Dinosaur Week

This past week, I spent an hour a day doing art lessons with a Grade Three class. It's been a long time since I was in a classroom, but I remembered that Dinosaurs were always a hit. I decided to see how the children did, making a little model Dinosaur Habitat, complete with a Dinosaur of their choice. I got a cardboard base ready for each child, then we talked about Dinosaurs and their world, I gave them instructions and examples, talked about the difference in a scientific project where everything had to be correct, versus an art project such as we were doing, where they could add some imagination, and off they went. The children had to listen carefully, do each step in order, measure, draw, cut, paste, and assemble their Habitat, and they did SO well! I drew simple, cartoony dinosaurs for them, but they had to try new-to-them coloured pencil techniques, decide on colours (I mean, who knows what colour those Dinos were!), then choose how close to the lines they wanted to cut. They also had the option of doing their own Dinosaur from start to finish, but most children chose to use the pre-drawn ones. Look at the individual creativity that went into these . . .do you see the dino-footprints in the top photo, and the swampy areas in the bottom right one? Someone decided on a magnificent volcanic erruption in his model, and many of the children managed to get very real expressions on their Dino faces.

I could have put all 23 images up here, but had to choose just a few. Every one of the 23 projects is an A+ Well done Grade Three!!

Horses In My Life

A few weeks ago, our City newspaper, The Ottawa Citizen, asked readers to send in their (short)stories about how horses impacted their lives. This was to help publicize the opening of a major exhibit, THE HORSE at the Museum of Civilization, and several of the stories would be chosen for publication in the Saturday paper.
Well, I was thrilled to discover last Saturday, that my story had made the cut, and there it was, in the Ottawa Citizen. I'd like to share it with you.
"Being a horse crazy child, I often played at being a horse, pretending to have the freedom and power of these gorgeous animals. I read about them, wrote stories about them, drew them all over my school books, the walls, or on any available paper, and dreamed of having a horse of my own. That dream was realized as an adult when I bought a wonderful, middle-aged Morgan whom I named Ceilidh (Kaylee). Together, we made life-long friends and had marvelous adventures. We were together until his death at age 33.
Horses have made a huge difference in my life. Ceilidh and the other horses at the barn, expanded my understanding of kindness, patience, and the quietness of the soul. They gave me confidence in myself. They inspired me to a career path of painting and writing about horses and dogs, and that has taken me places I never even dreamed of. They have enriched my life in every way, and even on a bad day, just seeing a horse can make me smile."
Although I did not send in the above image, I think it is an appropriate one to use here to illustrate this blog, as it is about the Horse in legend and story, and is the panel I did for the Horse Gift Mural, a truly amazing project that I was privileged to be part of.

FOCUS

Something I learned early on, is that you have to develop a deep concentration for your work. You really have to focus on what you are doing. This graphite, Black On White, took a great deal of focus, not only on the black Friesian, but on the background. It's hard to see in this photo, but the sky is filled with tiny snowflakes, each one painstakingly shaded around. (Black On White is available).
This topic of focus reminds me of an incident in the studio when I was at art school. After the lesson, we students would all troop off to get our equipment: a stool to sit on, a large wooden drawing board, and a funny bench sort of thing that had a flat bottom that sat on the floor, a tall upright, and a narrow, slanted board that held our drawing board and materials. This unsteady arrangement went by the quaint name of a "Mule". One evening, we were all busy concentrating on our assignment, and the only sound in the studio was the quiet classical music that was always played. We were all totally focused on our work. Suddenly, there was an ominous scuffle, then a terrific crash, as one poor student, deeply concentrating on his work, forgot that the treacherous Mule had to be kept in balance while we worked. We heard the gasp of horror, the sound of the stool, then the student hitting the floor, the bang of the drawing board, followed by the crash of the mule as they hit the floor miliseconds apart, and finally, the echoing clang of the pencil box as it bounced and rattled on that hard, unforgiving floor. Total silence followed, then the sound of throats being cleared, light coughs, and snuffles as we all did our heroic best to not scream with laughter. To our credit, we managed this, then helped the hapless student pick up his things, made sure he was all right, and then, to spare his feelings, went back to work as if nothing had happened.
I feel this is a cautionary tale, letting us know that focus is a neccessary thing when drawing/painting, but like everything, we mustn't carry it too far.
By the way, notice anything different?

Playing In Puddles - Watercolour, it's what I do.

These past few weeks, I've been enjoying writing about my love affair with watercolours. I decided to do this while I was reading a wonderful book on Art Marketing called "I'd Rather Be In The Studio!" by Alyson B. Stanfield. ( If you are looking for a book that will give you great insights and tips on getting yourself (as an artist) moving as well as a virtual artistic energy boost, I highly recommend it!)
One of the things I read, was that if I have experience and am educated in something, I should talk/write about it. Now, I grew up being taught to NOT talk about myself, especially about the artist in me. So the idea of talking about my painting, and about myself as an artist was a Big Deal. But you know, I have really been enjoying this.
I have always been attracted to the bright, clean look of watercolours, and when I finally got myself to art school, too many years ago to admit to) I made sure I took all the watercolour courses and I loved them all. Well, except for the class that insisted that we splash and dash paint on the paper. I think that's when I realized that I need to paint in a realistic style. Bravo to all who enjoy the freer forms of painting, but I am simply not a person who can "emote" and fling paint. As you can see by my 11 x 14 watercolour painting "How Does Your Garden Grow?", I love detail, and one way to get detail in watercolour is to use a dry-brush technique.
You can literally use a dry brush dipped in paint that is fresh from the tube or that is sitting, wet, on your palette. You can also dampen your brush, take off any excess moisture, and run it across paint that is damp, but not a puddle. For really tiny detail, I often use an all purpose synthetic brush, and often in a size o or even a 00. I don't paint every hair on an animal, but I sometimes like to give the impression that I do.
I'm enjoying passing along little watercolour tips that I have picked up over the years, and I hope they help you find more enjoyment in the paintings - yours and mine.

Playing In Puddles - Let It Flow!

My Watercolour tip of the week is to just let it flow. When you want a smooth, seamless expanse of paint, as in a peaceful sky, one of the ways I like to use to get that effect is the Wet-In-Wet technique. First, you need to decide where you want the colour to go, and then get the paper in that area quite wet. Then make a puddle of the colour you want to use (see, I said this was playing in puddles!). Charge your brush -make sure it is one that holds a lot of colour, and drop the wet colour onto the wet paper. Do this several times until you have fluid puddles of colour across the paper, then put you brush down and gently start moving your paper around to make the colour puddles flow. Eventually, the colour will flow across the whole of the wet area. You will likely still have puddles of colour gathering in places, so the last step (if doing a sky) is to turn the paper upside down and let the excess colour flow to the bottom. It helps give you the lighter horizon line you may want, and when the colour pools along the bottom of the paper, you can wick it away with a large brush, leaving a smooth, unbroken sky. If you want to add some interest to the expanse, wait until the surface looks shiny, but not soaked, and gently blot some colour away with tissue. This technique can used in areas other than skies, you just have to be a bit careful to not let the puddles overflow onto areas where you don't want them.
So get your puddles ready and start having some fun!

Playing in Puddles - Light

Light brings a painting to life, and there are several ways to achieve this. Just a few ways to do this are to put in shadows, to use contrast, and to vary the intensity and hue of your washes. The amount of water used in your washes as well as the number of washes applied, will dictate the intensity of the look when it dries. This takes a little practise, but it's worth trying.
Today's painting, BLUEBELL WOOD, uses all three things to bring it to life and add depth. You can see the glow in the sky. This is one of my quick, one day paintings of a place near where I live that I find especially beautiful. For a few days or a few weeks in early Spring, depending on the weather, this wooded area is carpeted in English Bluebells, and I look forward to it every year. This scene will be used in larger paintings, as background to dogs, maybe horses, and definitely in a Fantasy painting.
BLUEBELL WOOD is a 5 x 7 watercolour and is available matted for $95.

Playing In Puddles . . .Paper

I wasn't going to Play in Puddles until next week, but a look at the calendar convinced me to post this now while I have a chance.
Last time, I referred to watercolour "board", so lest there be some misunderstanding, I will explain my use of the term. Watercolour paper and Illustration board are two very different things. Illustration board is excellent for graphic artists and designers. It will accept gouache, acrylic, graphite, ink, and to some degree, even watercolour, although it can make washes difficult and it can be hard to build up layers of colour, but this board usually has a very slick surface and often is not acid free. It is not something that I use for my watercolour paintings.
Watercolour paper on the other hand, is made expressly for watercolours, although it can be used for other purposes. It comes in different weights; 90lb, 140 lb, and 300lb are the most common. The 140lb is heavy, more like a light board than a paper, and the 300lb is definitely a board. Most professional watercolour painters use the 140 and/or the 300 because of its strength, versatility, and because unless you are going to soak your paper, you needn't stretch it or tape it down. I use a style that uses less water than normally used in traditional watercolours, so I have found there is no need for me to tape or stretch my paper.
My favourite paper/board is Arches Hot Press. I've talked about it before and I probably will again. This "paper" has no paper in it. Arches is 100% rag content and is acid free. It has been used with confidence by watercolourists for over 500 years, ever since it first appeared in 1492. It comes in COLD press, a paper with some texture, and this is the most popular choice. It also comes in ROUGH texture, something that appeals to artists who love the unexpected effects this board gives you. I like their HOT press best, a sheet that is very smooth, but not slick. This paper absorbs the colour well, allows for almost endless washes and build up of colour, allows great detail, and takes a lot of abuse.
I've tried a lot of different papers/boards, including one that uses an acid free paper laminated to a non-acid free hard backing. I've liked many of them and found them to be really good papers and many of them are the preferred choice of a lot of artists, but I've settled on Arches for all its great qualities and its reliability, and because I love the way the paint flows across the surface. Its one drawback is that the heavier weights are quite expensive, but quality is worth the price.
My little 8 x 10 watercolour "Encounter" was done on Arches Hot Press.