Tag: Jenna Rainey

Book and Video Lessons for the Student: A Retrospective

I have picked up watercolor on a serious level, along with drawing and sketching.  I have neglected that side of myself for a long time, but have attempted to reconnect with that part of myself off and on.  Truthfully, it has been more off than on, but when I do delve into painting, it is such a pleasure.  Over the years, I have purchased video classes or viewed videos from a variety of people.  Today, I sat down and went through some of my notebooks and watercolor pads, and decided to scan what I have done to see if there is anything of value.

One person I have admired and enjoyed for a long time is Charles Reid.  I love his loose, wet, messiness in watercolor.  It works.  I have watched his videos and read his books, attempting to catch what he does – learning from the teacher by doing.  I have had some success, but I still tend to overwork and create muddy colors.

Eyeing You

Another artist I have learned from is Birgit O’Connor.  Her approach is very different than Reid’s – not splashy, but controlled, thought out, and very disciplined.  The results are completely different, but valuable in that self-discipline and forethought are necessary to achieve results.  Reid’s discipline is from years of knowledge, such as how to paint negative spaces and create contrast.  O’Connor uses masking in varying forms, such as with contact paper and frisket to help preserve white space and create texture.

From both Reid and O’Connor, I have learned a lot . . . but without daily practice, it all is forgotten.  Besides needing to remember how to paint, how to manage color, I have also forgotten how to sketch.  Craftsy classes have proven to be helpful, with ones from Shari Blaukopf, Mark Taro Holmes, David Brody, and Kateri Ewing.  These classes range from urban sketching to an extensive, classical drawing class.  Each of these has proved, and is proving, to be very valuable.  Videos are some of the best learning tools when it comes to finding time to do and to learn.  Books with encyclopedic samples on how to do things are also great, such as Claudia Nice’s books on ink, pen, and watercolor, as seen below.

On YouTube, I have subscribed to multiple channels.  These range from using dip pens to lessons from extremely talented watercolorists and sketchers.  Of late, I have been working on negative painting – painting around things, rather than directly painting things.  This is in the hopes of learning to manage white space better.

It’s easy to use lines to compensate for a lack of contrast to define light areas in negative space.  The flowers are rather disastrous, but a lesson on YouTube (sorry, I don’t recall the video the trees are from, but it was fantastic!) was very helpful.  The key to that video was to paint from the foreground back, unlike in traditional watercolor, you paint from the sky down for the most part.

In addition to videos, books are an excellent resource.  I have a lot of books.  The ugly truth is that art books are damned attractive, but how many of them have I actually sat down with and gone through, step by step?  Not many.  In fact, none at all . . . until I came across a book by Jenna Rainey:  Everyday Watercolor:  Learn to Paint Watercolor in 30 Days.  Rainey’s painting style is not what I see myself doing, but what I do like is the “daily” approach and the short, structured lessons.  Thus far, I am up to Day 11, and have been really enjoying myself.  I’ve let go that nasty inner critic that expects perfection out of the gate, and have been loosening up, and doing some things that I like.

More than anything, I am happy to see I am not lacking ability – only self-discipline to work on painting and drawing when I have time.  Looking at what I have done is inspiring me to continue, despite frustrations and time.  Nothing like a retrospective to see what and where I have been, what I am doing now, and looking forward to what I might yet do.

 

Remembrance of Things Past

If I want to be honest – which sometimes I don’t want to be! – I never realized that in watercolor, as in sumi-e painting (which I haven’t done for a few years), the brush is important.  In sumi-e, brushwork is important as it expresses what color cannot – color is not found in sumi-e, only shades of blacks and greys and white, with the subject hinted at, not indicated in boldface!  Playing with leaves made me remember this . . .

Because my chronic struggle in watercolor always seems to be overworking and mixing too many colors together, I decided to pick up a book called Everyday Watercolor:  Learn to Paint Watercolor in 30 Days, by Jenna Rainey.  I figured some kind of disciplined plan could work.  Her style of painting is not necessarily my style of painting, but that was not important as far as I am concerned.  My concern was to stop making mud and to relearn what I have forgotten over the years.  The examples in Rainey’s book are pretty basic, pretty straightforward, and actually, a lot of fun to do.  It has helped me drop that little, nagging, nasty perfectionist who always criticizes.  Rather, it is far better to just do, and quit the role of critic.   She does studies such as shapes, allowing colors to bleed into one another; she discusses design in the abstract exercises with squares and circles.  There are simple exercises in drawing and painting trees with foliage in shadow, and depth, with lighter pine trees in the distance, and darker ones in front.

What do I find the most valuable in this book?  Crazily simple lessons.  Step 1.  Step 2.  Step 3.  Limited palettes of color.  Most how-to-watercolor books are wonderfully full of tantalizing pictures, but few that I have seen really drill down to making it simple.  I enjoy the work of watercolorists such as Winslow Homer – people with a loose, free style which I would love to emulate.  I am not a contained person in the sense of wanting to fill in the lines, like in a coloring book, but I also appreciate the disciplined approach of people like Birgit O’Connor, who paints huge flowers, beach debris, and so on.  I am still struggling with watercolors enough to have no style of my own – I am still attempting to master the brushwork, water, and colors.

Currently, I have just finished Day 11, which is wet-into-wet and some dry brush.  Like in dry-into-wet.  Something like that.  It’s a papaya.

I’m looking forward to 19 more days … sort of a diet!  And to date, no mud!