Preliminary sketches

Books by Philip Jamison listed on Amazon 

In his book, "Capturing Nature in Watercolor", Jamison salutes the artists that influenced him, including Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Odilon Redon, Andrew Wyeth and especially watercolorist W. Emerton Heitland, who was his teacher and mentor in high school. Capturing Nature in Watercolor, generously illustrated with Jamison's paintings, contains information on studio materials and demonstrations of the artist's working methods.

The second book, Making Your Paintings Work (Watson-Guptill, 1987), provides more details on his paintings and pencil drawings. 

Since we are covering composition in my weekly classes, I thought Jamison would be a great example of one who does a considerable amount of preparatory drawing and planning in his watercolor still life's of daisies. 

Classroom set up and demonstrations of 10 to 15 minute loosening up sketches.

Sunday painters – Lavender Earl Grey tea

Try a variety of arrangements and alternative viewpoints.

Last time, I found my still life on the kitchen window sill. This time, circumstances led me to it. My coffee maker was all warmed up, I went to the fridge to get milk for a latte' and......horrors!......no milk! What to do? Well, when life gives you lemons.......you slice them and put them in your iced tea!

It's been hot for us here in the Pacific NW. We've been having temperatures averaging 84°F. Add to that the fact that the lavender harvest has just peaked and the plants along my driveway still have blooms. A caffeine kick start may still be had if one makes tea, iced tea for this weather! Lavender Earl Grey seems just the right blend.

^{Remember when setting up your own still life, that appropriate objects are just the beginning. You must keep in mind that the viewpoint, compositional placement, color scheme, and lighting need to be considered. Which of the three choices above seems to work the best, in your opinion?}

Sunday Painters. Line Up

Okay, guys. Here's an assignment for you Sunday painters:
Speed sketching with an overhead viewpoint. Compose within a small format. Zoom in or zoom out?

1. Choose a spot outdoors or in the house with lots of natural light.
2. Use the sidewalk, if outdoors, or spread out a white pillowcase or sheet on the ground. If indoors, use the white pillowcase or sheet of watercolor paper on the floor for your background.
3. Lay out a row of similar objects. Uneven numbers are best.
4. Trace the outline of a business card or credit card several times on your sketchbook page or watercolor paper to create frames for your sketches. Orient some of them vertically and some horizontally.
5. Now, with your subject viewed from above, sketch one group at a time within it's own frame using graphite, ink, markers or line and wash.
6. Include the cast shadows and highlights.
7. Give yourself a 5 minute time limit per sketch.
8. See how many you can do in 30 to 45 minutes. Ready, set, go!

Here are a few ideas to get you started, but please try to work from life instead of photos. What do all these objects have in common? Answer: roundness.

 

Tips:

• For the best shadows, make it early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
• If you finish before the timer, reset and start another sketch. Don't fiddle.
• If the timer goes off before you're finished, stop. Go on to the next one.
• Look for variation in your line of objects. Don't assume they are all alike. Embrace the differences!
•  Repetition with variation is the principle to keep in mind

Challenge: Make a composition of even-numbered objects. As Tim Gunn would say, "Make it work!"

Weekend painters

I have an idea for a regular or semi regular feature on my blog here. I've been wondering how many weekend painters there are out there who just like to stay at home and have a little fun with watercolor on their own.

I love to paint but I also enjoy teaching almost as much. Part of the enjoyment of teaching is thinking of lessons that would help other painters improve their skills. What would you think if I posted a challenge like the one on a previous Sunday and then just let you have your way with it?

If you're in, then let me know how often you think you'd  like to do this: once a month, every other week, every Sunday?

Since I teach regular classes and workshops, this would have to work with my time available, of course. :)Sund

Another angle

Still life Composition and Concept

These are two still life set ups that I composed for my classes. The assignment was to create two compositions that expressed different concepts and/or approaches.

These floral still life compositions can be approached with theses suggestions:

1. This has a more formal arrangement with geometric shapes, quiet meditative color, subject matter, and more serious concept. It was inspired by a documentary that I recently viewed, "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom", about the effect that both had on the people of Japan. I painted this in line and wash to express the clarity and gratitude that you would feel after an experience like this.

2.  This one has a much more lighthearted concept: The simple joy of picking flowers from my garden and setting them in a marmalade jar in the window. The cheerful complementary colors, plain white cloth and simple jam jar communicate  the idea of a moment of  beauty and joy. It was painted simply and loosely wet on wet.

I am posting the reference photos now and will update with my watercolor paintings soon.

Choosing a Still Life Composition

 With my one little red plum, I started investigating the possibilities of composition.

I already painted it whole, so I cut it in half. No turning back now!

Each half is different: with and without the pit still in. The hollow half shows a different set of shadows inside. I could choose a variety of viewpoints....looking from above or different side angles. One way, it would show both the inside and outside of the plum.

Turn it this way and that, shine the light just so, and soon I realize how much like a jewel this little red fruit could appear.