WoodsWindnWater
|
Home Gallery Reproductions Artist Studio Schedule Contact Us |
|
Welcome to my Studio! |
![]() |
Painting Demonstration
Let me preface by saying, much
of the energy I get for painting comes from my students. In my junior year of
high school, my guidance counselor did his best to encourage me to pursue a
career in art education. My reply to him was I wanted to "do", not teach. It was
the only subject I felt I was good at and I wanted to see my endeavors in the
public eye. In my later years, to help support my business financially, I chose
to give a workshop. The enthusiasm of those students building on something I was
able to share with them came back to me tenfold. Thanks Frank.
That said, I thought I'd try a second lesson at
WoodsWindnWater.
This will give you an idea of my
approach to painting with watercolor and oh yes, here comes the commercial,
hopefully entice you into participating in one of my workshops.
I'll be posting this demonstration over a
number of weeks beginning first with the preparation, heretofore referred to as
"prep". I live by the adage given to me years ago; "Watercolor painting is 90%
thought and 10% execution".
Those of you who have looked at the first demonstration have
read what's here. You may skip to the demonstration if you wish but this is good
stuff and worth repeating.
If drawing is your weakness, practice or enroll in a drawing
class near you. Your painting will be only as good as the drawing. Your drawing
is the painting's foundation forming the shapes and boundaries of color.
Sketch little things like a coffee cup, a shoe, a piece of fruit, etc. The best
thing you can do for yourself when approaching art is to study your subject.
Draw it repeatedly, at eye level, bird' eye view, turn it's direction, put it in
direct sunlight and then backlight. You want to be aware of the changes in
shadows caused by the direction of the light source. Practice, practice,
practice!
Week 1
|
The Value Sketch If you looked at my first demonstration, Gator, I started with a value sketch. This is always a good idea in order to get a feel of where the darks and lights will be in your painting. We are, however, going to skip the value sketch for reasons that will soon be self evident. This painting began as a class demonstration about painting a sunset. At 7" x 15", this painting is more of a color rough. I liked it enough to attempt it in a larger scale with a few embellishments and a little more detail. |
![]() |
![]() |
This was, or is, my photographic
reference. I mean that sincerely. Most of us started painting by copying
our reference verbatim, myself included. As we progress, we need to reduce the mechanicalization and become more reliant on our artistic
interpretation. Thinking about the reason for the value sketch we didn't do, I'm looking for value changes in the photo. The contrast between the bright sky and the silhouetted barns is what I want to paint. The cloud shapes, number of and size of buildings, location and size of trees in the photo is somewhat immaterial. The size I make these subjects and where I position them along with their values is what's important. First, the demonstration painting will be larger. Secondly, I don't feel the values are quite right. I need to darken the cool barns and perhaps tone down the strong warm colors in the sky. From a design standpoint, there is conflict in the point of interest. Is it the sunset or the barns? I have decided to take advantage of the large space given to the sky and add a flock of geese. This will not only draw interest but will complete a basic design principle, that of the triangle. The eye should flow from the geese to the sun to the barns or some variation thereof. |
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Copyright © 2009 Dan Meyer · All rights reserved
Reproduction or alteration of any part or all contents of this website without
written permission of the webmaster
is strictly prohibited and will constitute an infringement of copyright law.