" Socked In" the watercolor from my last post received the 1st place award in the Rocky Mountain National Water media Exhibition hosted by the Foothills Art Center in Golden Colorado. I thank all who posted positive comments,as they reinforce what we are all seeking,personal growth in our art.
Regarding ,questions on the atomiser. I use a cheap one I bought for $3.95,but alignment is the secret. The tubes must meet at 90% and touch or it will not work. Also you must blow with a strong and steady breath. The color,coastal fog, is an American Journey Product. I use a variety of brands and keep trying new colors. Some are added to my palette others I reject. However,shame on the government taking away the manganese blue that granulated so well! What did they think,we were using it like ketchup
Tom
Friday, September 11, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Seeking Atmosphere in art
As a teenager, I can remember sitting in English class on rainy days looking off towards the dark spruce woods on South Mountain and watching the mist drift over the land obscuring some trees and revealing parts of others, to suddenly be awoken from my daydreaming by my teacher, "Owen! Your attention on the blackboard!". Fog, mist and rain have always fascinated me and even then I thought it would be great to be an artist and be able to portray these effects.
Watercolor possesses the ability to create atmosphere unlike other medias. We can start with an wet-in-wet approach and concentrate on soft edges putting in transparent silhouettes of objects and gradually adding color and darker tones as we advance to the foreground.
Another approach is to layer transparent washes of gouache over the entire painting laying down a veil of fog. The painting above, "Socked In", was done in this way with two opaque colors, Chinese White and Coastal Fog. Using an atomizer, I sprayed this mixture over the entire paper, allowed it to dry and then came back and selectively added accents and brighter colors.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Structuring the Whites
Thomas Owen talks about the value of starting watercolors with an underpainting, a practice that he refers to as "structuring the whites".
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
An email from a friend
A friend of mine from Georgia sent me this email and I'd like to share it with other artists. This was written in response to a question from a friend of his, "when will I be considered an artist and not a student?"
"When we stop being students, we will no longer be artists." Keep that fervor you have and combine it with the skills you are acquiring painting by painting, class by class... you will be an artist when you know that you know. (I think you are an artist now, but you are the one who determines when you have earned the title.)
I am reminded of Stuart Cink who won the British Open yesterday . He was a three time All-American golfer in college at Georgia Tech. While on the PGA tour, he trains with a strength coach, a psychological coach, a swing coach, a putting coach, and is buoyed by an understanding, supportive family . He is on top of his game, yet he takes lessons from someone practically every day . The people from whom he takes lessons will never win a golf tournament, yet Cink keeps on studying with them because they can minimize the mistakes and time it takes him to the achieve greatness to which he aspires. Yesterday, Cink was an artist at the top of his golf game yet he will be back on the practice tee tomorrow, taking lessons. There is another golf tournament somewhere again this week. Will Cink win it?
We will know Sunday afternoon. If he doesn't win, somebody else shot better scores. When you are at the top, there is only one direction to go.
The moral: never stop learning, never stop being a student of your craft or there are 100 people who will begin to take your place.
Paint, paint,
Gary
www.garybaughmanstudio.com
Thanks Gary for a great email!
"When we stop being students, we will no longer be artists." Keep that fervor you have and combine it with the skills you are acquiring painting by painting, class by class... you will be an artist when you know that you know. (I think you are an artist now, but you are the one who determines when you have earned the title.)
I am reminded of Stuart Cink who won the British Open yesterday . He was a three time All-American golfer in college at Georgia Tech. While on the PGA tour, he trains with a strength coach, a psychological coach, a swing coach, a putting coach, and is buoyed by an understanding, supportive family . He is on top of his game, yet he takes lessons from someone practically every day . The people from whom he takes lessons will never win a golf tournament, yet Cink keeps on studying with them because they can minimize the mistakes and time it takes him to the achieve greatness to which he aspires. Yesterday, Cink was an artist at the top of his golf game yet he will be back on the practice tee tomorrow, taking lessons. There is another golf tournament somewhere again this week. Will Cink win it?
We will know Sunday afternoon. If he doesn't win, somebody else shot better scores. When you are at the top, there is only one direction to go.
The moral: never stop learning, never stop being a student of your craft or there are 100 people who will begin to take your place.
Paint, paint,
Gary
www.garybaughmanstudio.com
Thanks Gary for a great email!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Intuitive vs Logical Design
Over the years, my creative process has been engaged in a contant struggle. At times it's more of an all-out war between laying out/planning my work versus trusting my instincts. Plan, plan and plan some more and work comes out looking stiff and contrived. Grab a brush and go for it and end up with something unresolved. Yet out of the struggle, some very strong paintings arise. They seem to be born of a marriage of both approaches and I can never predict their birth.
A very logical painter I know called me a gambler, always rolling dice. Another artist told me to get that broomstick out of my a** and loosen up. The question remains: what is the best way to paint? From my experience, the best way requires hard work and developing an attitude that no painting is precious. You have to be willing to risk failure.
With regard to hard work, constant and on-going exploration of the elements and principles of design allow me to approach each painting with a good plan. With regard to failure, my best work may not happen on the first attempt, so I paint in series. I learn from my previous paintings.
Artists walk a fine line and the words of Johannes Itten express this well, "Doctrines and theories are best for our weaker moments. In moments of strength, problems are solved intuitively, as if of themselves". "As a tortoise draws its limbs into its shell at need, so the artist reserves his scientific principles when working intuitively. But would it be better for the tortoise to have no legs?"
A very logical painter I know called me a gambler, always rolling dice. Another artist told me to get that broomstick out of my a** and loosen up. The question remains: what is the best way to paint? From my experience, the best way requires hard work and developing an attitude that no painting is precious. You have to be willing to risk failure.
With regard to hard work, constant and on-going exploration of the elements and principles of design allow me to approach each painting with a good plan. With regard to failure, my best work may not happen on the first attempt, so I paint in series. I learn from my previous paintings.
Artists walk a fine line and the words of Johannes Itten express this well, "Doctrines and theories are best for our weaker moments. In moments of strength, problems are solved intuitively, as if of themselves". "As a tortoise draws its limbs into its shell at need, so the artist reserves his scientific principles when working intuitively. But would it be better for the tortoise to have no legs?"
Friday, June 19, 2009
Several years ago I had the opportunity to visit MOMA in Queens and view the Picasso-Matisse exhibition. It was a thrilling experience to see such a range of work by two of the greatest artists of the 20th century.
However, I recently visited the Arvada Center for the Arts to see a Joseph Raffael exhibit of his large watercolors. Most of the works were close to 60x90 inches in size and had such a presence that I sat on a bench in the middle of the gallery for a long time surrounded by the paintings. Raffael's work is so powerful, especially considering the subjects, that I didn't want to leave. I didn't know that floral still lifes and intimate nature scenes could evoke such strong emotions from an old guy like me. The show was highlighted in the Artists Magazine and seeing small images in the magazine made me realize that this would be a strong exhibition. But seeing the paintings in person made me understand how watercolor can reach a level on par with the MOMA exhibit. For more by this artist go to: http://www.josephraffael.com/. This show will be traveling to other parts of the country and I'd recommend it highly.
My recent work is on more mundane like the painting shown below of an old garage with an interesting collection of signs.
However, I recently visited the Arvada Center for the Arts to see a Joseph Raffael exhibit of his large watercolors. Most of the works were close to 60x90 inches in size and had such a presence that I sat on a bench in the middle of the gallery for a long time surrounded by the paintings. Raffael's work is so powerful, especially considering the subjects, that I didn't want to leave. I didn't know that floral still lifes and intimate nature scenes could evoke such strong emotions from an old guy like me. The show was highlighted in the Artists Magazine and seeing small images in the magazine made me realize that this would be a strong exhibition. But seeing the paintings in person made me understand how watercolor can reach a level on par with the MOMA exhibit. For more by this artist go to: http://www.josephraffael.com/. This show will be traveling to other parts of the country and I'd recommend it highly.
My recent work is on more mundane like the painting shown below of an old garage with an interesting collection of signs.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Thomas J. Owen Newsletter
My newsletter on photographing artwork is now on line at www.thomasjowen.com -- click on newsletter.
My next post will be on the Joseph Raffael show, now in Fort Collins, CO. A must see if you can do it.
Tom
My next post will be on the Joseph Raffael show, now in Fort Collins, CO. A must see if you can do it.
Tom
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