Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2019 i Watercolor Artist

Some of the world’s best-known early explorers were not only celebrated for their expeditions, but also for the incredible art made during their journeys. Watercolour World (watercolourworld.org ) is gathering these paintings and others from private and public collections to create a free online database of documentary watercolors painted before 1900. The project launched in January with the backing of Charles, the Prince of Wales, and Camilla Parker Bowles, the Duchess of Cornwall, and includes more than 80,000 images. The historic depictions have allowed climate scientists to compare water erosion over the centuries in Britain, and the reconstruction of ancient Egyptian tombs. Thousands of contributions have come from The British Museum and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the images are organized by region with an easy-to-use map and are…

Larry Cannon ( cannonwc.com ), of Santa Clarita, Calif., has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Illinois. He’s a signature member of the California Watercolor Association, the American Society of Marine Artists, the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association and the California Plein Air Painters. His work has been included in more than 30 multimedia museum exhibitions, including the San Diego Museum of Art, the Napa Valley Museum and the Minnesota Marine Art Museum.…

Step 1 I print out black-and-white and color copies of the same references, and move them around, cutting and pasting, until I’m happy with the layout. I then place some tools that I use for this process on top of the photos. I take a photo of the final composition. Step 2 I sketch and mask where needed using masking fluid and tape. For this painting, I decided to use muted background colors to balance the complex design, so I use the color complement of the main orange color—phthalo blue—to create the background. Step 3 I start painting the background. I usually paint about an inch outside of my intended design. This way I have some room to adjust the composition before I crop it, when the painting is complete.…

Sometimes words just aren’t enough when you’re trying to convince a government to protect 2 million acres of natural terrain from the temptations of economic profit. That’s where Peggy Macnamara (peggymacnamara.com) comes in. The artist, who has been the artist-in-residence at the Field Museum of Natural History, in Chicago, for years, works with the Museum’s Action Center. She was recruited by Debby Moskovits, one of the founders of the museum’s conservation arm. Macnamara’s painting of an arapaima fish helped in the fight to create Yaguas National Park, in Peru. Macnamara says she didn’t always have her sights set on being an artist. She thought she didn’t have enough talent, choosing instead to go the path of art history. In her 20s, she had the revelation that it was more about…

Perhaps no image in art better symbolizes domesticity than that of freshly cut flowers arranged in a vase and centered on a tabletop. While the subject of family life has long been a staple of artists, none so thoroughly built a career upon autobiographical scenes of home and hearth as did Swedish painter Carl Larsson (1853–1919). For Larsson, the success that allowed him to raise a large family in a famously tasteful home was hard earned. Born into poverty in Stockholm, his talent facilitated a pathway out of an unhappy childhood. He enrolled in art school and then found work as an illustrator. He spent a few years in Paris, where he tried, unsuccessfully, to make it as a fine artist. Nearing 30, Larsson moved to a Scandinavian artists’ colony…

The watercolor work of Angela Chang suggests contradicting emotions. The subjects of Chang’s paintings are comfortable, inviting scenes that recognize passing, everyday moments that can go easily unnoticed; on the other hand, vibrant splashes of warm colors hint at life’s peaks and valleys. These contradictions in life and art ring true to Chang’s own experience. Choosing to pursue a career in art has implicit hardships for anyone—the fear of financial hardship, the anxiety of success or failure—but for Chang, the tribulations of her chosen path were more personal. “I thought I had to be a lawyer or a doctor, because that’s what my parents expected me to be,” says Chang. “I never had time to paint or think about becoming an artist because I was so academically pressured to go…

Cathy Johnson It’s tough to choose, but I’ve narrowed it to two. The first is Vermeer’s Woman in Blue Reading a Letter (1663-1664). The light is marvelous! And I love the sweet, homely, everyday beauty; the composition; and the sense of timelessness. The second is Joseph Wright of Derby’s A Young Girl Reading a Letter, With an Old Man Reading Over Her Shoulder (1760-1762). Again, for the same reasons. Wright was a master at capturing the low light of candles, lanterns and fire. Birgit O’Connor I’d have to choose a van Gogh watercolor. Better known for his oils, the artist’s watercolors are rare. I’ll never forget, years ago, the impact that seeing his pencil lines through the transparent layers of color had on me. At that moment I felt a…

Reference This is the tree-lined view down Peirce’s Park. The late-afternoon light creates horizontal shadows that contrast dramatically with the verticals of the massive trees. Setup This is my ultralight Bristol tilt-head watercolor easel setup for plein air work. I use an Arches 12x16-inch cold-pressed block and my Anderson aluminum watercolor palette filled with tube colors. My favorite Jack Richeson brushes are in the case on the ground. The black Fome-Cor folder on which my palette is resting doubles as a protective case for my completed watercolors. Step 1 I like to work wet-into-wet to establish large shapes and colors up front, especially when tackling an expansive view. Notice those juicy, wet colors in the foreground tree; I haven’t added any details at this stage. Step 2 I work fast…

/ STUDIO STAPLES / Viviva Colorsheets [$19] These handmade transparent watercolors come in a single set of 16 handmade colors, contained within convenient flipbooks, which close into a slim, easily transportable book. A sketcher set and a deluxe set are also available. VIVIVACOLORS.COM NomadColor Portable Watercolor Kits [$40] Available in sets of 18, 25, 33 and 42 colors, these watercolors slide out of their sleek stacks to create an instant palette. Just add water to the pats of pigment and use like regular watercolors. PRESTIGIFY.COM / ON THE SHELVES / DIY Watercolor Flowers [$23] DIY Watercolor Flowers by Marie Boudon is a beautiful introduction to flower painting. The book covers basic techniques, equipment, palettes and brushwork. It describes how to “digitize” your creations—perfect for sharing your work on social media.…

Many beginning artists try to get by with inexpensive brushes from paint sets or those they have on hand from experimenting with other media. These brushes can be too hard or too soft and are often too small or incapable of holding enough water to achieve good results. Quality watercolor brushes can be expensive, but they’re well worth the investment. A few good watercolor brushes can last a lifetime—or close to it—if you take good care of them. This doesn’t mean that if you buy the most expensive watercolor brush that you’re guaranteed a masterpiece; the dollar amount won’t determine the right brush for what you need—or the outcome. It’s more important to know about the hair or synthetic fiber used to make it—whether it’s natural, synthetic or a sable/synthetic…

As a college student at the University of Illinois in the 1960s, Larry Cannon majored in architecture, but managed to squeeze in one semester of watercolor painting. “I’m not sure how much I learned about watercolor,” he says, “but I did become acquainted with the medium.” Cannon went on to begin his career as an architect. “I stayed in Illinois for a few years before moving to San Francisco, where I worked for a large architectural firm that designed Ghirardelli Square,” he says. He led an international team in planning the expansion of Saigon and lived there for a year. Although this work was rewarding, Cannon still felt that something was missing in his life. A Whole New World Even though his architectural career was thriving, Cannon felt the absence…

Chang’s “Umbrella” series is one of her most prolific, showing various scenes and locales where the colorful canopies are the stars of the show, their beautiful vibrancy standing in contrast to the rest of the painting which Chang portrays in muted grays. Here, she breaks down her process into four basic steps—from the first moment of inspiration to the finished piece.…

There’s a spectacular garden in Pennsylvania that I think should be on every artist’s bucket list to visit and paint. The historic and world-renowned Longwood Gardens, in Kennett Square, Penn., offer a vast array of immense trees, rare plants, textures, compositions, colors and designs sure to spark creativity in any artist. Created by the Samuel Peirce family in 1798 as a farm and arboretum called Peirce’s Park, the original property of 402 acres was purchased by American businessman Pierre S. du Pont in 1906. Initially, du Pont bought the property to preserve the magnificent trees planted by the Peirce family, but it wasn’t long before a powerful idea took hold of him: He resolved to build a vast masterpiece that would serve as his home and garden for his family…