Materials List for My Classes

Material List for Wet Watercolor Techniques

The basic materials you will need to bring are: a palate, paint, a few brushes, some watercolor paper, a non-porous board and four bulldog clips.

1. Paint: almost any brand will do, but daVinci or Cheap Joe’s American Journey transparent watercolors are great paints at a great price.

· Basic: Gamboge, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Red Rose Deep, Ultrumarine Blue, Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Green & Sepia.

· Optional: Quinacridone Gold (Harvest Wheat), Quinacridone Burnt Orange (Lucky Penny), Napthol Red (Poppy), and Benzamidia Orange (Halloween Orange).

2. Palate: any inexpensive plastic or metal palate will do as long as it has a large mixing area and a top that can be closed and sealed.

3. Brushes: do not spend a lot of money on brushes. The following are basic brushes that work very well. You will also need something in which to carry those brushes so that they don’t get damaged.
· 1½", a ¾", and a ¼” flat synthetic brush for putting paint on;
· ½" flat natural hair or mixed hair brush for lifting paint off;
· #8 or #10 round (not both), and a #4 rigger for the calligraphic details;
· small pocket knife or paring knife;
· 2 kitchen sponges and an old hand-towel.

4. Paper: I use 140lb cold-press Arches, Waterford is good too, but avoid paper with a lot of sizing (Strathmore or Benifang). Two full sheets (22”x30”) will do because we’ll cut them into ¼ sheets.

5. Non-porous board: I use 1/8 inch “white board” from Home Depot cut 1-inch larger than the paper I intend to use. Newcomers will get one free 12”x16” on the first day of class, but after that, they are $3.

6. Four bulldog clips and a box to put things in: any art supply store can point you to these, but don’t spend much. You’ll have plenty of time to scale up later.

7. A lighthearted attitude: Only you can supply this part, so smile, we’re going on an adventure!

If you have trouble finding what you need, call Tracy at Artisan’s 912-265-1335, she is local and usually has a good stock.

Teaching Schedule for 2009: Jan 10 - Apr 4

I'll be teaching again on Saturday mornings from 9:00 am till noon at the Glynn Art Association (GAA). We have set up three four-week sessions (but it is really one continuous class, so feel free to drop in at any time):
January 10, 17, 24, 31;
February 7, 14, 21, 28;
March 14, 21, 28, and April 4.

If you haven't painted with me before, it would be best if you come an half an hour early on the first day so that I can get you started.

Call the GAA at 912-638-8770 to reserve a space. It is always a lot of fun. I'll post the materials list as soon as I update it.

What is Art

What is Art?
Ask a dozen artists what art is and they will each give a different answer. Some say it is about making a name in the art world of New York or Paris. Others say it is measured by the price people will pay for the work. Still others complain that the public doesn’t appreciate true genius, which has no price. The dictionary says: “art is manipulation of things by human skill to answer the purpose intended. In this sense art stands opposed to nature.” I’d bet that the grand landscape painters like John Constable or Albert Bierstadt would disagree with Webster on that definition.
I think art is anything that affects the mood of the viewer. I came to that conclusion while wandering through the Hirshhorn Museum during my lunch break from a particularly bad morning at work. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a single plaster leg sticking out of the wall horizontally that was mounted about one foot above the floor. The pun still makes me chuckle, and I have no idea about the artist’s intent, but it altered my mood enough to lighten my afternoon at work.
Years later, I went to a huge exhibit of paintings by Willem_De_Kooning at the National Gallery. As I entered the fourth roomful of his early expressionistic works, I turned to my friend and said, “this is crap!” For a moment, you could have heard a pin drop. I held that attitude about de Kooning for months before realizing why I was wrong. I still don't like his work, but I must admit that it affected my mood (albeit negatively), so by my own definition, it is art. That concept has been very liberating for me as an artist, and it continues to guide my work.
Some of my paintings contain a social statement, and one or two pieces may be a bit disturbing, but most of my work reflects the beauty and harmony that I see all around me. I go to great lengths to achieve a feeling of unity in each painting, and have abandoned or modified many traditional watercolor techniques to do so. Much of the spontaneity, soft edges, and “looseness” found in my work are the result of painting upright on totally wet paper. I sacrifice control for the brilliant diffusions that can only come from letting paint mix on paper as it flows slowly down the page under the influence of gravity. There are no pencil marks because it is pointless to draw lines under drifting paint, and I find myself altering the design as I paint to take maximum advantage of those happy accidents that happen on wet paper. Under these conditions, I have to paint quickly enough to finish before the paint dries.
Clearly, no two of my paintings are ever alike, and I don’t do prints. The finished painting is a manifestation of my mood at the time and my feeling about the subject matter. Hopefully it will affect the viewer in a similar way, but thanks to de Kooning I know that it doesn’t matter. Still, I can’t help but wonder how Willem really felt about women given his disturbing images of them, but I no longer challenge his artistry.

Day 1

Welcome to my world of wet watercolor. I look forward to sharing ideas and learning from others who love this medium as I do.