Watercolor Sketchbook: Stone Series

So this is the first of a series of stone studies and paintings where your focus was on light and shadows. Am I right?

Such exploration is neat. I agree. Lookinf forward to seeing more.

LOL I Planned on using an egg for reference photos for shading/light studies for portraits. A rock would be brilliant because it has much more texture

Trine

aloha Trine - you have the idea. i didnt give you much information on the series in the article. i played with light in most - but i was interested in playing with paint in all.

i like rocks/stones so i used the stones as a reason to play with paint. some were real stones - this one was. some were playing with the idea of the stone more than looking specifically at a stone. so there is a variety of them - but i most always played with the paint and the way i painted.

this wasnt the first one in the series but it was among the first 20 i did. i started out to just do these as sketches. i do that sometimes. sometimes i just choose one object and draw it in many ways over a time period of once a day for a number of days. sometimes limiting the amount of time i have to look at it as well as draw it.

after i got going on the stones and did the 20 pages in this sketchbook i decided to continue on watercolor paper. i found i liked exploring too much and it was too fun to stop.

eggs are a good subject too for a variety of reasons. taking into account reflections and light, depicting an egg can be a great challenge. i've read something like: if you get good at painting a white egg on a white cloth, or a white egg in a white bowl on a white cloth, so that it reads well as what it is, you can probably paint just about anything you want to paint. i like stones and i know i'll be more interested in something if i like it. so in this case stones were my choice. and yes lots of texture and color in stones - as well as shapes and reflections.

Light and shadows draws me as it has a relation to life and death. Your work is magnificent, Wrick. Like to see more of it.

this is very beautiful - soft but lustrous! Thank you, Wrick!

Wrick, lovely colours, shapes and of course your words wrap themselves so well around your discoveries and your explorations...I too love series as they stick to one subject and make you see more details...love your work. Salud.

Have you ever checked out the work by Felix de la Concha? He did a series called, A Race Against Time, where he explored the lighting over a 24 hr period sitting in one spot and painting the 360 degree view around him. It was done at the Frick Museum in Pittsburgh.

I've just taken up watercolor painting. I'm seeking objects to explore and ideas. There seems to be so little on the net to give me ideas although I have a decent book that's helping me get some good ideas. You suggest eggs. I tend to be drawn towards jugs and bottles but not sure what other things to try..... I am not even sure if I want to try abstract. Well, any further ideas you have for a beginner such as myself is appreciated.

aloha and thank you all, your thoughtful commenting is a rich reward for me - it's a way the net can be that i like.

Vijay - you make a great leap between concepts with your light and shadow to life and death comment. cool. - beauty in all. thank you. light is one of the major areas to explore in art - imo. there are many intriguing ways to explore light. the encouragement to show more is very welcome thank you.

Jill - potatoes will work too of course. sometimes i start something and then drop off quickly as well. i allow that to happen particularly if something else is intriguing me with a stronger "pull". i will almost always do better going to that place that really interests me. if it was the potato itself that did not intrigue you and you still want to pursue that kind of exploration, i encourage you to watch for simple things that do appeal to you. i know you have a great eye. may be it is as simple as listening to and following your eye to find what might be an intriguing subject for you.

Anne you are so welcome. i like that word "lustrous" being applied to painting i do. thank you.

Mariana - you are so right - there are a lot of benefits to working in a series. i'm not sure i always adhere to what i am doing in a series as much as i might. sometimes my series become defined as it progresses because the focus shifts as i get into what i thought i was doing... with only this one piece i think it is challenging to see what people are envisioning this series to be like. i hadnt really thought about that when i put this one up. seeing a few more pieces in this series might be very interesting and enlightening for me. it might not be quite what people think it would be from seeing just one piece. yikes. i've never really shown this series. a few here and there on the net occasionally. i did it and tucked it away. i like to go back through these piles sometimes to look and think but once i do something i am often finished with it because something else has grabbed me and that is where my interest has gone. a few people have seen a few pieces from this series off line. now thanks to you and others here i am thinking about this series again and in a way i hadnt intended when i posted this piece. hmmmm... a new direction and purpose rather than just as an example in a sketchbook. that's how life seems to work through me tho, so not too surprising. cool and thank you may be i will try to post a couple more from this series...

Sarah - the name Felix de la Concha is not one that rings a lot of bells, the best i can say is may be, at this point. i am not always good with names. i know there are many variations on the kind of light and place in time, exploration that you are describing. i have seen several that are really intriguing and beautiful. hopefully i will get a chance to find some of this work of his and explore it. cool. and thank you for pointing me in that direction.

Heather - there is a lot i might say about Watercolor. it's my preferred and most often used painting medium. if you would really like some of my ideas and thoughts on exploring watercolor, let me know and we'll explore what might work for you. initially i would say this:

explore what the paint itself will do and the ways you might apply the paint to paper - with a brush and eventually in other ways too. find out if that is fun or exciting for you by doing it daily for some time (it doesnt have to be a long time each day - even 5 to 10 minutes will work - the important thing is not to skip a single day). do this for - 3 or 4 weeks may be - every day at least a little brush and paint against paper - splat and splatter, drip and flow and flood - it doesnt have to be all at once - each day is what counts.

if you get excited about exploring the paint, then any subject might be used as a way to organize areas on your paper to apply that paint - and color. i hope that makes sense.

there are many simple as well as more complex exercises that will help you gain skills with watercolor - or any painting medium for that matter. developing an enjoyment of your process will most likely keep you coming back to explore your medium in a variety of ways with a variety of ideas and subject matter. have fun with the paint. if you have fun with the paint... if you have fun with anything - well... when is the last time you really had fun and then did not want to do it again?

find out what is fun and exciting about watercolor for you. the way you can see through it? the way it flows on paper? the way it can spread one color into another? the way it can be applied dry and scumbling across the texture of the paper? the crispness of an edge of a color? or the softness of an edge?

building knowledge about your medium usually will build interest and skill as well. then you have a base understanding that you can bring to any subject you wish - shells? buttons? symbols? trees? flowers? animals? twigs? leaves? stones? architectural structures? night scenes? city streets? country pastures? what intrigues you? bottles and jugs are a great subject too. here's a thought for you: collect beautiful bottles and jugs - the ones that intrigue you. with some common bottles and jugs use a flat white acrylic paint and paint the entire bottle - do several this way. several small. one or may be two large. do a jug or two as well if it is one you can easily get more of. now you have a white egg in a shape you like. set up your still life and play. play with applying color in the shapes you see. you can apply the color flat across a shape or go for the rounded forms and shadow/lights of shapes. explore both. explore how you apply the paint. apply it in a variety of ways - one way for each painting you do. you can add a none painted jug or bottle too. re-arrange your still life each day and paint it once each day. try something different, something new each day you paint. different colors. different brush applications. one color. all light. all dark. light and dark. etc. shiny surfaces are a real trip to paint - you have to see reflections and highlights as well as shadows. you dont need to get into that complexity when you are starting out tho. use simple interesting shapes and make the application of the paint fun and exciting. if you apply paint in an exciting way, the painting will be exciting no matter what the subject - real items or abstract patterns.

too much info? or too little? you can let me know. bottom line - have fun. and thanks for your comments and questions. aloha - Wrick.

thank you Amy. watercolor can be challenging. i think watercolorists each develop their own relationships and understandings with watercolor - like with a close friend. watercolor is a rich and complex language. it's one of those languages (and friendships) where the rules are rarely written down - may be because there are just too many exceptions. ...sometimes i get to make up my own rules for just that reason. ...and that's fun too.

Wrick I really love your use of color, here. I also love the strokes, very nice. And OF course you might not be surprised to discover I am a geeky little rock collector! NICE work! Watercolor is a wonderful medium, something that takes time to master because its use is so unique for each one of us. I love bleeds and flows. If I want to work with a more solid medium I use pastel, although many of my pieces have been mistaken for paint...but really is is charcoal pastel. Someday I might have the courage to put up some of my older work...its been awhile with the kids since I have had time to lose my brain and do any artwork.

Thank you Jennifer. i know that kind of life struggle - or something similar. i think it is wise to pursue outlets of creativity that can be managed with life as we find it around us. i think that is what you are doing. when the time allows you to pick your colors back up i hope you will.

geeky rock collector? hahaha. i once... got on an airplane hand carrying 120 pounds of rocks. i had planned to hand carry about 60 pounds. but when checking in the attendant went to lift the pack i had the other 60 pounds of stones in, the pack moved about an inch. she looked at me and said, "what's in here, rocks?" i said, "yes." she looked at me and after a silent moment said it couldnt go through, that the luggage handlers would rip the handle straps off. i said ok i'd take two carry ons with me. so i did. so you see, you cant be too geeky and collect stones! (gees i hope that wasnt in bad taste to geekiness - which i probably am too)