paper. By the time I'd done all this on Photoshop, I was getting well acquainted with the subject matter, the shapes, the values, and the nuances of the edges of the different shapes. Plus, I was reliving the magic of that ride on that first evening in Venice.

Last week's post showed the results of this same image, cropped in vertically, and painted as a batik, using hot wax and watercolor on rice paper. This week, my goal was to paint this same subject again on a full sheet of Arches and to make 'atmosphere' the most important part of the painting. Leaving out as much detail as possible was my focus. The only details would be in the shapes that really caught my eye in the first place.

With a loose sketch drawn freehand directly on the paper, I started with very fluid paint loaded in a large squirrel mop brush - not my normal brush to use. Thinking only warm and cool for colors, I began the sky area and added plenty of water to let it flow on its own. The paper was positioned on an incline as well as turned sideways, then upside down, depending on what I wanted the paint to do. There were a couple of small areas that were kept dry so that they would remain untouched white - on the dome and on the hat of the gondolier on the left side.

My brush was moving continuously as the shapes of the buildings were placed in on the damp paper. I squinted a lot to help eliminate details, and my reference photos were not in sight. The only thing I had for reference was a thumbnail pencil sketch of the values that were important to include.

The edges of the buildings fuzzed a lot since I was painting on damp paper, but a soft, indistinct background was what I was after. Once the shapes were placed above the water line, the water line was darkened, and the distant shapes of the gondolas were added using the same big brush. I actually painted the tops of the distant gondolas first, making sure to leave those somewhat triangular white shapes between the water line and gondolas. The bottom of those gondolas were brushed in quickly with a sure stroke rather than a tentative, careful one.

The two bigger gondolas and their passengers were next, and the water areas were also painted along with them. Care was taken to avoid damp areas where sharp edges were desired. There was an 'oops' moment on the left side of the left gondola when the paint met some dampened paper. Wednesday's class was watching and insisted that I not blot the 'oops.' I want to thank them, since that's now one of my favorite parts of the painting. That soft, unexpected edge seems to add a lot to the atmosphere I was after.

Most of the water areas went really well, as long as my brush stroke was quick and sure. Later when the painting was dry, I sprayed off the strength of the reflections under the left gondola where I'd used a more timid stroke. I did change to a 00 rigger brush to make the line of the oar for the left gondolier. I used that brush to sign my name, too.

Before I could go back and put in more detail, the class insisted I stop, and this next photo shows the painting at that point. I lived with it for several hours but felt it needed just a bit more definition in some of the buildings. It seemed to me that there was too big of a gap between the detail in the foreground and the quietness of the background. The painting also had soft, pale values and stronger, darker values, but very few mid tones. The second photo below shows the finished painting. Stage One above - about 2 hours of non stop painting, after many hours of preparation..... I was really exhausted when this part was done. Painting loose and leaving out detail is contrary to how I normally paint. I was way out of my comfort zone, but I was loving the challenge, too.

Stage Two below- the finished painting with hints of detail in the buildings, a bit more dark on the dome, as well as the water and shoreline softened in a few places. This style of watercolor painting is what drew me to watercolor in the first place and sparked my passion for it. Though I've explored many different techniques, I'm always enthralled with the beauty that watercolor has when the paint is allowed to behave freely with the water. Nita Engle calls it 'letting your painting paint itself.' I was sure tired after those two hours of letting that happen!

"SUNSET SERENADE" Transparent Watercolor on 140#R Arches 30 x 22" COLLECTED

YUPO ALL THE TIME

May 27th - New photo of painting posted --- The painting has been adjusted a bit since it was first posted two days ago. The hull of the gondola is a bit more accurate, and some areas have been lightened and warmed a little inside the work shop as well as inside the gondola. There's more warm/red on the face of the guy on the left, and the sweater of the man on the right has more variation in it now.

The demo was drawn and painted in under an hour - somewhat easy to do with so few values and shapes, especially using YUPO. Since the demo this past Saturday, I've probably invested about 2 more hours making adjustments. Time to STOP before it goes into overkill.

(Blog below was posted on May 25.)

Twenty artists explored painting on YUPO last Saturday in Bloomington, Indiana, and their explorations were dynamic, so creative, and very colorful. We used transparent watercolors as well as many tools and devices to apply the paint.

The time literally flew by, but unfortunately, there was little time for taking photos. I so regret not having the time to photograph the paintings that were near completion. The variety of subject matter and style was amazing.

This painting of two men discussing how to repair the gondola in their shop was one of the demos which I painted in early afternoon. After the demo, there was plenty of time for the workshoppers to develop their own original artwork, using the techniques they'd been practicing all morning. The critiques at the end of the day went way past the alloted workshop time, yet no one seemed to mind at all.The Bloomington Watercolor Society is a young organization - 5 years old - with over 80 members.... lots of talented artists with a strong desire to learn more about painting. I loved the diversity of people in the workshop - so enriching and inspiring. We all went home satisfied with a great day's work - actually it was all PLAY, not work, (except maybe for the concentrated efforts at making good design and composition in the paintings.)

It was great to see several artists returning from earlier workshops I'd taught. Teaching is so incredibly rewarding and invigorating, especially with a great group like the BWS. Thanks a bunch for asking me to give the YUPO workshop. Next time we'll have to explore using FLuid Acrylics like watercolor on the YUPO surface. Happy painting.

"TALKING BUSINESS" Transparent Watercolor on YUPO 26 x 20"

DEMOS

The first painting posted here was created this week during a demo for the Western Ohio Watercolor Society, and it's on YUPO, painted with FLUID ACRYLICS. The second painting is on 140# rough Arches, with nearly the same scene from Venice and painted with Transparent Watercolors only. It was painted as a demo the day before for one of the weekly classes I teach.

The result was two totally different moods just because the paper surfaces were so different. The quiet serenity of the Arches painting looks more like Venice looked when we were there last year. But, the YUPO painting feels more like I FELT when we were in Venice last year. Hope that makes some sort of sense.

Each person will have reasons for liking one over the other. I'd love to know what you think.

"GRAND CANAL GONDOLIERS" Fluid Acrylics on Heavy Weight YUPO 21 x 15"
and
"GRAND CANAL GONDOLAS" Transparent Watercolor on 140#R Arches 21 x 13" COLLECTED

This is the painting before changes were made to unify it more - see comments for details of what was changed. THANKS to Kathy's good eye!

CHOP AND CROP

Tomorrow evening I'll be doing a demo at the Springfield Museum of Art in Springfield, Ohio for the Western Ohio Watercolor Society. YUPO and FLUID ACRYLICS are on the menu, and this post shows a recent YUPO painting after an extreme makeover.

This painting was warm and cozy - see below - but changed now to be cool with hot accents in the focal areas. Lots of cropping was also involved. Using fluid acrylics on YUPO allows for an infinite number of changes and a million possibilities. Tomorrow evening should be lots of fun - and challenging, too.

"EVENING RIDE" Fluid Acrylics on YUPO 12 x 17"


Original look of painting
before adjustments,
as shown above

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

--- ADJUSTED PAINTING
Everyone has different ideas about how to know when a painting is finished. Here's what seems to work best for me...

A painting is completed when it's no longer in my possession. Until then, it's open for adjustments and changes, even if it's in a frame under glass (just ask Deb Ward, who so expertly framed, and unframed, for me for several years.) While it may not be good advice to give others, it works for me.

















This second photo shows the ORIGINAL PAINTING as it was completed tttt(before any changes were made) and posted this past January. Occasionally it would sneak out of storage and let me consider making adjustments to it. Finally it was matted and displayed in the studio.

Then Lydia returned to class from her travels and commented that this particular painting was not one of my best ones. It made me think long and hard about what could be done to make it better.

Because this was my first attempt at using masking tape on YUPO with fluid acrylics, I'd fallen in love with the possibilities of the process and set aside the importance of tweaking a good composition. Finally it was time to make amends and find a solution to make this a more dynamite painting that would compel the viewer to enjoy my impressions of the antiquity of Venice.

By comparing the earlier version with the 'finished' one, you can see that stronger oranges were added to parts of the wall and that the upper part of the painting was muted and darkened, thereby allowing the pure vibrancy of colors to stand out stronger in the focal area. The street light and its post also have more value changes to help add more interest there, especially as the iron 'arm' work moves across the dark of the window and in front of the dark doorway. The flatness of the white wall was darkened in the foreground to lend more depth, and the doorway was enriched with deep colors. The value contrast between the white wall and the brick was minimized at the bottom edge of the painting, too, by softening the edge of the white wall. In a few select areas, a pale wash of teal was touched in for a cool temperature surprise and to help make the oranges vibrate more.

There's a bit more drama and sense of atmosphere now in the painting with places that say 'look at me' and places to rest. Both excitement and quietness dance together, and the painting shows more about how I felt when I was there. The earlier painting let my eye float out of the top of the picture, but now my eye moves through the whole painting, finding more surprises along the way.

There's certainly a time to stop and step away from the painting. Going back into a completed painting can be tricky. In the past, for me, it was a tough lesson that took years to learn --- that trying to make it perfect with just one more brush stroke would simply kill the life of the painting. Many of my pretty good paintings ended up in the trash because of trying for that perfection. Yet, this painting needed help. Thank you, Lydia, for your 'wake up' comment. It made a wonderful difference.

"JOURNEY" Fluid Acrylics on YUPO 14 x 25"

One of my favorite quotes comes from Michael J. Fox. "We can strive for excellence, but perfection is God's business." Great advice for any painter. It's an art not a science!

NOT DICTATION

Little children peddling bikes into the morning sunlight through the narrow passages in Venice made me wonder where they were going. The backpacks they wore meant they must be headed to school somewhere. And the scene meant it must be painted, too, when I got home.

A month ago this was attempted in a workshop with Alvaro Castegnet, and now it's redone with more time taken for composition and value changes. The first post here is the final painting.

The second photo shows how the painting looked as I demo-ed it in one of the Wednesday classes. They insisted I stop at that point, that it was completed, but when they left, they all knew I would have to add more to it before I called it completed.

The original first draft is the really dark painting that's shown next, which was hurriedly done in the workshop and posted last month, too. I do love the warmth of the street in this one, though.

The last photo, my photo reference for this painting, was taken during those four glorious days in Venice. Lots has been left out and lots has been added. It was only a reference, an inspiration from that moment last year in Venice. In fact, in class, now I so often quote Alvaro's wise advice, "Don't let what you're looking at dictate what you paint."

"VENICE IS FOR KIDS - LIKE ME" Transparent Watercolor on 140#CP Arches 15 x 22"

MORE WORKSHOP WORK

Last week's workshop allowed very little painting time. Each day, Uruguay artist, Alvaro Castagnet, painted two demos while we watched, all the while wishing we would be able to paint with as much exuberance and liveliness as he did.

My first painting here shows a gondola repair shop that we passed by last year in Venice. It's just a little bluer on my screen than it should be, and although my photo is way darker than the painting, I like the way it turned out overall.

The second painting posted here started off really good, but the composition didn't hold together. I'll recycle the paper by gesso-ing over the surface someday and then eventually create a new painting on the gesso-ed paper. There's a good chance, though, that I'll also redo this same subject soon, developing a better composition before picking up the brush again.

That's one problem with workshops. It takes me some time to hatch a painting, and though I put thought into this composition, I was too locked into what the photograph showed. It's a do-over for sure.

Gondola Painting - "REPAIRS NEEDED" Transparent Watercolor on 140#R Arches 22 x 15"

WHITE!!!???!!!

Watercolor PURISTS would never ever use Chinese White watercolor paint in their paintings. Not ever. However, in Alvaro's workshop, we were encouraged to paint beautiful paintings, to not be conformed to 'rules' that would prevent us from succeeding.

This morning, I twisted the cap off my big tube of Chinese White and went to work on the painting I'd posted yesterday. Several juicy glazes of white, plus a bit more red and cerulean, resulted in a somewhat better painting. The previous one (see yesterday's post) was oppressively dark. Now this one is a little foggy and a bit mysterious.

Will the Watercolor Police arrest me for using white? Now where's my tube of Lamp Black?

CIAO!

WORKSHOP WEEK

The Watercolor Society of Indiana sponsors several workshops a year, and last week Alvaro Castagnet taught for five days in Indianapolis. There were 24 of us taking the workshop, and although most of the time was spent indoors, Friday morning we sipped our Starbucks while watching Alvaro paint en plein aire on Monument Circle.

Painting two demos a day, Alvaro helped us see how to create paintings using one large shape, some medium shapes, and many, many small shapes. He wielded his squirrel and sable brushes with what seemed to be careless strokes, yet each stroke was so full of his exuberance. His brush strokes speak of his intense excitement about painting, and that was one of his main messages for the week.

We were supposed to paint along with him, and I was able to do that on the first painting but had to go my own way after that. His first paint-along (small pix below is my copy of his original) was of a Venetian sunset with gondolas and began with a luscious, fluid wash, followed by swatches of medium and dark valued shapes.

His second painting was a European scene with awnings and people, so I chose a photo as close to his as I had - Venetian street with kids on bikes, from last years' trip to Venice - to work from. Once the rough sketch was done, the photo was tucked away to help me avoid painting all the 'stuff' in my photo. One of his favorite sayings is, "Do not let what you are looking at dictate your painting." EXCELLENT advice for any painter!

Much as I tried to make my washes glorious, they have that 'workshop, I-tried-too-hard' look. And overall, the painting is much darker than I wanted.

Keeping that brushstroke excitement in the picture is very challenging. In fact, it's my new challenge for the rest of this year. More of my workshop attempts at painting will be posted soon.

Top painting - "VENICE ON BIKES" Transparent Watercolor on 140#CP Arches 15 x 22"


Smaller painting - "Copy of Alvaro's Gondola Demo" Transparent Watercolor on 140#CP Arches 15 x 22"

Impromptu YUPO

This painting was done as a quick, impromptu demo for last month's batik workshop..... and it's done on YUPO paper. YUPO is a slick, plastic-like surface that will last for ages and ages. Painting on it with watercolor and fluid acrylics results in even brighter colors than if painting on regular watercolor paper.

At the end of August, I'll be teaching a YUPO workshop here in my studio, to introduce some unique and different approaches to using YUPO. All kinds of mediums will be used, from charcoal to Caran d'Ache crayons, even inks. Our subject matter will be limited only by our imaginations, and I'm looking forward to a great workshop.

Check out more info on the right hand side bar if you're interested in the workshop, but right now, I only have room for four more in the workshop.

"IRENE'S BRIDGE" Transparent Watercolor on Medium Weight YUPO 11 x 18" COLLECTED

REVISED PHOTO

The last post was way, way off on color and darkness. The post here shows the painting more accurately, I hope, though it's a little bit 'pinkish.' The temperature of the painting is very warm, orange-reddish...

After retaking the photo of the painting, I tried to adjust the results on my new Photoshop program to get it to match the painting as closely as possible. The last post of it (below) looks too green and light. I'm never sure how to set my camera to get the most accurate colors. Hope you don't mind seeing it AGAIN! It's also renamed - and I find that naming a painting is either really easy or else ridiculously impossible. This is one of those impossible to be original times.

"EVENING RIDE" Fluid Acrylics on YUPO 26 x 20"

VENICE on YUPO

This painting was one of the demos done at a YUPO workshop I taught this past April. The challenge was to begin the painting with one good white shape that was unpredictable, irregular, and had diagonal movement, and which took up less than a third of the whole paper. Everything around that shape was painted with a combination of cool, pale colors first. Next, some small warm darks were added.

From that point on, the painting was developed by interrupting that original white shape and painting in the dark and medium valued shapes. Much of the original white shape was obscured at this point.

This approach to painting takes some advanced planning, but it continues to amaze me how easily the painting falls together when done this way. The sense of unity in the painting is greatly enhanced because of the preliminary planning with the original good white shape.

I had plans to post some of the workshoppers' paintings but have somehow misplaced my photos of several of the finished paintings. I'll post what I do have later this week, even though some are works in progress.

"GONDOLIER" Transparent Watercolor on YUPO 20 x 26"

OIL OR WATER???

This oil study was done on canvas as a demo for one of my morning watermedia classes. Then, after the evening class met that night, we didn't have any classes for two weeks because of snow and ice and snow and ice and snow.

OR COULD IT BE ---MAYBE the snow and ice came along to cancel classes because the oils had invaded my WATERMEDIA studio? Punishment? It was all Carl's idea to have an oil demo, so maybe we can just blame all that winter weather on him! (Grin.)

Again, the idea was to capture my emotional response about the scene as quickly as possible with few details. A week later, while it was still snowing, I worked on the painting again, trying to straighten up the gondola, add in some more windows, and really messed it up. The sense of immediacy disappeared. It's in the dump now, having joined the piles of wasted watercolors that went before it.

The oil mess is cleaned up. The lids are on tight, and the tubes packed away, paper palettes pitched, brushes painstakingly cleaned ..... until next time. The snow's all melted, finally. Back to my fluid acrylics and watercolors.

AN EXTRA BRUSHSTROKE OR TWO

Some adjustments were made to this painting Thursday evening. The tall pillars, as well as some of the water areas, were darkened. More shadows and cracks were added to the building because I just didn't want to stop working on this painting. Some small dots of Cobalt Teal Blue were spotted here and there to add interest when viewed up close. The balcony grill work was adjusted, too, as well as that overhang above it. Gotta call it quits on this for sure or I'll fall back into my old ways of overkill. Can you see the slight differences the minor changes made? It's done.

EMPTY NEST???

Recently something unexpected has happened in my painting process. In times past, once a painting was about half done, I 'd often lose interest in painting it and have to push myself to stay with it. Occasionally I'd wish someone else would just complete the picture for me.

Lately I've discovered that I actually don't want a painting to be finished because I'll miss working on it. Is there such a thing an '''''empty nest syndrome''''' for painters? This post is one of the paintings that I didn't want to 'grow up and leave home.'

For the past several months, the entire process of planning, painting, and adjusting paintings has been invigorating and exciting. It's fun to see how the next part will look, to find out what would happen if... and I've certainly not been in my usual rush to finish works in progress. Even though I presently have a couple more paintings already in the planning and painting stages, I'll miss not getting to 'visit my brush' on the one that just got completed. Is that weird or not?

"SERENADE" Fluid Acrylics on 140#HP Arches 30 x 19"

DIFFERENT COLORS

Venice was incredibly beautiful. The light changed constantly and mesmerized me.

I quickly snapped a photo of this scene while we were hurrying to catch the water taxi again. It's my favorite picture I took on the whole trip and reinforces Linda's three second rule about taking pictures.

The lightest parts of this painting are pure white paper - no paint. I liked how the sunlit walls fasten into the sky area and decided not to define the sky with any color at all. Gosh, Venice glows!

This is painted with fluid acrylics, which are as transparent as regular watercolor when used like Nicholas Simmons uses them. Thanks, Nick, for teaching us!

"GOLDEN VENICE" Fluid Acrylics on 140#CP Arches, 24 x 19"

WAX BATIK & WATERCOLOR

Seeing Venice for the first time must be a thrill. We'll find out in late September when seven of us arrive in Venice to paint and explore for several days. I'm sure some shopping will be in order, too.

Our niece and nephew visited Venice several years ago so upon their return, I asked Kristin what she'd like painted from her trip - as a gift from us for her college graduation. She chose a more traditional style painting of Venice that I did for her, but the same scene as this one.

I had to try the picture again on rice paper using melted wax and transparent watercolors. I think the batik effect is both colorful and dramatic because of all the accidental textures, however, you never know until you iron off all the wax just how good or bad the painting will turn out.

My friend, Linda, first showed me the basics of how to do a watercolor batik many years ago. As a matter of fact, she's the one who finally convinced me to go to Italy two years ago! (Thank goodness!!!) And TODAY is her birthday. Check her blog out on the sidebar - Linda Schuler - and wish her a happy birthday. Thanks for sharing so much with me, Linda. Have a great birthday, too.

"CANAL VOYAGE" Wax Batik with Transparent Watercolor on Rice Paper 15 x 13" Collected

MORE YUPO

I recklessly painted the right hand side of this piece, then set it aside for several months. After deciding it was worth pursuing, I tried to capture that same reckless abandon as I worked on the other two thirds of the painting. Of course, as soon as you try, on purpose, to paint recklessly, you become immensely aware of each movement, therefore not painting recklessly.

Can you see the difference in the left and right hand sides? The left side still looks more calculated, timid, careful. The right hand side has a vitality to it that happened because I was just playing, not caring as much about the result as the joy of doing the painting. I was focused on the shapes, colors, textures, darks and light, edges...

I really really worked at getting the two sides to work ok together in the same painting. This fall, I'll be painting in Venice and the northern lakes area of Italy with several of my friends from Wednesday's morning class, so I may give this another try then.

"CITY OF LIGHT" Transparent Watercolor on YUPO 36 x 22"