The Best Laid Art Plans . . .

There's something about watercolors -- the way they capture and reflect light -- and their simplicity that makes them seem so much more accessible than oils.  Maybe it's the traditions associated with watercolors, for in years past it was a popular pastime, an everyman's sport to traipse about in the woods and meadows with a small sketchbook and tiny pans of paints.  And it wasn't just the men -- women took up watercolor painting and sketching with a passion, too.  In the days when there were no television and radio, painting was a leisure craft taken up by many around the world.


It's also surprising to consider who painted watercolors -- certainly J.M.W. Turnerwas pivotal in making watercolor painting a most modern medium --

very little detail, purely atmospheric in his rendering -- incredible!   John Singer Sargent who we associate with Newport and the heady world of the Astors and Vanderbilts, created beautiful watercolors while traveling

throughout Italy, and especially of Venice, where again the light and water reflections were magical.   Other watercolor painters that I love to pour over for the simplicity and delicacy of their works are the Scottish painter, Charles Rennie Mackintosh

 and the French painter, Raoul Dufy, whose paintings always remind me of the backdrop of the famous finale dance scene in the movie An American in Paris--

Well, contrary to my plans for painting outdoors this weekend, high winds and thunderstorms threw a bit of a stumbling block to painting outside!  So I stayed safely tucked indoors and worked on some watercolors using books and photographs I keep handy for such occasions.  This is one I am particularly pleased with -- I found him in one of my books on Scotland.  Bit of a skeptic, wouldn't you say?

 The Vest

watercolor on vellum bristol paper

9" x 12"

I have been painting watercolors on vellum bristol paper, experimenting with the "viscosity" factor.  The vellum allows the paint to float more, leaving an open-ended type of finish.  At times it can be aggravating, but I'm learning to watch and wait, not to be so quick with the paper towels, to let the paints creep and crawl around a bit more then usual.  Next I want to try working with watercolor paper that's been coated with gesso or pumice gel -- I'm curious about how those surfaces will affect the paints.

As Rosanna Dana of SNL used to say, It's always something . . . !