Bobbing colors and Shadows

A Day in the Life - Sketchbook Project page 19 color pencils 5x7"

I see this little shed with these colorful buoys behind a high fence everyday as I drive or walk by it near the end of our street.  The arrangement and number  of buoys keeps changing - yesterday there were only a few but this past winter when I was on my walk, the sun was at just the right angle on the full display of vivid objects.  Through the seasons, I observed how the number of buoys, angle of light, the time of day changes the shadows making for exciting shapes and colors. All this helped me change the arrangement the way I felt comfortable with as I sketched. 

I had an 'ah-ha' moment when I realized that I 'draw' outlines of the objects  but I have to 'paint' shapes and values! Shapes in right color & value with lost and found edges essentially complete a painting save for a few accents! So now I know to focus my efforts in future paintings on the refinement of interlocking shapes in my composition, making highlights blend, anchoring the shadows so objects pop out.  Most of writing and painting is observing and thinking and seeing the relationships :) 

Sixteen Rules to Forget

Koi  (final) watercolor on Yupo 11x14

A month and a half ago when I was getting ready to frame the paintings for my show at the library, I had to stop and go back over my earlier version of  the Koi painting, further deepening the shadows (the photograph unfortunately still doesn't capture the darks well enough) and adding some more details to the fish and the water.  I like this newer more vibrant version :). Under glass with  'museum white' double mat really gives the painting a wonderful 'finished' look. I can never  get over how matting and framing dresses up a painting!!! 

I must admit I have been washing, painting, rewashing and painting again on regular paper for a few years  but  its easier on Yupo.  Yupo paper  has helped me be bolder with trying out various options for a painting --especially going darker, then coming back and saving the whites. It has helped me take chances and  try out different solutions on the same painting till I am satisfied. I play with shapes, values, colors or other elements with abandon. Recently I reread Arne Westerman's book "Painting Watercolors Filled with Life and Energy." and it reaffirmed for me the method in my madness. At the end of the book he has  a chapter on Six Things to Remember and Sixteen Rules to Forget (my favorite)! I am sharing shortened versions of both below (and that will also help me remember better .)

Remember these: 

1. Paint only those things you feel connected to.

2.  Consider the uniqueness of your idea.

3.  See your work as a rectangle -not a person or a thing in the middle of a rectangle.

4.  Simplify.

5.  Use light like a film director.

6.  Use color with boldness. 

Forget These Rules: Rules (in italics) and my summarized version of his  refreshingly candid comments/explanation (not in italics) 

1.  Be careful to avoid "ouzles" in your painting. -Don't worry-its one of the exclusive qualities of watercolor.

2.  Design is simply a matter of picking the right formula. Not really. Just keep it simple. 

3. Watercolor is an unforgiving medium. Nonsense. You can paint, wash it off, restate and wash again.

4.  Expensive brushes are better and last longer. Not necessarily.  Experiment and find brushes just right for you.

5.  Paper must be stretched before painting. Not true.

6.  Don't use opaque white paint. Thats cheating.  A silly rule aimed to prove how difficult it is to paint 'transparent color.' The Old Masters used white paint. Cerulean blue, red & orange cadmiums, and yellow ochre are as opaque as white. 

7.  Always erase your pencil lines.  Not necessary.  It adds interest and texture.

8.  Be careful with the paper's surface.  Good watercolor paper takes a lot of abuse and its the results that count.

9.  Be neat and tidy.  Wrong.

10. Don't waste film, paint, paper and other supplies. Better to waste than lose a great opportunity.

11. Don't paint from photographs. Paint on the scene or work from photographs. Go either way without guilt.

12. Always work light to dark.  Not true. Develop as you go. 

13. Make every brushstroke count. No. You will play it safe and go nuts.

14.  Watercolor requires tremendous control. Not true. If you don't like it wash it off.

15.  Don't paint a vertical subject in a vertical format. Not necessarily.

16. Always stay inside the lines.  The term "crossing the line" suggests adventure. 

I close with these words from Arne Westerman: "You are an artist. Go to work." 

Science, Math and Art

Mirror #10 Sketch Mirror

 Snow Mirror 2006 

Darwinian Straw Mirror 2010

Each of the above photograph is my portrait -amazing interactive imagery with custom software, video camera projector and silk screen courtesy of    "Contrast: Interactive Work by Daniel Rozin"  - an installation at the Chrysler Museum of Art at Norfolk, VA.   The museum web site explains : "Daniel Rozin's work combines art, technology — and the viewer — to create a distinctive artistic experience. Though computers and machinery play a key role in his digital interactive installations, the science behind the work is seldom visible. The idea is to create works that not only incorporate change and movement, but that also respond to viewers in real time. Thanks to the use of video projection and sophisticated programming, visitors can become part of the art, or the art can change based on the movements or perspective of the viewer. Part sculpture, part mirror, part screen, his works often defy easy categorization,"  It was truly a surreal experience to see my image emerge, change, and dissolve and emerge again as I moved about.  And there was so much laughter, excitement and child like sheer pleasure at the gallery  as each of us -viewers- discovered we were the ones creating 'art' in there :) 

Speaking of science and math and art, two days ago I watched a Nova program on PBS on Fractals and once again mesmerized by the beauty in math, science and nature.  I have been googling Fractals to learn more about it - I had come across it a few years ago and continue to be fascinated by the phenomenon and the designs they create :)

And one more link : check out some wonderful quirky artsy math doodling of Vi Hart and explore her website.

So, naturalists observe, a flea

Has smaller fleas that on him prey;

And these have smaller still to bite 'em,

And so proceed ad infinitum.

—Jonathan Swift, from "On Poetry: A Rhapsody"

Distortions and Reality

I deliberately set about sketching and painting this scene in a distorted way but I think I was still too rigid and careful. It is funny how distortions creep in when I don't want to in my regular sketching and how I had to struggle to make it happen this time! And it is deeply tragic when the disastrous earthquakes in Haiti and Chile are not anyone's imagination. I worked on this painting long before the earthquakes just as an exercise but now I feel quite rattled and shaken as I see the destruction and read about the struggles of the people there.

watercolor 24x18"

Preparation

I was painting furiously for my show these past couple of months and left a mess in its wake. So yesterday I spent the day clearing all the clutter as much as possible from my 'studio'. Now the mat cutter and its parts are stored away for next time. All the mats and frames I didn't use gathered and put away so I don't trip over them. Color Pencils and paint tubes are back in the appropriate boxes and sorted out just so. I have to organize my things often since I am never successful in maintaining order. Everything somehow gets out of its place and spread out in no time at all.

I am back to searching for new subject matter for painting. Its always exciting and frustrating and a bit scary - expectations for the next painting are always high. I love to read and research besides going through my photographs and sketches when I am deciding and preparing. Here is an article I came across yesterday about Art and Visual Research : "Scientists did not invent the vast majority of visual illusions. Rather, they are the work of visual artists, who have used their insights into the workings of the visual system to create visual illusions in their pieces of art. We have previously pointed out in our essays that, long before visual science existed as a formal discipline, artists had devised techniques to “trick” the brain into thinking that a flat canvas was three-dimensional, or that a series of brushstrokes in a still life was in fact a bowl of luscious fruit. " And then there is M.C. Escher's art.

While I contemplate my next piece, I have selected a painting from one of my previous shows to share (thats the point of this blog anyway!) Bullock was painted a couple of years ago in color pencils. His serene expression and resignation to his lot in life was a challenge to capture on paper. I found him in IIT Chennai doing the rounds delivering water in the campus still decked up in paint after the 'pongal' festivities.