The Poets Corner
This month we’re in for a change. This column gives some idea of my upcoming presentation at the February 2021 Zoom Monthly Meeting of Pinole Artisans on Friday, February 5, at 7pm. After our business meeting, which goes from around 7pm to 7:30, my presentation – a paint along, if you wish – is about getting more familiar with art materials. I’ll use watercolor mostly, with some ideas about acrylics. Drawing media are welcome as well.
Overview
I’m a big fan of Bob Ross’s public television “Joy of Painting” series. His programs are upbeat, direct, and he talks about his palette.
Often, I hear people say, “Bob Ross’s shows are great, but my painting doesn’t come out looking like his.”
Why? Mostly it’s because we aren’t as familiar with our materials as Bob Ross is with his.
This presentation is about getting to know our palettes more deeply.
Watercolor – Flushed Color
We’ll do a bit of “wet into wet” “Flushed Color.” No brushstrokes necessary! 1. Wet a piece of watercolor paper – or even 8 ½” x 11” paper. 2. Rub a brush around in a color – any color – enough to get a brushful. Hold the brush over the paper and squeeze until a blob of color lands on the paper. Do this with several colors. 3. Then tip the paper this way and that until the colors run. Watch what happens. You’ll like the way some colors run together and not others. That’s the point. Seeing what happens. That’s getting to know materials.
Later, your Flushed Color sheets can find their ways into other uses, too.
Watercolor – Portraits
We’ll look at colors for portraits – like the Italian masters used to do. Five colors, no precision needed. We’ll start with a Smiley Face or the face of a Laurel Burch cat.
Watercolor – Dirty Palette
Don’t clean your palette. Here’s why. If you have drawings, even fine line drawings you plan to “get around to one of these days,” they can be quickly enriched and finished with a dirty palette. What??!!
Mix up some color from your palette (it doesn’t have to be totally dirty).
Take a large brush, a brush made for acrylics, something that’s “not conventional” for this purpose. Swirl a brushful of a color you don’t expect over the forms you have drawn or sketched. Maybe add one color for highlights. This works! It adds power in the brushstrokes and color distinguishes major parts of your composition from others.
Color swatches
Make color swatches. Why? I’ll propose some answers.
Acrylic – projects and hints
A big problem with acrylics is that you cannot rewet them once they dry. You can slow down the drying, but you can still end up with useful paint without a purpose. I’ll have examples of some things to do with leftover acrylics – and they’re good for kids and grandkids, too.
Paint cardboard boxes (There is an abundance these days due to home delivery.) Create words and love notes on paper bags. I have a paper bag ready to paint that says Poetry Poesie Pohm. Make faces and figures out of plastic containers. PAINT CLOTHES and SHOES. Acrylics are washable and can go in the clothes dryer – I avoid the “hot” setting.
Sit and Look
Bill Moyers asked Sister Wendy Beckett how she learned so much about art. “Well, Bill, I looked,” was her reply.
If you’re tired and don’t feel like painting – go outdoors. Take some of your own art with you. Sit and look. And look more. And keep looking. When we do that we are in harmony with all the artists that have ever been from every culture. We develop friends through the ages. And we learn about our own work at the same time.
This month we’re in for a change. This column gives some idea of my upcoming presentation at the February 2021 Zoom Monthly Meeting of Pinole Artisans on Friday, February 5, at 7pm. After our business meeting, which goes from around 7pm to 7:30, my presentation – a paint along, if you wish – is about getting more familiar with art materials. I’ll use watercolor mostly, with some ideas about acrylics. Drawing media are welcome as well.
Overview
I’m a big fan of Bob Ross’s public television “Joy of Painting” series. His programs are upbeat, direct, and he talks about his palette.
Often, I hear people say, “Bob Ross’s shows are great, but my painting doesn’t come out looking like his.”
Why? Mostly it’s because we aren’t as familiar with our materials as Bob Ross is with his.
This presentation is about getting to know our palettes more deeply.
Watercolor – Flushed Color
We’ll do a bit of “wet into wet” “Flushed Color.” No brushstrokes necessary! 1. Wet a piece of watercolor paper – or even 8 ½” x 11” paper. 2. Rub a brush around in a color – any color – enough to get a brushful. Hold the brush over the paper and squeeze until a blob of color lands on the paper. Do this with several colors. 3. Then tip the paper this way and that until the colors run. Watch what happens. You’ll like the way some colors run together and not others. That’s the point. Seeing what happens. That’s getting to know materials.
Later, your Flushed Color sheets can find their ways into other uses, too.
Watercolor – Portraits
We’ll look at colors for portraits – like the Italian masters used to do. Five colors, no precision needed. We’ll start with a Smiley Face or the face of a Laurel Burch cat.
Watercolor – Dirty Palette
Don’t clean your palette. Here’s why. If you have drawings, even fine line drawings you plan to “get around to one of these days,” they can be quickly enriched and finished with a dirty palette. What??!!
Mix up some color from your palette (it doesn’t have to be totally dirty).
Take a large brush, a brush made for acrylics, something that’s “not conventional” for this purpose. Swirl a brushful of a color you don’t expect over the forms you have drawn or sketched. Maybe add one color for highlights. This works! It adds power in the brushstrokes and color distinguishes major parts of your composition from others.
Color swatches
Make color swatches. Why? I’ll propose some answers.
Acrylic – projects and hints
A big problem with acrylics is that you cannot rewet them once they dry. You can slow down the drying, but you can still end up with useful paint without a purpose. I’ll have examples of some things to do with leftover acrylics – and they’re good for kids and grandkids, too.
Paint cardboard boxes (There is an abundance these days due to home delivery.) Create words and love notes on paper bags. I have a paper bag ready to paint that says Poetry Poesie Pohm. Make faces and figures out of plastic containers. PAINT CLOTHES and SHOES. Acrylics are washable and can go in the clothes dryer – I avoid the “hot” setting.
Sit and Look
Bill Moyers asked Sister Wendy Beckett how she learned so much about art. “Well, Bill, I looked,” was her reply.
If you’re tired and don’t feel like painting – go outdoors. Take some of your own art with you. Sit and look. And look more. And keep looking. When we do that we are in harmony with all the artists that have ever been from every culture. We develop friends through the ages. And we learn about our own work at the same time.