So sweet, so velvety these petals you almost want to kiss.
So tempting those soft petals of a flower.
Do you wonder, how to create flowers or trees, or clouds as they thunder in from the south?
Do you wonder What colors, did the artist use?
What paper? What technique? What was their magic recipe?
What is the artist’s secret?
My Watercolor Secrets
The watercolor brush softly kisses the paper in its magical dance with color.
I’ll tell you the mechanics.
I’ll tell you the colors.
I’ll tell you the paper and brush.
But honestly.
Its always The Spirit in the piece that makes it much of anything.
Because its IF, the artist was able to convey the life force energy they saw and they felt,
that determines whether the painting has the magic spark or not.
Artisans
Did you know, that painters, are like singers… in a way.
We aim for many of the same things.
To touch the audience, to make the viewers sense the same emotions that stirred in us.
Above all, we don’t want to leave them untouched, unmoved.
Barriers get in the way, they will prevent connection from happening.
What do I mean?
What ‘barriers?’
For artists the primary barrier is nerves, stress, fear.
Which erects gates and doors and walls that are very effective blocks and barriers.
A singer who is stressed, can’t fully engage, open up and be vulnerable.
It is a shut door. A wall. A barrier.
These don’t allow the audience to come in, to share the authentic emotion the singer has.
So too, the painter.
Under stress, fearing failure,
its ‘not quite right’,
‘imperfections’ and not good “enough” the artist can’t fully open up either.
The audience loses out.
We the audience,
don’t like walls or barriers
between us, and our artists.
We want to see, to hear our singers sing with passion, vulnerability, openness and authenticity.
No Walls. No barriers.
And we want our painters to let loose,
to fully express their own voices through their art as well.
Process and the Materials
I painted direct, no drawing, on dry Arches Rough 300gsm paper.
The Rekab 320s #2 was my sole brush used.
Limiting the colors made the painting smoother, easier.
4 Paints: permanent rose, winsor lemon, cerulean with a tiny bit of indigo into the flower center
Process Steps
Painting from the background progressing to the middleground the last the foreground and the focal point.
I planned to make sure the background was appropriate: cooler colors, paler tones, more subtle.
With the foreground much stronger, more contrasts, warmer & more vibrant – to clearly state, “This, is The front.”
Planning in my mind, the leaving of adequate WHITE Space for balance.
As I painted, I kept quizzing myself, “do I have sufficient range of tonal values?”
The area of the deepest Dark, and the Whitest light ie where there is The most tonal contrast… Is the focal point
I used some splatter at the end, most of the work was done in washes & charging technique.
Most of the time painting, I was remembering… my walk in the woods.
The Feeling I had, while there.
The lovely zen stroll amidst these serene and sweet petalled flowers.
Thats My secret.
