About John Fisher

I was born and educated in England, graduating from the Luton School of Arts (now Barnfield College) in 1945. It was my hope to become a graphic artist, but at the end of the Second World War returning service men and women had first crack at the few jobs available, and rightly so. I took a number of jobs while I tried to break into my chosen field, and ended up being a reluctant carpenter. Many years passed and I emigrated to Canada in 1952, married a Canadian woman, started a family, and in 1955 finally started on a career which took in graphic arts, owner of my own graphics arts company, art director at an advertising agency, and careers in marketing, advertising and public relations.

I wish I could claim that my passion for art burned brightly throughout those years, but alas, the need to make a living took prominence. As with many people, I always promised myself that when I retired I would get back to painting again. That time came in 1989, when my wife and I were living the winter months in our condo in Destin, Florida. Robert Long, a talented watercolour artist, was offering private lessons from his nearby condo. He was my mentor, and made my retirement years infinitely richer.

In those days Robert taught only technique, and there were rarely more than four to six of us in those early classes. From Robert I regained my interest in photography as an adjunct to painting, and as the cliche goes – I never looked back. I have had many paintings accepted and hung in exhibitions in Florida and Ontario, where I now live. I’ve won some prizes, come first in some exhibitions, and occasionally won the Citizens’ Choice awards. But I mainly paint for fun – hence the choice of name for this site.

To learn more about John and to view more of his work, please follow the link below:

===> http://www.watercoloursforfun.com/

Watercolor Still Life Painting Demonstration

(Click Images For Larger Views)

My beginner’s class in watercolour painting is doing one more still life before tackling landscapes. This high-key photograph was set up in my studio to avoid the necessity of doing a background wash – never an easy task for absolute beginners. These still life projects have been exercises in a number of watercolour techniques: colour mixing, wet-in-wet, dry brush, wet-on-dry, loosing edges, liquid masking, colour lifting, brush dexterity, and the general feel of how colour acts on the paper under a range of circumstances. Each student worked from a 5″ x 7″ print, plus my initial painting of the subject full-sized: 8″ x 6″. I show them each stage on a large flat-sceen TV, and re-paint this as a step-by-step demonstration.

Step 1

I always have them prepare a careful drawing on 300 lb paper as “homework” to save class time and ensure we all start at the same level.

Step 2

To enhance brush dexterity, and to help our lone left-handed student, I encourage them to turn their board up side down to help paint or draw around curved objects such as this glass. Here I’ve mapped in the basic glass “colour” made from a light wash of Antwerp Blue and Brown Madder, with the darker rim made from a much stronger mixture of these two colours. For more on painting glass see my site at:
watercoloursforfun.com/Glass/TechniquesGlass.html We work from a limited palette and I avoid giving lectures on colour theory to beginners as it means little until they have actually handled colours in a real-world situation. By using a small amount of liquid masking before painting in the glass they begin to learn the magic of white paper. Later, they can often dispense with this with negative painting techniques.

Step 3

The wine was painted in using a mixture of Alizarin Crimson and a shadow or darker mix of Antwerp Blue and Brown Madder, working from light to dark. The use of a small scrub brush, water and facial tissue, lifts out the some reflected lights. Then the masking is removed and further blending to complete this stage.

Step 4

The knife and cheese block were painted in next, with the knife handle a mixture of Raw Sienna and Burnt Umber, plus our standard shadow mix of Antwerp Blue and Brown Madder. The cheese block was Cadmium Yellow Deep, Cadmium Red and a touch of Brown Madder. The blade was a mixture of Ultramarine Blue and a touch of our shadow colour.

Step 5

Here I’ve mapped in the Melba Toast slices using a mixture of our cheese colour plus Raw Sienna and Brown Madder. Part of this was a dry brush technique. The final shadows will be left until the cutting board is in. Incidentally, I love Melba Toast, cheese, grapes and red wine, so I made use of my still life set-up right away!

Step 6

A little more tinkering on the Melba Toast slices using a dry brush technique to reproduce the textured surfaces.

Step 7

I’ve jumped ahead here a bit, but the grapes were mostly Aureolin Yellow and a touch of Sap Green, with our shadow colour where needed. The shine is achieved by the dab and lift technique shown here.

Step 8

Now the cutting board is roughed in with a wash mixture of Raw Sienna, Brown Madder and a touch of our shadow colour.

Step 9

With the edges protected by liquid masking the various grain texture and shadows, it enables us to paint straight across and not “paint up” the the other elements. The shadows are still to come of course. All these effects are a mixture of the colours already in our palette, some used as a dry brush technique. Then the final shadows are out in with our basic shadow colour.

Step 10

For the more daring of my beginners I suggested a “paint outside the box” finish to this piece. In order to fill in the background with a strong shadow colour I used a ruling pen to give us a straight edge all around. This requires several strong glazes of Antwerp Blue and Brown Madder, so the ruling pen must be loaded with pure colour.

Step 11

This gets tricky and is a good exercise in brush dexterity. Turning the board all ways to make the brush work for you is also good experience for beginners. It’s also fun, although a high-wire act with no net!

Step 12

The first wash can be imperfect as subsequent washes will cover this up.

Final Step

The third wash completes this project, and when matted and framed, makes a nice painting to hang in the kitchen.

For a series of these see:

watercoloursforfun.com/Galleries/NGallery08.html
watercoloursforfun.com/Coffee/Coffee19.jpg
watercoloursforfun.com/Featured%20Painting/Oranges.jpg
watercoloursforfun.com/Featured%20Painting/Vine_ripened .jpg

I hope these were of some use to you.

John

About Barbara Fox

Barbara has achieved a tremendous following on both the national and international level as a watercolor painter with a vivid and unique style.

Her paintings have been featured in solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout the United States, including the Phillips Museum of Art in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, Mexico; the Salmagundi Club New York City; The Neville Museum in Green Bay Wisconsin; and the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts

Barbara is a signature member of the National Watercolor Society, the International Guild of Realism, the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, and the Northeast Watercolor Society, among others.

She has been published in the major watercolor publications Splash: the Best of Watercolor Painting, and  Secrets of Watercolor Masters. Barbara has been a featured artist in the leading national art magazines American Artist and Watercolor Magic.

Barbara is represented by the Oxford Gallery, 267 Oxford Street, Rochester, NY 14607

Visit Barbara’s Websites Today:

Main Website

Barbara Fox – Daily Paintings

Barbara Fox Studio

Barbara Fox Art Studio

3 MacIntosh Apples – Watercolour Painting Demonstration

3 MacIntosh Apples watercolor 11 x 11"

This demonstration uses lots of richly colored layers.

Paints I used (These paints are either Winsor Newton or M. Graham brand paints):

• Dioxazine Violet
• Permanent Rose
• Napthol Red (Cadmium Red medium is comparable)
• Cadmium Orange
• Alizarin Crimson
• Sap Green
• Hookers Green
• Prussian Blue
• Ultramarine Blue
• Cobalt Blue
• Burnt Umber
• Burnt Sienna
• Raw Sienna
• Sepia

Paper I use is Jack Richeson 300 # cold press watercolor paper

Here is the photograph I worked from. I generally do a simple outline drawing, then blow it up to the size I want to paint.

Here is the drawing.

Step 1. Base Layer

My first layer of wash I call the “Base Layer”. This is generally a wet on wet wash using the actual colors of the subject, in this case, red and green for the apples (Permanent Rose*, Napthol Red, and Sap Green). The apples were first wet with pure water, then the colors were applied by just touching the brush to the paper. The paint is carried by the water, and the 2 colors mix beautifully, with just a few nudges of the brush. Too much brushwork at this point would muddy the colors. Remember, there are lots of layers of color to come, so there is plenty of time to tweak the image. Also, leave white areas for the very light areas and highlights on the apple.

A close up of one apple, Step 1:

The apples were first wet with pure water

Then the colors were applied by just touching the brush to the paper.
Leave white areas for the very light areas and highlights on the apple.

The paint is carried by the water, and the 2 colors mix beautifully, with just a few nudges of the brush.

An extra bit of Permanent Rose on the lower left side, and blotting the hard edge around the stem.

The wash under the lace material is Burnt Sienna, Dioxazine Violet, and Permanent Rose, all flooded into a wet wash. Again, notice how well they mix when added to the wet paper. The background wash is Burnt Umber, Dioxazine Violet, and Ultramarine Blue.

Step 2. Shadows (photo above)

I use Dioxazine Violet to paint the shadows on the apples, leaving the highlighted areas.
I begin painting the shadows and the detail on the lace using Dioxazine Violet, Cobalt Blue, and Raw Sienna. I don’t mix them, but just dip my brush into a different color from time to time, and let them mix themselves. It can look a little garish at this point, but I know I will be painting over them again , and the shadows will eventually be darkened which will unify the colors.

The lace detail and shadow is coming along. Although painting the lace is tedious, I know that rendering it carefully will make a better painting.

Step 3. Second Layer (photos above and below)

I painted a layer of Ultramarine Blue in the background, and a layer of Burnt Umber below the lace. You can see where I have a few more holes to fill in the lace. I painted another layer of green (Sap Green) and red (this time Alizarin Crimson) on the apples.

For Layer #2 on the apples, I wet the entire apple with water, then flood in the colors**. Remember to leave the highlights.

I painted a very light layer of Raw Sienna over the entire lace area. This helps unify the colors that I used for the shadows, and keeps the material from being too glaringly white, and attention grabbing.

Step 4. Value adjusting (photo above)

The painting needs deeper shadows, and I would like the apples to have richer colors. I paint over the apple’s shadows using Dioxazine Purple in the red areas, and Prussian Blue in the green areas. I paint a little Cobalt Blue on the highlight on the middle apple, and a wee bit of Cadmium Orange on the top right of the first apple.

I deepen some parts if the folds in the lace, and work on the lace detail a little more.

Step 5. Details (photo above)

Another layer of Alizarin Crimson and Sap Green on the apple, this time with a little Hookers Green for the cooler green areas.

I use Dioxazine Violet and Sepia on the stems of the apple. I deepen the shadows between the apples using Dioxazine Violet and Ultramarine Blue, with a little Alizarin Crimson.

More detail work on the lace, and another layer of Dioxazine Violet under the lace AND in the background.***

The final step is making really dark areas darker (the stems, and shadows right under the apples), and lightening some highlights. I scrub out some lighter areas around the stems, and the highlights and reflected lights with a small, stiff brush and plenty of water.

* when painting a red subject, I usually start with Permanent Rose. It is a rich and warm pink, and looks better then a lighter wash of Alizarin Crimson. I use Alizarin Crimson for dark, intense reds, but a washy version looks dull to me.

** Doesn’t the water wash out the color underneath? No, not as long as you aren’t brushing it too much. The dry paint will stay put for the most part, unless it is disturbed with a lot of brushing. Water, good, Brush, bad.

*** Why so much Dioxazine Violet??? Not quite sure why, but I love it. It is a lovely purple, but also the perfect neutral. It seems to work great as a shadow color on any other color, and seems to cool when a color needs to be cooled, or warm when a color needs to be warmed. Take note, that I almost never mix it with another color, but use it as a wash over another color.

About Sandrine Pelissier

I grew up in France but have been living in Canada for the last 12 years, I am currently located in North Vancouver and work from a studio on Pemberton Avenue.

Watercolor is my medium of choice because of the unique way it allows me to render light. The transparency of this medium can make it look like the painting is lit from behind and the light is shining through the paper In my portraits, I like to tell stories about the people around me. I am very interested in childhood fantasy or fairy tales (I wish it would snow Flowers, Hair Balloon, Georgia, the Spanish dress and the Eclectus Parrot). I also like to induce a dialogue with the viewer in some paintings dealing more with introspection and mood (Mixed, In the studio).

Those portraits are not about likeness or knowing the people that are being painted, as I see my models as actors in a movie, they are the faces that will allow me to tell a story or to show emotions. Those faces are a source of endless fascination and I find the subtlety that can be achieved with watercolor well suited to the complexity of the human face.

My technique involves the accumulation of many transparent layers of watercolor. Then I like to incorporate mixed media in the background, work sometimes with some contouring. I also sometimes like to add some drawing on top of the painting or some graphic elements…

Sandrine’s Website

Sandrine’s Blog

Visit Sandrine’s Print Shop by Clicking the Banner Below:

I wish it would snow flowers selected for Splash 13 : Alternative Approaches

I was very happy to learn that my watercolor and mixed media painting : I wish it would snow Flowers was selected for the #13 of this great collection.

I found some pictures that show some of the process I used to paint this watercolor.

This is the picture I used as a reference, I modified in on paint shop pro to remove the background. I would love to work from life but unfortunately it is difficult to find that kind of time with children

This is my drawing, the paper is Arches cold process. I am using some liquid frisket to reserve the white in some part of the hat and the tiny highlight in the eyes.

This is my first layers of yellow, mainly with Yellow ocher for painting the face.

On the background I used Cadmium Yellow.

Here I start to add the red, I use black and white pictures of split colors channel to do so, see post here for details

Here I start adding some blue, I am careful to have a “light hand” with blue as it can quickly overpower the other colors.

Adding other colors to adjust. I mixed some gouache with blue watercolor on the background. I try to show some texture on purpose on the background as well. I also leave some backruns on purpose in some dark areas of the hat.

Here is a closeup of the face.

I work on the background with watercolor pencils dipped in water.

The finished painting.

About Steve Fleming

Good art is the result of hard work and dedication. It only happens when the artist finds his or her own story to tell and then learns to do so with his or her own unique language.

I am an artist who works in watercolor and acrylic, and I teach both for The Art League in Alexandria, Virginia, as well as workshops across the country and abroad. My goal as an artist is to be creative; my goal as a teacher is to help my students learn to interpret the world around them, not to promote the belief the goal of art is the perfect rendering of a subject. One of my core messages: art is a creative process and is not just the sum total of the work we sell. In this era of digital cameras, I caution artists to look — really look both inside and outside — for the subject matter that lights our artistic fires. Otherwise, our work will be lacking everything but technique.

Click over to my blog for behind-the-scenes insight into some of my paintings in progress, musings and a few complimentary lessons for you to take and learn from.

Enjoy. — Steve Fleming

Creative Jumpstart

The “Creative Jumpstart” section of  Steve’s blog is designed to help all artists, regardless of medium, with ideas to get them thinking in expressive ways. They are intended to take about 30 minutes to an hour to finish and are warm-ups not finished paintings. Each one has a specific focus, such as gestural drawing with color accents, and they will be of value to artists of all levels. I plan to do at least 1 per week and hope to challenge readers to really broaden their horizons and move beyond their comfort zones. Along the way the artists will enhance their skills in drawing, color usage and have general less fear when being creative.

Follow this link to learn more!

Abstracting the Shapes, Simplifying the Message

(Click Images For Larger Views)

(“On the Rocks, Bass Head Light” watercolor on paper) The idea in this painting was to create on big shape using the shadow shapes and using that compound form to move the viewer from the upper left corner of the painting down through the figures and out on to the rocks where the people are moving about on the rocks. It leaves some really nice white pieces of paper to contrast against the abstracted shape.

When painting it is easy to become so involved in the subject matter with all of the details, textures, and colors presenting so many possibilities that our paintings never quite have focus or a feeling of unity. Sometimes we achieve nothing more than to present to the viewer either a collection of random thoughts about a place or detail laden color drawing. We paint around the subject never quite making a point. The work lacks creativity and artistic involvement, and the painting lacks a dominance of major shapes. By not focusing on the major shapes we are forced to paint a collection of things and this is a difficult and tedious task.

Sometimes it is a worthwhile exercise to minimize the complexity of the subject matter and reduce the shapes down to three to four major shapes. We need to look at each of these shapes for the quality of their shape, what relationship they have to the other shapes in the painting and what would be the best way to contrast these shapes against one another. Several ways I contrast shapes is by color, value, and texture.

If I am looking for a really dramatic statement I push the relationships between the shapes as far as I can. I use big value jumps, lots of line and texture at the edge of the silhouette, and look for color chords that are rich, expressive, and complementary. I make sure that the edge of the shape is where I create focus and is where I define the identity of the objects. Remember if you put good information at the edge of the shape then you need less details in the interior of the object. Although you have reduced the subject matter down to major shapes in the design phase, you will be able to clarify some of the individual shapes inside the big shapes during the painting process. The goal will be to keep a big shape feel to the painting.

(“Rockport Village” 18 x 24 Watercolor on paper) I have used all of the areas of light and invented a few more and the tied them all together into a shape that moves the viewer up into the painting. Along the path of the light I have added details, textures and color to create a reason for the white paper. It is one shape made up of multiple objects.

It is important to understand that although a shape can be a singular object, it doesn’t have to be. It makes for a really great painting when you can tie several related objects together and create a very expressive shape. As an example Try linking figures together as one value shape, or take a row boat, a figure, a rock and a pole and hook them together into one shape. When we begin to see objects in terms of their potential joining with other things to make larger more dynamic shapes we make a huge jump towards becoming creative shape makers. I believe this is one of the great goals of an artist. This allows you to rearrange the scene in front of you to tell your story with clarity and focus. I believe very strongly that no amount of detail and finish will make a poorly conceived painting work.

(“Camden Harbor” 18 x 24 watercolor on paper) This scene is very complicated and I took all the pieces and made on shape out of them. They are related to each other by a similar value, dark middle value, and again I have only put in the details that are necessary to move you through the painting.

What makes a good shape? A good shape should have a significant difference in it’s width and height. It should have movement or direction, a static shape is not as exciting a one that moves through the picture space. Good shape should have a variety of edges, hard, textured, and soft or blended. It should have a exciting silhouette, exaggerate the position of elements to improve the edge.

Remember the edge of the shape is what defines it, not the interior, so put a lot of interest and defining information at the edge. It is good to try to get some gradation across the shape for instance from warm to cool or intense to less intense, or one hue to another hue. A good shape should tie into the background or foreground at several points, try to invent a rock, a fence, or a figure to help attach the major shape into the adjacent shapes. Lastly and of utmost importance this wonderful shape must not have major value jumps across it. You can have some slight changes in value, but you can’t jump from light to dark to light to dark or the shape will fall apart into value pieces. You can make many color changes and they will not tear up the shape but big value changes will destroy the continuity of the shape.

(“Plains Virginia”, Shacks, 15 x 22 watercolor on paper) The dark shape is a very dynamic one it has a nice variety of edge and definitely moves across the paper.

To begin a painting with a focus on the big shapes it is best to start with a value pattern in your sketch book. Look at the subject matter and mentally organize the different pieces of what you are looking at. Think about which small shapes could be moved around or joined to other shapes. The goal is to connect minor pieces together as one big interlocked shape. At this stage don’t concern yourself about which shapes are lighter or darker in value because you will change their value for the purposes of the painting. Also mentally try to eliminate the shapes which are not going to help in creating good big shapes. Remember this is going to be your painting and you are under no edict from the painting gods to paint everything you see in front of you. Only use what you need.

Once you have thought about what to make your big shapes roughly sketch them onto the page in your sketch book. Analyze and adjust the shapes to follow the rules of a good shape. Remember to incorporate the unique features of the subject matter to enliven the silhouette. Make sure the shapes have an interesting relationship to the other shapes in the painting. Always work from the largest shapes to the smallest shapes and leave out all consideration for the details of the shapes until all of the shapes are well established on the page. Try to have all of the major shapes be a different size, make sure exterior angles are not the same and make sure shapes do not enter and leave the paper at a similar place on the opposite side of the paper.

Assign each shape a value and try to keep your lightest value shapes next to your darkest value shapes this will create the strongest focus and contrast. It is always a good idea to put your center of interest where the strongest value change is located. Once you have the design finished sketch it on the watercolor paper and paint it remembering to follow the value organization. Put some change of color, texture or value in each shape and watch that the edges have variety. Keep the painting simple. When your are done try reversing and rearranging the values of the major shapes and changing the color chords. This will result in some exciting variations on a simple theme.

(“Avon North Carolina” 18 x 24 Watercolor) The shapes are the light and I have played with them to create a nice passage through the painting. Keep thinking movement and attaching objects by using similar values. You will get this abstract shape idea.

(“Avon North Carolina” 18 x 24 watercolor on Paper) This is the same subject as the painting above I just took a lot of liberties with the shapes and colors, but I really have thought of good shapes and movement. Art is about invention and interpretation so loosen up on those shapes and have a good time. Allow yourself to make a few clunkers to get to the gems.

Exercises

• Take a subject with a strong shadow pattern and just paint the shadow areas. Play this pattern against a light middle value
• Take a black and white newspaper photo and with a small view finder, a 35mm slide holder is perfect, pick a interesting dark shape and use for the shape in your painting.
• Extract the key elements from the photo and make one large shape against a light midtone background

Here is a beautiful 6 part watercolor painting demonstration video by artist Susan Kennedy. The subject of this painting tutorial is a Yellow Rose. Susan is basing this painting on a number of her own photographs .

Watercolor Tutorial Step 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nujzL5XGJxc

In this first video, Susan begins by laying in some watercolor washes over a drawing she has sketched in.  For her support, she is using arches cold pressed watercolor paper taped down to some foam board.  Susan does not stretch her paper before she begins painting. Instead, she waits until after she is done. She is using quinacridone red, cobalt blue and a bit of permanent yellow to carefully lay in some shadows. She leaves some of the paper unpainted, allowing the white of the paper to shine through as her highlights. Susan takes a break from the rose and starts laying in a dark background wash of ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson and sap green.

Watercolor Tutorial Step 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucDU6wQTD_w

Susan returns to her rose and continues to lay in her pale shadow wash. She also begins to work on some of the areas in between the roses adding some sap green, burnt sienna and yellow. She makes certain that all of her shadows connect somewhat to bring unity to her painting. Susan also talks about why she favors her Arches Cold Pressed Paper as opposed to canvas or hot pressed paper. She says that the cold pressed paper absorbs the washes better and therefore is not so easily disturbed when painting additional layers of color.

Watercolor Tutorial Step 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCF19zYS6SE

In part 3 of this watercolor painting lesson, Susan wets some of the areas she has already painted with a spray bottle.  She is doing this so that she can add some richer colors like oranges, yellows and golds.  While that soaks in, she adds some dark greens to the bottom of her painting to represent the foliage. She is doing a lot of this from her imagination but also references the photos she has take to get some ideas. For the green of the foliage she is using Winsor & Newton Permanent Sap Green and a bit of Alizarin Crimson. Susan says this helps make a more natural olive looking green. She adds some more richness to her shadows with some more quinacridone red and yellow.

Watercolor Tutorial Step 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cez6kv0RRWY

She continues to work on the middle portion of her painting adding more colorful washes and rich color.

Watercolor Tutorial Step 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qJf1UNszuc

In step 5 Susan does some more wet into wet work while still trying maintain those beautiful highlights from the white paper.

Step 6 – Stretching The Watercolor Paper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOx5eKDuv1I

As we noted in the beginning of this tutorial, Susan likes to stretch her watercolor paper after the painting is completed.  In this video, she will demonstrate how she does this.  As Susan notes in this last video, be very careful when stretching!  You can tear the paper if you are not careful.

A big thanks to Susan Kennedy for sharing this wonderful watercolor painting tutorial of a rose.  You can learn more about Susan and view more of her videos and painting by following the links below:

http://www.susankennedy.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/susankennedyart