Art Demonstration on the Horizon!
Greetings! I’m so excited! I’m preparing myself to do a demonstration (demo) of my watercolor and ink techniques. I have been invited by the Southern Oregon Society of Artists, a large local organization. I was thrilled to receive the invitation. But, I also had a sobering moment; I needed to “up my game” so to speak.
Put another way, I want to do a good demo.
What I Have Been Doing
I have been spending the last six months working on painting from life using ink and watercolor. I have been running the demo through my head to visualize how I’d like this to happen.
Now it’s “crunch time”. I need to get it all down on paper. 🙂
Where I Am Now
I have selected my subject – the Organic Grind Espresso Kiosk in Talent, OR, (see the image above). I like this subject; it seems simple – a building on a lot.
But, as I keep working on it, I find interesting shapes, lines and tones. There is a lot to “simple”!
Yes, I have been working on it. I have gone to the location and done watercolor and ink sketches. I may go again.
Back in the studio, I’ve been doing drawings and value studies. These drawings and studies help me discover things about my subject. Its a way of “painting what I know” by studying it! Fun!
Here’s an earlier version of “Organic Grind”, drawn and painted from a different angle.
What I Will Be Doing
Here’s an list of tasks for the next phase of this demonstration operation.
These tasks, while numbered, will be worked on concurrently. That is to say these are tasks that do not need to be done sequentially.
Task One: Explore the issue of why I paint this way in the first place.
Task Two: Describe in detail the “what is it that I do”. And, to get used to talking about it. While drawing. And staying focused!
Task Three: Design the physical layout of my workspace.
Task Four: Practice and adjust!
Might as well start with task one right here!
Why I Paint with Watercolor and Ink
My husband and I like to travel and camp. We go to interesting places such as Blue Mountain (also known as “Cliff Ridge) in Utah near Dinosaur National Monument, for example (see above). It seems natural for me to want to paint on location.
How to Draw and Paint Nature
The question of how seemed particularly pertinent because my normal modus operandi tends to be stylized in manner. I tend to look more at the paper than at a physical subject and use my imagination.
This is not the best plan if one wants to draw and paint what one sees. When drawing from nature, one needs to look at the subject in front of them! For me, this is oddly challenging! I have a tendency to look at the paper. I’m improving, but I still have to remind myself to look-at-the-subject!
It Starts With Drawing Skills
In any case, it all starts with drawing, doesn’t it? For me the answer is “yes”.
So, I started drawing when we went on trips. Not satisfied; I wanted to do more. Inspired by the Urban Sketcher movement and all the wonderful watercolor journals I see on the web, I started experimenting with watercolor studies.
Naturally, as I started I felt kind of clumsy. Thats what happens when you do something new. I took out a “Faber Castell” artist ink pen I had hanging around and restated the forms of my subject. It seemed to help.
Thus my exploration into ink and watercolor was born of necessity.
So, back to work and Task Two, describing in detail how I work. More soon!
Thank you for stopping by! I’ll leave you with a final watercolor and ink study done from a recent trip to Hyatt Reservoir in Southern Oregon.
