| Author | Message | ||
  Grizrev Senior Member Username: Grizrev Post Number: 606 Registered: 8-2006 |
Eric, overworking skies as well as other parts of a painting is a distinct liability for watercolorists. You are right about using the largest brushes possible to avoid the overworked look that comes from obsessive fiddling with detail, when broad, sure strokes indicating the major shapes are much more appealing to our eyes. The other way to avoid overworking a sky is the way Ng Woon Lam did it -- working wet in wet, so that the colors smooth themselves into agreeable shapes and blend in pleasing combinations. | ||
Eric Junior Member Username: Eric Post Number: 19 Registered: 4-2008 |
Hey, no problem George. I just wanted to make it clear that my comment wasn't an "unthinking, painters-should-only-do-what-the-majority-does" type of statement. I honestly thought the painter was making it harder for himself and risking an overworked sky by using that brush. Anyway, I also shouldn't be overly sensitive. By the way, Ng Woon Lam is very, very talented. | ||
George Unregistered guest |
Jack. very well said. I wish I had your verbal skills. Eric, Your original post was lighthearted and full of fun. I wish I had kept my response as lighthearted. | ||
Grizrev Senior Member Username: Grizrev Post Number: 559 Registered: 8-2006 |
Eric, I think all George meant by "majority rule" was an acknowledgment that you were correct in noting that the generally accepted way of laying washes and painting large areas is to use the largest brush possible. At the same time, he wanted to make room for people who dislike being bound by convention (such as those who have posted in the past objecting to my use of the terms "laws" or "rules" in regard to the elements and principles of design). These are the creative people on the cutting edge, who, although they often make mistakes or go down blind alleys, also come up with new techniques and "schools" of painting. George's comment simply tips his hat to both kinds of painters. He is simply encouraging all of us to be free and joyful in however we go about our paintings. Probably what Lam was doing was foregoing the use of a larger brush to gain a little more control in painting his sky around the building -- but that's only conjecture on my part. He could have used a larger brush to put in the sky, then have come back to paint his building over the sky. Both methods work. Maybe he could only afford one brush!  | ||
George Unregistered guest |
Eric, I’m sorry for my choice of words. I didn’t mean to be insulting. When I wrote; “Why limit oneself to majority rule”, I thought to myself that’s not exactly the point I want to make but couldn’t think of a better way to say it at that moment. I understood that you were saying for you it was the wrong tool for that specific job. My reaction was not really directed toward you, but to the concept (the mechanic’s rule of using the right tool for the specific job). In art is there really a best tool for any specific job? I would argue there isn’t. I do realize that you were saying that for an individual artist (like yourself) there can be a best (favorite) tool for a specific job. There’s nothing wrong with that. I have favored tools for specific tasks when painting too. The point is, because we are all individuals the “right” tool isn’t always going to be the same tool for everyone. | ||
Eric Junior Member Username: Eric Post Number: 18 Registered: 4-2008 |
My point on "using a bigger brush" to paint the sky was based on the specific painting that Ng was painting. For that painting and that particular sky I thought it was an odd choice and it looked to me like the wrong tool for that specific job. It was merely an observation and my opinion about what seems logical to me and had nothing to do with George's comment about majority rule. (I took that comment as somewhat insulting, meaning that the only reason I would recommend using a larger brush to paint the particular sky in the video is because that's what the "majority" believe. | ||
Whitewatercolor Senior Member Username: Whitewatercolor Post Number: 351 Registered: 10-2006 |
Dial up is disgusting...I miss so much! | ||
Grizrev Senior Member Username: Grizrev Post Number: 558 Registered: 8-2006 |
George, once again I agree. It's amazing the art that can be created picking up almost any kind of tool, from a popsicle stick to a cut twig! Smaller brushes used with dashing enthusiasm like Lam, or someone using a hake (see my links on an earlier post), can both do lovely skies! | ||
George Unregistered guest |
Jack, very well said! Eric, it looked like a size 12 to 16 to me, but it doesn’t matter because there is no right way to paint a sky. Mostly I use a size 10 to paint a sky. When you consider variety of brush sizes, shapes and hair types which could be combined with an equally wide variety of paper sizes, thickness and textures, the number of possible combinations is enormous. Why limit oneself to majority rule? | ||
Eric Junior Member Username: Eric Post Number: 17 Registered: 4-2008 |
Fast sure strokes without second guessing for me can only happen when I've made a value sketch. It's so important to me that I consider the painting half-finished when I have a good sketch. By the way, did anyone else notice Mr. Ng using a too-small brush (it looked like an 8 or a 9) when he painted the sky, which was a fairly large area. I found myself shouting at the screen, "Hey, use a bigger brush!" | ||
Grizrev Senior Member Username: Grizrev Post Number: 557 Registered: 8-2006 |
George, I do understand what you mean. Some of my worst watercolors have been a result of being too slow and deliberate, over analyzing before and during the process, obsessing on details and fiddling around reworking things, etc., etc. That approach is worrisome and exhausting and by no means calming. When you get into the flow, the groove, or whatever in your brain, painting with fast sure strokes without second-guessing often works amazingly well. That is especially true the more painting you do, the more the process becomes second nature, and the better you have first composed the painting in your mind and drawn it out in your sketch. I think I first discovered that during a Tom Lynch seminar. That having been said, Holfeld's videos, though entertaining for sure, are an overdrive blur for someone wanting to see and think about his process and technique. | ||
George Unregistered guest |
Jack, I know what you mean, but I have trouble slowing down my mind (It’s often racing) so I find the speed painting videos entertaining. I especially like the way Holfeld coordinated the sped up hand movements with the timing of the musical movements. But, you make a good point, watercolor painting should be a peaceful, calming, non-frenetic experience. I do better watercolors when I’m able to slow down the tornado that is my mind. However, my best watercolors are done when my hand begins to speed paint without my mind simultaneously racing. Unfortunately that doesn’t happen often enough, and it’s not possible to consciously will it to happen. Ah, well….the mystery of the human brain. | ||
Grizrev Senior Member Username: Grizrev Post Number: 556 Registered: 8-2006 |
George, Holfeld's painting is lovely, but it clearly does depend on the use of gouache (which is a water soluble medium and one of the legitimate water media [Turner and others used it in their watercolors]; nevertheless, it is much more opaque than transparent watercolor as most of us think of it -- look at the covering power). That having been said, the result does lean more toward what we think of as the light enhancing qualities of a transparent watercolor rather than the look of oils or acrylics. The speed painting, though efficient for recording a reasonable length clip, drives me crazy -- not so much because I can't pick up the particulars of what is being done, but because I think of watercolor painting as such a peaceful, calming, non-frenetic experience. I can't imagine enjoying fly fishing at that pace! | ||
Grizrev Senior Member Username: Grizrev Post Number: 555 Registered: 8-2006 |
Speaking of looseness (which we often as*ociate with the approach of many of the Impressionists), its rather messy washes seem to work well when there is an excellent underlying drawing (correct perspectives, good composition, etc.), followed by beautiful calligraphy (great use of the rigger)to interpret the intended form, and good use of white space. Here are links to more of Ng Woon Lam that demonstrate what I mean: youtube.com/watch?v=T0fdRCR8R1s&feature=user youtube.com/watch?v=6hufRxne3aQ&feature=related | ||
George Unregistered guest |
Jack, I agree, but if they do it at normal speed they can’t get the entire painting into the video. This video (below) is my favorite. The artist claims he did it with only watercolor, but I think he really means gouache (one type of watercolor many are not familiar with). http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=10078847 | ||
Grizrev Senior Member Username: Grizrev Post Number: 554 Registered: 8-2006 |
Someone recently mentioned that they enjoyed using a hake brush for looseness and texture. Perhaps it was the person who was enjoying Ron Ranson and the painters he admires. The links below show a painter using the hake, a rigger, and a coin to scrape in textural features of this kind: youtube.com/watch?v=lHWNNVSnWwI&feature=related youtube.com/watch?v=dKOFEgDzuBw&feature=related | ||
Grizrev Senior Member Username: Grizrev Post Number: 553 Registered: 8-2006 |
George, thanks for the links. I agree with your last post -- Ng Woon Lam has a wonderful touch that reveals a link to Oriental brush painting. Wish we could see him at normal speed working with his palette paints and brush as well as applying them to paper! | ||
George Unregistered guest |
Here’s a video from an artist with a bit more talent than the others. youtube.com/watch?v=rdkYhkKw52o&feature=related | ||
George Unregistered guest |
Here’s a wonderful video for the plein air artist. It’s done in the traditional outdoor, light to dark, background to foreground, with premixed colors, approach to watercolor. youtube.com/watch?v=RBQWT4DVsQ4&feature=related | ||
George Unregistered guest |
I’m sorry, that should read “copy and paste.” Just copy the video address then clear the windows internet explorer window, then paste and hit the enter key. Enjoy! | ||
George Unregistered guest |
This is a very interesting set of videos that are more inspirational than instructional, but should be a joy to watch by anyone interested in watercolor. Part one; youtube.com/watch?v=ErPdzh5381w&feature=related Part two; youtube.com/watch?v=-2OPgiLxnec&feature=related Part three; youtube.com/watch?v=XMl5yBEPUP8&feature=related Part four; youtube.com/watch?v=dKOFEgDzuBw&feature=related You may need to cut and paste into the google search window. |
