I was going to write this article to clarify or rather expand on my comment a couple of posts ago about something I like about oil paint, acrylic paint, etc over watercolors and sometimes markers. Which I will still expand on. In moment. As I worked on the article and rewrote it more than once, I realized it just sounded like a bunch of whining and such so here I am, starting a new article to expand on that comment.
What my comment was regarding was that with media like oil paint, acrylic paint, some pastels, and some colored pencils, if, you make a mistake, decide something needs to be lighter or that the light-colored shape needs to be adjusted, say bigger or a slightly different shape, you can do it. Those mediums are generally opaque enough that you can cover dark with light. Unlike watercolors or markers which tend to be more transparent and for which you need to plan a bit and either mask off your lighter areas or work light to dark. At least this is my understanding of the different media.
Right or wrong, as self defense I decided I would include some pictures of some watercolor paintings I did several years ago. Not because they are that good. It was to show that I had experience with them and was not blindly offering criticism of watercolors. Because that is what my first four drafts of this article were going to do. I dug through things and found the paintings and then things started to get interesting.
First. The paintings. I had forgotten just how they looked. I remembered them being landscapes because that was what my companion who took me out painting, painted. He was an oil painter but all I had were watercolors so that’s what I used. He knew enough about what I was using that he was able to explain to me some basics of how to get started with a watercolor painting. This is really the only instruction in watercolor painting that remember having. Anyway. Unlike so much of the watercolors I see, it turns out my paintings are comparatively vibrant and saturated with color. I see a lot of nicely done watercolor paintings and sketches that have much more transparent coloring. Nice work. Not my style. Maybe because it doesn’t let me paint the eyebrows on a nat?
A day or a few days, after finding my paintings, I happened upon an Instagram post by David Morales H. (@dava22) where he painted a zucchini using watercolor with some extra, colored pencil touches. Even before he touched his painting with the colored pencils it was rich and vibrant. The other thing I noticed was that he was using a sketchbook and the paper didn’t appear to be buckling.
This is important because it is one of my frustrations of paint on paper. Even markers can get that way if you get the area too saturated, though alcohol-based markers don’t do it quite as quickly. But my experience with watercolors and even acrylic paints on paper is that the paper buckles easily. I suspect, it has something to do with the quality and weight of the paper. And probably the control of the artist.
Then I remembered the visit my friend and I made to the Victoria Museum when I was visiting Australia. I made note of some watercolor paintings they had that were rich and vibrant and detailed and looked not at all like what I consider typical watercolor paintings.
There are so many things that, if you had asked me how I felt about working with watercolors, I would have said I didn’t like. You would have had to ask me that before I started working on this article though. Because. As I have worked on this article, written, rewritten, rerewritten, every time I have come up with what I thought was a valid reason to not like watercolors, I’ve then encountered something that negates it. So, now I’m not so sure how I feel about them, other than, some of my past experiences have been frustrating. To have any sort of defensible opinion I would have to try using them again.
A quick note for why I started thinking about paints again although I have said painting isn’t something I think I would do, for a lot of reasons that are probably just as feeble as my reasons against watercolors; as I’ve worked with the markers, that are so much fun and quick, I have encountered how very transient they are under intense light. They are tints and are not lightfast, so anything created with them needs to be scanned to use digitally or it needs to be protected under UV glass and have special lighting. Thus, in my opinion, limiting the enjoyment of the original art. Most paints are pigmented and tend to be more lightfast. Even watercolors. This means that, there are greater opportunities for the enjoyment of the original art.
And, I like to have options. Different ways to create art. By leaving out painting altogether, I limit my ability to express myself visually. For some people and situations, limitations are good and lead to greater creativity. I find it frustrating. Or maybe I’m looking for that silver bullet of a medium that will magically make all my art stunning and irresistible.
Whatever the case or reason, at least this whole process has given me an opportunity to rethink how I see some things, watercolors specifically, though I suspect it will spill over into other things as well. That’s good. Re-examining our biases occasionally is a good thing. Even for something as seemingly inconsequential as watercolor paints.
Now, lest you think I was spending all this time writing, rewriting, rerewriting, and navel gazing, I have gotten a bit of work done on both the Gretsch and the Rhinoceros.
The rhinoceros is nearly done. Just a bit more and then some time to sit so I can see what final touches it needs. And the Gretsch coming along. As I mentioned I was going to be doing, I’ve been working on another layer of the black on the body. It makes such a huge difference that as I’ve gotten more done, I can see how much work there is to do on the badge area on the bridge. I’ll really need to work on that. It’s looking rather faded at this point.
I have another stippling painting piece I did of a guitar several years ago and I had a look at it to see how filled in the black of the guitar part on it is. I was looking for a reference to help determine if I’m going to want or need another layer of the black after I finish this one. I’m still not sure. I’m getting close on the Gretsch and could probably stop after this layer, but I would really like to cover as much of that pink background as I can. (I wish I could remember my motivation for painting the background pink because I’m really starting to despise it.) Unfortunately, I think I’m going to have to wait until I get this layer done, and most of the remaining details finished before I have a good determination if it needs another layer of black. Oh well, it’s just a few more dots.
