Painting Expressive Watercolour E-Book

Bridget Woods

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 358

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Watercolour offers great potential for expression. Its fluidity, full colour range, generous spread and variety of marks can portray a likeness, a response, a feeling - even the notions of time and speed. This book is a practical guide to watercolour painting and more. It explains the importance of colour, tone, shape, texture and scale through exercises and shared techniques, but it also encourages the artist to express sensations and ideas in watercolour - and by exploring the joy of the medium, to develop handling skills, confidence and a unique painting 'voice'. Includes: getting started; materials, fundamentals and mark-making; ideas to trigger the imagination for developing personal style; a variety of images to inspire and encourage; and help and advice throughout to practice new skills and gain confidence with a medium that has the potential magnificence of a 'full orchestra', yet can be slipped into the pocket. Lavishly illustrated with 259 colour photographs.

Leseprobe

PAINTINGEXPRESSIVEWATERCOLOUR

BRIDGET WOODS

THE CROWOOD PRESS

First published in 2014 byThe Crowood Press LtdRamsbury, MarlboroughWiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2014

© Bridget Woods 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 84797 751 9

Frontispiece: Ardent. Summing up my passion for watercolour.

You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When youpour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Watercan drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend.Bruce Lee

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

1.GETTING IN THE MOOD

2.TEXTURE AND PATTERN

3.TONE

4.COLOUR

5.SHAPE, SCALE AND RECESSION

6.THE MESSAGE

Dedication and Thanks

Further Information

Index

Autumn Wind. A bold step from soft to sharp marks to express the bittersweet change of season.

PREFACE

I am not a teacher, only a fellow-traveller of whom you asked the way.I pointed ahead – ahead of myself as well as you.George Bernard Shaw

As a painter, I am continually learning:

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In the studio, the importance of the simple, basic joy of observation and ‘play’, questioning, imagining and wandering with attention, no matter how bizarre the trail. These contemplative factors enable me to be, at times, fluidly inventive, at others, wildly expressive.

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In the field, to engage all of my senses. Sometimes, I can sense a connection to an energy that is flowing seamlessly through me. Whatever the subject, by paying attention I open myself to this sensation, especially when painting wet watercolour. All I have to do is have the painting skills ready to let this energy flow through me and onto the paper. As flowing water picks up flotsam in nature, the clear energy passing through me picks up colour and is ‘tinted’ by the person that I am and a painting happens. Though I am in an altered state of awareness I have become reality. This is less to say that I have no will in the event, more that I am the event.

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Whether this sensation is a buzz, joy, excitement or thrill, it is so positive that I am driven to refind it. It happens sometimes by quietly focusing on the visual world, learning and copying with precision. At other times by occupying other senses with, for example, music, flowers, dance, voices, heat, birdsong or rain while painting. This distraction of the conscious mind often allows a subconscious response to the situation to slither through via the play skills, and create a painting that can never be repeated. Either way, whether I am flailing with seven loaded brushes or pecking and stroking with a 0.3mm lead pencil, time is stilled.

As a teacher I am still discovering the power of watercolour to express the past, present, future ideas and dreams of my world through trial, error and an open mind. Aware of the perseverance that is involved, I want to share my discoveries thus far, offering shortcuts and encouragement to other learners while holding a space for their own moment of discovery, development and personal expression.

This to me is the key for watercolour painting at any level of experience: the beginner’s mind which is aware of what is and open to what might be. I feel keenly that it is this ‘playing attention’ that engenders questions like, ‘Could I…?’ and ‘What about…?’ and opens a world of possibilities, invention and individuality.

With this approach, as a teacher, I learn more and the process of watercolour painting becomes an infinite, living thing, stretching way beyond the realms of finite accomplishment towards its unique potential for personal expression.

Watercolour may be considered by many to be a humble medium, yet it is my teacher and honest companion. Gentle, stern and frivolous, it is a mirror to my behaviour and can reveal my subconscious when I am sufficiently humble to look. For me it is the best visual descriptor of the human condition: mind, body and spirit. It unrelentingly tells me to be open, here, now. But secretly I hope, one day in the future, to be a worthy friend.

Geysir Pool – 2. An example of ‘re-presentation’. A metre of reality painted as accurately as possible yet still inviting many questions about scale, texture and depth.

INTRODUCTION

WHY DO WE PAINT?

Throughout history there have been many aspirational, practical, life-enhancing incentives for painting. How many of the following factors affect us now in our own society, whether as painting or non-painting individuals?

Survival – ‘capturing’ an animal on a cave wall

Spiritual – expressing the ‘worth-ship’ of powers greater than man

Immortality – creating an artefact to outlive its maker or subject

Direction – making signage and map symbols

Embellishment – decorating our bodies and homes

Symbolic – displaying identity with signs bold, discreet or coded

Communication – conveying a visual likeness, news or response

Expression – literally ‘getting out’ a non-verbal feeling or idea

Sensuality – ‘doing’; a multi-sensory proof of being alive

Study – learning by observing and recording a subject

Preservation – holding a visual moment in time

Meditation – focusing attention to occupy or calm the mind

Giving – creating an image to offer to another person or deity

Selling – exchanging an image for money for food and living needs

Today, when photography and film are available for visual communication, it might be said that the artist is released from the job of painting a likeness. Yet interest in super-real imagery in painting is still alive.

Painting offers an alternative and personal means of reportage. Every painter makes selective choices when delivering their viewpoint or testimonial. By accentuating or taking away some of the available information, all forms of painting lie somewhere along the scale of ‘expressive abstraction’. (Even a photographer does this by reducing three dimensions to two, ‘re-presenting’ forms as visual, not tactile facts and involving personal selection, such as framing and cropping.)

So what individual motives drive us artists, amateur and professional alike, to want to create an image or to paint? Here are some of mine:

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For the excitement of making something new, whether I am copying an external subject or an internal idea in my head.

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By observing, giving my attention to my surroundings, putting out ‘feelers’ to establish a connection and, allowing my senses to soak luxuriously into the elements, attuning to them. This motive for looking adds another dimension to scanning for survival reasons alone.

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To take time to develop visual skills which are continually enriched, even by dreams and on my ‘inner screen’. This enhances my experience of life and personal identity.

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To realign my own human time frames: physical, mental and ‘spiritual’. Painting takes me, as a separate being, from ‘in here’ towards ‘out there’ and obliges me to acknowledge the awesome fact that, out there in the landscape, are elements with much longer or shorter lives than mine. This attention to my place and lifespan helps me to slip into gear with it. Within an unknown universe, feeling more at one with the world I see can give me a sensation of peace, trust and openness, flowing with positive energy. The place between this sense of integration and the realization that the human holds a lonely role in the animal power chain on the planet is, at once, appalling, exhilarating and thrilling. I can feel this, whatever the subject.

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For the joy of playing with and learning to understand water: as an artist, I am always eager to try new approaches and ease the process of a medium that can fuse the connection between environment, consciousness and sub-consciousness. This fusion, which hints at true spiritual alchemy, happens rarely, yet the long-term effect is a sense of well-being. In order to create and draw together more of those magical moments I am happy to ‘train’ to be fit and ready for them.

Liz’s Mushrooms. Small but perfectly formed, these mushrooms encapsulate another existence.

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Ultimately, to express this connected sense of place right across a wide range of visual interpretation. This may be to study clinically, to learn about the purely visual character of the subject as it appears to my eye through a factual representation of colour and tone; more subjectively, to communicate my response to the subject; in more abstract terms, to express myself, the entity that I am, in any given situation. This can feel like an act of surrendering the ego and requires faith that I will ‘return’. I also accept that these paintings may not be understood or resonate with any other individual. All these verbose routes are possible and yet… I can feel this connection while painting a single cloud.

Stoke Clump Cloud. An everyday occurrence, yet this cloud stopped me in my tracks.

Painting develops my visual memory: the pleasure of visualizing is magical and can lift and move me no matter where I am. To be able to imagine, for example, an autumn day of soft mist, crunchy leaves and dank smells is a deep, basic joy of living. With observational and painting skills in hand, to be able to paint that idea, place and time is even better.

With a painting you can tell a story, a lie, a fantasy, invent, design new objects, animals and worlds. Visual information not only stimulates the eye but by association, triggers much more to invoke and express remembered atmospheres and the other senses of touch, sound and smell. When shown a bright yellow, oval shape the brain may subliminally remember the smell, touch, taste and warmth of ripening sunshine that makes a lemon.

To be able to express the sensations that you feel requires only two things: most importantly, your wish to express them, and painting processes that are effective for you.

CAN ANYONE DO IT?

Yes. Painting is an activity, a skill that can be learnt by anyone. It is considered by many to be a gift. I believe that it is a choice and a human right, as is driving a car. Learning to drive is complex and takes time and practice, involving not only different activities for each foot and hand but several modes of looking and thinking. Yet around the world, in most countries, regardless of age, gender, religion or nationality people are driving cars (and most of the time, avoiding each other).

Why? Because they choose to. Driving is neither a talent, nor is it hereditary, and with concentration and practice can be done extremely well. Painting is less complex and far less dangerous.

Learning this skill begins with the question, ‘What do I see?’ There are only five main visual factors to consider and identify. I call them the ‘Big Five’:

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Colour

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Tone

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Shape

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Texture

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Size

These are the building blocks of painting. Magic is not necessary to paint; only the ability to identify these basic visual elements. If you can see and identify these five factors out there or in your head then, with practice, you can paint what you want.

But this is the magic. Because every person is unique, their painting will be different not only from a photo but also from every other person’s. You don’t have to be ‘dramatic’ to be worthy, or already skilful in other expressive areas. Nor do you have to be ‘good’ in the subjective opinion of other people, to enjoy what is a basic human right, an expression of personal identity.

Everyone works in a different way. Some artists immerse, marinate and slow cook a theme and then say much with a few marks; others hop from idea to idea to refresh their creativity or frequently change their vantage point for an overview, while others revisit the same subject over a period of years. Every working practice is right, according to the artist.

The best way to express yourself in paint is your way, and your chosen way need not be influenced by a formula, fashion or habit. The magic will float in on the skill.

WHY CHOOSE WATERCOLOUR FOR SELF-EXPRESSION?

We humans have an affinity with water and a natural response to and respect for it. Not only do we gestate in it but water makes up about 50–70 per cent of human body weight. I believe that the attraction of seaside, lake and river holidays for people of all ages and the lure of raging seas and waterfalls is not coincidental. It is said that negative ions released by moving water give us a sense of well-being.

Watercolour is:

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Inexpensive – six colours, brushes, paper and water are all you need.

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Harmless – water is a non-toxic vehicle that does not damage health or clothing, and paints are monitored for safety.

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Unpretentious – watercolour can go anywhere and discreetly report any event, response or thought.

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Honest – transparency allows every mark made to remain visible so that diaphanous subjects, subtle ideas, even chronology can be expressed on one surface.

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Fun to play with – water is flexible and will run, splash, drip, dribble, soak, spray and evaporate.

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Good-looking – diluted with water, its transparency has a glow and luminosity that opaque media do not have.

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Sensitive to weather and season – water on paper, like a litmus, responds appropriately to heat, cold, wind, humidity, mist, rain and snow.

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Sensitive to artist’s mood – its versatility can make a wide diversity of marks and always reflects your personal language and mood.

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Practical – light and portable, forget gizmos and gadgets.

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Speedy – while a camera can visually record action or changing weather conditions, water can quickly spread colour while also evoking the artist’s subjective feelings.

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‘Alchemical’ – watercolour makes an original creation with the combined reaction of earth, water, air and fire: pigment, water evaporation and heat. The alchemy is complete if the painting sells for gold!

Riverbank – spring.

Riverbank – midsummer, midday overhead sun.

Riverbank – blazing evening light.

Painted over a fifteen-year period, these three paintings express a different response to the same location.

Fish in Orange Colander (detail). A translucent fin.

Mapson’s Farm Under Snow. Obliged to use melted snow for painting, cold, slow-drying conditions combined to give this tiny painting a soft, frosty look.

Fluidity. With water it was easy to drip in dark paint for this stained glass fretwork.

Eucalyptus – Summer Breeze (detail). Contrasted by a dark, dense background, swaying leaves are wetly painted to transmit the glow of sunlight.

Scorching Sunflowers. The harsh heat of midday sun in southern France caused quick-drying, sharp-edged paint marks.

Painting at Abu Simbel, using a field box and water-filled brushes.

Crystal Sealight. The thought of a North Cornish cliff-top, exhilarating wind, emerging sun and the smell of the sea encouraged me to be daring with marks.

Boat Passing – Sailor Waving. Painted from a small boat while tacking, I managed to make a series of six five-minute paintings in a half-hour sail.

Stoupe Brow Beck – approaching rain. I obviously had to stop painting but, in tune with the elements, this little watercolour painted itself both through, and despite, me.

The challenges are also the joys

Many people believe that watercolour is difficult because ‘mistakes’ cannot be covered up and that water is uncontrollable. But consider these two challenges for a moment because they also bring the greatest joys of watercolour.

The ‘no cover-up’ factor enables transparent glazing and the potential to express veils of memory, idea, suggestion and chronological time: an expression of serial events viewed simultaneously but always showing the palimpsest of the past.

In practical terms, semi-transparent paint allows a tentative, safe build-up of colour while an underlying construction is still visible beneath.

The free-flowing nature of water can easily be used to quickly cover large areas of paper with colours varying in hue and from light to dark.

The apparent unpredictability of flowing water brings the exquisitely sensory pleasures of play. Working with the mobility of wet colour, whether strong and rich or transparently opalescent, encourages the artist to live ‘in the moment’.

It is a condition of being human to want some control of our situation – not just external events but also our inner reaction to them. Interacting with water, nature, weather and life outside the self develops ways of adapting to and working with the whole environment. In combination with the landscape, water-colour offers the chance to ease up for a continuing journey to self-discovery and understanding of the human being in the world.

In this respect, watercolour has been and continues to be my brilliant teacher.

Time

Watercolour is positively addictive for describing weather conditions, whether you live in a temperate climate of four changing seasons, where there is always an exciting development, surprise or shock for the senses, calling to be painted, or one of extremes. But the transparent quality of watercolour is also capable of describing the abstract dimension of time, allowing the eye and brain to visualize a past, present and imagined future and, by painting layers, superimpose them in any appropriate order. So, this special medium can accentuate these interfacing notions of weather, climate and chronology; concepts which are made visible at times by their pattern and regularity, then at other times intersecting, crossing, blocking each other’s life rhythms, whether this be breathing, water, birds, wind, heartbeats, clouds, people clustering on a beach, roads through woods, walking or rock formations.

Painting people (‘life’) with watercolour gives me a similar thrill because, like the model, the medium is also alive, ‘breathing’, moving and changing and, whether the pose is short or long, it has the capacity to ‘dance to the rhythm’ of the subject.

Ferry Café Sunset. The funnelling together of diverse people, temporarily locked in a floating vessel, no land in sight. Fixed yet moving, it is an edgy world, a no-man’sland of arbitrary time and place, which at twilight subjects its inmates to the paradox of overlapping light, natural and neon, mingling in windows and mirrors.

Move to the Rhythm. Though proportionately inaccurate (focused on the moving hands, the enormity of the harp took me by surprise), this was a galvanizing experience combining free movement while painting and a treat for my ears and soul.

MATERIALS

The least for the most

This list will be brief because I believe in carrying the least amount – both in size and weight – that can achieve the most. Carrying less, the more likely you will be to take painting equipment with you on any trip or walk and also have less to pack up, wherever you are.

PAINTS

For portability and economy, a palette needs no more than these six colours. If you are not sure of a colour by its name, there is an international colour index numbering system, e.g. PV19, which identifies and links colours regardless of manufacturers’ names. (The reason for this choice and ordering of colours will be made clear in Chapter 1.)

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Ultramarine (PB29), Cobalt Blue Deep (PB73) or Cobalt (PB28).

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Winsor Blue (Green Shade) (PB15), Phthalo Blue (PB15) or Intense Blue (PB15).

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Winsor Lemon (PY175).

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Transparent Yellow (PY150), New Gamboge (PY153) or Winsor Yellow (PY154)

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Scarlet Lake (PR188) or Winsor Red (PR254).

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Permanent Rose (PV19).

BRUSHES

Round at the neck and with a pointed tip. Soft, natural hair brushes are better than nylon for water-holding and avoiding scrubbing, abrading the paper or smearing previous washes. Good Chinese brushes are ideal.

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1 × small (length of hairs approximately 12mm).

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2 × medium (length of hairs approximately 25mm).

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3 × large (length of hairs approximately 40mm). A soft make-up brush is ideal and inexpensive.

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2 × sable riggers, sizes of your choosing (I have sizes 0, 2 and 3).

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Nylon Ivory Short Flat No. 6(www.rosemaryandco.com) for lifting paint off when dry (nobody is perfect – I call it ‘unpainting’).

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Emery board (wide) for textured and italic marks.

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For keeping the brushes together: a rubber band or split bamboo brush holder (never leave brushes in the water or upright as water in the neck can expand and break a bamboo handle or rot the bristle). To avoid losing brushes on site, consider adding red fluorescent tabs or nail varnish.

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Foam toenail separator – for supporting several prepared and loaded brushes. These are cheap and, if pink, easy to spot in the long grass.

PAINTBOX

I recommend a lightweight box that contains deep mixing palettes and compartments for your own choice of half pan, full pan or tube colours, which neatly closes. The ‘Liz Deakin’ paintbox is ideal.

WATER POT

Low, broad for stability, leakproof and with a handle. A cut off water bottle or food containers can be customized.

SKETCHBOOK

A5 size cartridge paper.

PENCILS/CHARCOAL

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Mechanical pencil (no need for sharpening) or combination biro/pencil, with 2B leads if possible, for tonal work.

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Water-soluble graphite pencil.

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Thick (1cm diameter) charcoal and fixative.

PLASTIC ERASER

Lifts graphite, charcoal and pastel cleanly. Can be washed, cut to fine point and does not attract water-resistant oil.

PASTELS

For quick preliminary colour ideas.

PAINTING BAG

I have customized a light picnic rucksack. Flat-bottomed, it stands up to make a ‘table’ for my brushes. The front can open like a hinged door to act as a windshield if necessary (when I am painting lying on a cliff, for instance). It has elastic fixtures for utensils and an insulated, waterproof compartment for food and drink. (I bless the friends who gave it to me.)

PAPER

Such a key element in successful watercolour painting (after understanding water) that I recommend trying to find the paper(s) that you like and sticking with it (them) for all painting, including important playtime. Nevertheless, keep an eye open for new papers and listen to other artists. Further information on paper types is given opposite.

NEWSPRINT PAPER/NEWSPAPER

To lay under my painting and absorb any excess moisture, particularly at the edges, avoiding unplanned oozles.

CLIPS

Two to four bulldog (not slide-on) clips.

BOARD

Corrugated plastic board or foam board is firm but light and can easily be cut to size.

PAPER PORTFOLIO

Lightweight, sturdy and waterproof, with a shoulder strap. Size to suit. For general use and travelling, I use half-sheet size, i.e. 19 × 25in (48 × 64cm).

EASEL

The ideal easel for standing to paint is metal, sturdy yet light, with a long ‘mast’ bar which tips and grips between horizontal and vertical postitions, in a non-distracting colour, with case. My current preferred easel is the ‘Sheffield’ by Reeves. A hinged table easel that easily tips and grips between horizontal and vertical can be used for standing or sitting in the studio.

Painting in my studio. This photo shows: the evolving accretion of stimuli and memorabilia that express me and influence my painting; painting bag with canvas brush holder across the top and toe separator in use; Chinese and Japanese brushes; corrugated plastic board, newspaper; unfixed painting; easel with waterpot hooked over the front.

An ‘orchestra’ in your pocket

This is my minimum painting pack:

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Winsor and Newton field box, customized with six colours (as above) plus brush, larger-headed than supplied, with handle shortened to fit in box.

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Five water-filled plastic brushes for speedy paint sketching – although fibres are nylon, they are non-tangling and self-cleaning (e.g. Aquash by Pentel).

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Small Rough watercolour sketchbook or Khadi Zigzags, brilliant for turning a walk, day out, weekend into a short story you will never forget.

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Plastic bag to carry field kit and, in damp conditions, for sitting on.

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I also work from my digital camera in pubs and even restaurants with this lightweight and unobtrusive kit.

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Just a thought: sight, touch, taste, smell, hearing. We process all that sensory information in a head that is the same size as a field painting kit (watercolour, of course). The major difference is weight (average head: 1,400g; box, brushes, paper, water: 225g). So it is worth carrying them both at all times.

Painting olive trees before breakfast. A few spare minutes, field box and zigzag of paper.

GUIDELINES FOR USING THIS BOOK

The Big Five:Colour, tone, shape, texture, size

These are the basic ingredients of our visual world, which combine with our other senses to keep us alive and affect our quality of daily living. On painting courses, when they are brought together under dry ‘umbrella’ concepts such as composition and perspective, for example, it can be easy to wait for the ‘rules’ and sacrifice the deep intuitive sensation that tells us how we individually feel – glimpsing, looking around, sniffing, listening out for the atmosphere. While most paintings combine the Big Five, Chapters 2 to 5 will focus broadly upon each visual factor and the dominant links it may have with other human senses and feelings. Understanding the importance of these instinctive associations can help the artist identify personal response, then add to, transform or depart from photographic likeness with confidence. Related projects will be suggested as starting points from which the artist can develop their own style with ease.

Watercolour is the vehicle of expression in this book, and though later chapters can be used separately, they are all underpinned by the essential skills in Chapter 1, Getting in the Mood. It may be useful for the reader-painter to shake off habits and approach this with a beginner’s mind. I believe that the secret of watercolour handling lies not in a mindset of mastery, but in a basic understanding of equality and friendship with the medium.

Expression or communication?

In painting terms, these are not necessarily the same. Expression: literally, to press out, make a representation of, state.

Expressive painting can describe a likeness, a response, a feeling or an idea and may be shared, understood and communicated or not. Expression can be any statement, from a wandering doodle to raw paintmarks, which are used to offload a powerful feeling or to engage in a purely personal ‘dialogue’ when other means are not sufficiently subtle or effective.

However, unintentionally, images do frequently communicate to others, either through the by-product of shared human or cultural conditions, or sometimes simply by triggering a totally different memory. Nevertheless, expression does not need an external viewer. Communication: to share, enjoy in common.

For a painting to communicate, an external body is usually a stimulus for its creation and the measure of its success. If this is the case, be prepared for the notions of dual judgment, of good and bad, which are often defined not just by an individual’s subjective response but according to the criteria and influences of society, fashion of the day or cultural habits.

What would you like your painting to achieve? How much does it matter to you that what you express communicates to others, and to whom?

Tone or value

I will use the word ‘tone’, rather than ‘value’, to mean lightness or darkness to avoid any ambiguity with value’s other meaning of ‘worth’.

Brushstrokes

I use the word ‘brushstrokes’ to describe a mark resulting from the dry or wet condition of first the brush and then the paper. So, I will call a mark made with a wet brush on wet paper a ‘wet in wet’ brushstroke; likewise, ‘dry in wet’, ‘wet on dry’, ‘dry on dry’. After the first description of these marks I will use the abbreviations WW, DW, WD and DD for simplification.

The physics of watercolour painting

I aim to be an experiential art tutor in a real 3D teaching situation and as far as possible, within time constraints, encourage empirical discovery to create a learning situation for everyone. What I know of water, light and colour is largely based on observation with students over many years. But, in the 2D realms of a book, while wanting to share my adventure (so far) in the same way, rather than dialogue with you, I am obliged to offer some suggestions and findings. I am not a theoretical physicist and can only accept that, for example, a yellow pigment particle apparently absorbs all other light from the white light spectrum except yellow, which it reflects for my eye and brain to identify with the word ‘yellow’.

In truth, I have no idea what it is like to be a yellow-coloured particle and accept this as a reasonable explanation. Though I may have an anthropomorphic tendency when describing the fragility of paper or the bullying or yielding activities of water, if this yellow pigment were in pollen or petals, I am under no illusion, however attractive I may find the flower in question, that it has any reciprocal intentions towards me! Rather instead, a desire to attract birds and bees who apparently perceive a different range of colour to humans.

The neuroscience of eye and brain

I am sceptical about simplified explanations of the functions of the human brain, the study of which continues to reveal more complexity, subtlety and plasticity. In my own experience as an artist/teacher, I am empirically convinced that there are undiscovered depths of sensory awareness, particularly in the area of synaesthesia, or linked senses waiting to be explored. So, lacking knowledge and in order to leave the gate flexibly open when teaching, I often refer to the ‘grey mass’ as ‘Clever brain’ to serve as a blanket description for an organ with surprising abilities that I can only, with amazement, witness in others and experience first-hand.

Speed, link, mark

Given the tiniest hint of visual information, the brain can, through memory, likeness, comparison and other remembered sensory experiences, identify, interpret and respond at lightning speed. Is this important for the artist? For me, the speed of the link between received information, response, message and mark is vital (a word which encompasses both life and necessity) and requires a medium that is an extension of that spark.

Genius is when an idea and the execution of that idea are simultaneous.

Albert Einstein

The expression of being

Comparing media, current technology offers ways of expressing an idea at speed by, and for, the ‘brain on the sofa’ but leaves some corporeal, tactile aspects of living unaddressed and unexpressed. Some painting and 3D media may involve a greater physicality but compared to watercolour, are often heavier, impractical to carry and require a studio that is away from a subject like landscape.

Watercolour is a light, portable medium, ready to express a wide range of the sensibilities of being, from ideological to visceral, with vitality. Because its application involves the whole being, its marks can convey that sense of humanity to the viewer. While new technology can film, send, enlarge, print or design an event or artefact with button, key or touchpad, there is relatively less engagement for both practitioner and responder. Watercolour, used in the way to which I aspire (sometimes momentarily achieve), invites a combination of mental and physical engagement and can really flow and express – more than just reportage – a direct response, the layered subtlety of message, conversation and even time.

Painting speed may vary but ‘fast’ really does come with skill, which is born of open-ended play, reflection and again, more play.

Woodland Spirit. A touchpad cannot mimic the sensation of making these marks.

The importance of ‘playing attention’

Play with water. See what happens when….

Many people paint only once a week, then, losing the momentum of that session’s gained skill, gradually develop a safe draw-and-fill-in process, which excludes the major enjoyment of watercolour. Intuition is born of skill, which is itself born of experience. There is only one way to understand water-colour and that is to regularly ‘jump in’ and splash about. Just a few minutes’ regular play increases skill and is risk free. If you hear the word ‘why?’ from outside or in, reply ‘why not?’ If you play, you cannot be wrong and you will learn from the marks you make.

If possible, stand to paint. Strangling the brush by the neck, anxiously bending over the paper, timidly dipping the tip of the brush in damp paint and pecking at the paper can quickly become a habit. You and the brush will get neck ache, the muddy results will only affirm your fears and the water will get bored!

We may content ourselves with a joy ride in a paint box. And, for this, Audacity is the only ticket.

Winston Churchill

Subject base

There is nothing like drawing or painting on the spot for savouring the effects of natural ambient light on the eye and the accompanying smells, sounds and weather conditions of an all-round physical experience. I choose my subjects for differing reasons but believe that any subject has the power to make a connection when it receives attention. I am not fixed to one type of visual source because the interaction, sensation or idea is what counts. This can be strongly felt and painted in the moment or make no impact until recalled by memory or be revealed later by increased understanding. Sometimes a photograph or sketch can lay down facts that lie dormant for years until they revive a complete experience that is easier or clearer to identify at a distance. Each of these different ‘realities’ can tap into the feeling for me.

Water. I was only, but with great attention and no fear, puddling, pondering, wandering, wondering and exploring different ways in which water manifests itself. I am fond of this painting because this state of open-minded discovery has an un-selfconscious freedom and confidence, which feels very joyful.

Your relationship with you, the artist

Develop an even-handed approach to your appraisal of all things visual. Not cold, but neutral and open to response without prejudice, so that when you look at your own painting, you can more objectively ask, know and feel what you have achieved. Developing an awareness of not just how you respond to any image but why, will help your skills of visual self-expression. Say it out loud or write it down if necessary until you are in the habit of responding to the aspects of your painting which have worked, as well as those which have not. There is no external yardstick. This is your decision.

BEST LEARNING

Stand back from your painting frequently. Take time to observe and, without lying, celebrate your progress with praise, develop an understanding of the links between your internal and visual sensations, and encourage yourself to persevere.

Not looking at, tearing up or throwing away a painting is like destroying your most important tool for development: the ‘evidence’. It can quickly become a cyclical habit, leaving no opportunity for open-minded learning. It can also waste the backside of the paper which could have been a masterpiece, if only the painted side had been studied! False modesty is negative and can, by affirmation, cloud your own and everyone’s assessment of your painting and is a truly terrible waste of good creative energy. When you make marks that you know feel right, savour their lusciousness, incisiveness and significance.

SIXTY-SECOND TURNAROUND

If ever I feel despondent, I have a stretch and give myself sixty seconds to turn my mood towards a neutral, even-handed view. I look at my watch and usually within ten seconds I am ‘there’ – because I want to be.

BE A POSITIVE TEACHER

A good teacher encourages, is open to, draws out, shares, works with and learns from their student. Both people arrive somewhere new as a result of this discourse, in the time that it takes. If you are painting for yourself and on your own then please be this positive teacher. The rewards will be to experience joy in the process of painting and to see your individual style emerging with confidence. Remember, nothing needs to be shown publicly unless you decide to share it.

Watercolour as a friend

If you follow the book I guarantee that you will feel more confident about your own skills and painting ‘voice’. Always try each new idea or exercise several times on different subjects because watercolour is your patent, plain-speaking friend and will always manifest to you ‘where’ you are. It announces when you are unsure, slick, timid, impatient or daring. Because it is transparent and all marks will show, the learning process is a serial one, so, like a dialogue with an intimate friend, water-colour has the potential to work like a recording mirror, if you will let it. And when you have to paint your way into dark places, even to a completely black sheet, it will go with you without resting and still be available afterwards to mull over your decisions along the way.

But like a good friend, watercolour is always longing to play again, try out other routes with you and will reward you tenfold if you observe how it naturally wants to behave. The best water-colour shortcut I ever made was simply accepting this fact.

No man can know where he is going unless he knows exactly where he has been and exactly how he arrived at his present place.

Maya Angelou

THE HUMAN, THE SURROUNDINGS AND EXPRESSION

We unconsciously accept the associations we have between the senses of sight, touch, taste, smell, hearing and physiological response, including emotion, as a part of our survival mechanism because they stem from an archaic but sophisticated awareness, evolved over millennia, of our small selves within a large world. These links also enable us to wonder about the universe. This book aims to keep that combined awareness alive in the following ways:

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Developing a sense of self ‘worthship’ in the individual to express himself as both different from, and part of, a whole with mankind and nature.

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Acknowledging, developing, maybe rediscovering, these sensory links through the weather- and mood-sensitive medium of watercolour.

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Offering my watercolour discoveries (so far), not as a formula but as jumping-off points for finding/growing your own style and to speed your progress by possibly avoiding years of hit-and-miss.

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Encouraging a contemporary development or re-birth of watercolour (paradoxically considered to be a ‘lesser’ or ‘difficult’ medium).

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Pointing to our changing natural world, rather than objective ‘traditional’ landscape.

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Showing that, together with new, brilliant, non-toxic, light fast pigments (not available in the past), it is this special combination of artist, medium and subject, which is both ‘of the moment’ and universally timeless.

In short, by championing a personal response by the individual to the subject through the medium.

The next chapter offers the artist, regardless of experience, the ‘tools’ of transparent watercolour painting in such a way that will hopefully invite the most important outcome: a personal response that develops a unique style of expression.

Morning Blaze. Turning a shady corner, I looked up to wave to a friend and was hit by the force of the sun.