I had a really interesting experience  a few weeks ago when I had one of my paintings critiqued by Frank Eber.  The critique was sponsored by the Northwest Watercolour Society.  The painting was one I did a few years ago.  I always thought it was a good painting but  it  seemed to be missing something. It never really spoke to me or anyone else.  Frank’s comments were that it showed a good mastery of watercolour but  he asked “What is the story?”  In other words what was I trying to say.  When I thought about it I realized that my motivation was just to copy the photo.  I really liked the photo and I wanted to translate it to paint.   It is a good copy all right but to paraphrase Frank:  what’s the point?

Here is the original photo of the subject from the Slocan Valley. 

This is the painting I did.  It’s an accurate copy of the photo with the addition of a couple of cats.  One important way to understand the issues with this painting is to look at the sign post.  It’s so detailed and right in the front but does it add anything to the painting or does it actually stop you from going further into the painting?

So I re-analyzed the painting in terms of What’s the story?  Here are 2 cropped versions of the painting.  I believe that they have a stronger impact than the original.  

The Aha Moment

As I continued to reflect on the critique I realized how frequently my purpose was just to copy a photo.  See something, like it and copy it with paint. 

Here is another example.  It’s a painting I completed from my last trip to England.   Here is the photo. I loved the architecture and the people. 

Here is the painting I did.

Now I asked myself the new question:  What’s the story?  I realized for me it’s the people as they interact in this coffee shop.  Here is a study that represents my new thinking.

It definitely has a very different feel and I believe it’s a more interesting painting.  Long live the story!

Another Example

This is a fairly recent work.  I loved the subject but once again I never asked myself why I wanted to paint it.  Virtually everything that was in the photo ended up in the painting. I think it’s  good  but not nearly as strong as it could be

Again, I thought about why I wanted to paint it.  What I really liked was the colour, the light and the  connection (or lack of it) between the 2 figures.  So I did a study that emphasized those elements.

And again, for me, it’s a stronger composition.

Summing It All Up

I have to thank that critique for showing me what I needed to learn.   I am now so much more aware of asking myself, “Why do I want to paint this subject?  What do I want to say?” The best part is that I now ask myself  these questions before I start the painting.

Incorporating this thinking process into your art is an essential ingredient in becoming a better artist.  It’s something that doesn’t always come intuitively. It’s a skill to be practiced. 

And most importantly it makes painting so much more fun and more rewarding. 

Happy Painting!!

Last weekend I taught an in-person workshop at Swinton’s Art Supplies in Calgary.  It was a fabulous weekend.  The participants were an excellent group, very enthusiastic and very friendly.  Quite unusually there were many watercolour beginners in the group.  That turned out to be an advantage because we were able to proceed at a very appropriate pace.  Here are some photos of the class at work.

First Painting: Piazza del Popolo

This is an excellent subject because it teaches so many valuable lessons such as how to create a luminous wash, how to paint all types of figures as well as the often unrecognized idea of ‘eye level’.  Whenever we paint a group of people basically all the eyes need to be on the same line which we call eye level.

Here are an assortment of the particpants’ paintings.  They are all works in progress.

My Demo Paintings:  Piazza del Popolo

Here are the 2 paintings I did.  I’m including how the painting looked at the end of the workshop for reference and then the final version.

New York City Scene with Yellow Cabs

I made some significant changes to the composition.  When I got it home and looked at it I realized it needed the buildings to go back further down the road.  So I added a couple of extras and it helped.

Class Photo

Such a great group and such and enjoyable workshop.  It seems so odd but also so familiar to see all the masks.

I just completed a 3 day on-line workshop for the Ottawa Watercolour Society.  I’ve done quite a few on-line demos but this was my first workshop.  It was a great experience.  All the participants were very enthusiastic, everyone was very motivated to paint.  It was also the mix I like.  There were really accomplished artists who were less experienced with watercolour.  There were some relatively new painters and some very experienced  watercolourists. 

Thoughts On Zoom Workshops

Zoom is an interesting technology.  It has some advantages over an in-person workshop mainly the really clear, unobstructed view of the painting combined with the ability to zoom in on certain sections.  The main draw back is the inability to do that over-the-shoulder mentoring that happens in a live workshop.  The main thing, however, is that it is very possible to have a great educational experience over Zoom.

The Paintings

The first demo was a practice in painting people, both close and far away.  It’s a painting of the  Piazza del Popolo.  The other painting was the Flat Iron Building in NYC.

First I’m going to post my demos.  I’m including the version as it was at the end of the workshop and also the final. version for the benefit of the participants.

These are the participants paintings.  Most of them are works in progress.  They really represent a high level of achievement.  Well done all!

It was a fabulous workshop.  I really enjoyed meeting everyone and it was a pleasure to work with a group of people so interested in improving their watercolour painting.  Thanks to the Ottawa Watercolour Society and thanks to Jane for all her help!

I have been doing a lot of portraits lately and, for me, the hardest part of a portrait is the hair. This is  especially true for portraits of women.  To create hair that has volume and definition  is a real challenge. 

As much as I enjoy art when it’s easy,  I actually do appreciate these challenges. They aren’t always fun but I always learn from them because they motivate me to figure out what the problem is.

So, with this in mind I  began to practice various portraits.  This was one of the first ones. 

The first thing I learned is that black is not a great colour for shadows on a face. As far as the hair goes. The shape is accurate, it reads as hair. There is also a little value contrast in it.  It is a little lighter and redder on the right side.  Overall, however it’s just a dark blob that adds very little to the portrait.

So I knew there was a problem in the way I approached hair.  I wasn’t seeing the shapes within the hair.  So I took a new subject and did a portrait in pencil where I had more control.

This was when the light bulb turned on.  I was seeing the detail and the various shapes within the hair. All I needed to do was copy them with paint. 

So I took the ideas from this pencil sketch and painted them.

This is the portrait that I painted. I actually filmed it as a video lesson.  I’m very happy with it.  The hair has a nice feel, it appears real and it supports the subject.

Accepting A Challenge

This process of practicing a challenging subject is something I do a lot because that’s how I learn and grow as an artist.  I don’t like it when paintings don’t work out but I have to admit that I learn more from my failures than my successes.  I just enjoy my successes but I learn from my mistakes.

Happy painting!

P.S. When I finish editing the video I’ll be putting it in my newsletter.  If you are interested in receiving my newsletter please contact me.  The next edition will be coming out soon. Contact me.