
English English poet-painter William Blake, a reclusive and visionary artist, produced and published his own books with engraved texts and hand-colored illustrations. Themes of obscure religious and mythical stories and man's quest for the divine permeate all of Blake's writings and paintings while elements of Michalangelo and the Mannerist school and pre-Rennaissance book illuminations are evident in the content of his work. Blake had no use for the visible world around us, relying on his own "inner vision" and inspiration, denying reason as being ultimately destructive to this own "inner vision". — Watercolor Masters: William Blake © 2010 Greg Conley...
Categories: Artists in Action
Haitian/French/American John James Audubon's name has become synonymous with environmental conservation and natural history. Although he was not a trained naturalist, Audubon's love of birds drove his art. He chose as his task to document all the birds and animals in America but did not discover any new species. The engravings of his watercolors of wildlife were "a landmark in nineteenth-century natural history" (H. W. Janson.) "Snowy Owl" is depicted. — Watercolor Masters: John James Audubon © 2010 Greg Conley Additional Links: audubon.org Audubon Society Audubon at Butler Institute of American Art
Categories: Artists in ActionOno! it's plastic A very brief history of acrylic paint In a 1901 Germany laboratory, the noted chemist Dr. OTTO RÖHM first made synthetic acrylic resin. His ideas were brought into American commercial production in the 1930s through the efforts of Röhm & Haas and by E. I. DuPont de Nemours (Dupont). This particularly useful resin is used in durable forms of fiber, cast plastic sheeting such as plexiglas and Lucite as well as polymerized emulsions for making paint. In 1931 the first acrylic product to be used in any volume was perspex in the U.K. and plexiglas in America...
Categories: Watercolor Lessons , Color Theory
Watercolour Alhambra, CA, USA California native Tom Fong paints with a renowned creative abandon, attacking the paper in his signature "free and loose" style. He distills the artistic essence of whatever subject matter is at hand while imbueing movement, light and color with his wide brush and calligraphic accents. In his popular workshops and demos he entertains and inspires students with a quick wit and skilled hand. Tom Fong is listed as one of the 20 Great Teachers in the March 2008 collectors edition of the Watercolor magazine(American Artist Publications). His art and teaching have nurtured a loyal following of students,...
Categories: Artists in Action
Watercolour Calistoga, CA, USA The art of Barbara Nechis reflects the rhythms of life in a manner both primal and sensitive. Her artistic vision, one that goes to the core of what creativity and being an artist true to oneself is, first struck a chord with the public when Watercolor The Creative Experience was published in 1979. By the time Watercolor From the Heart was published in 1993 she was well into her own personal artistic journey. She has termed her style of painting "abstract realism," but the actual essence and power of her work lies in her ability to reign...
Categories: Artists in Action
American Watercolor Master Dong Kingman left the world a legacy of visual happiness. His unique role in the development of American art through the medium of watercolor over the past half-century involved a thorough intertwining of Eastern and Western artistic sensibilities that inspired peers on both coasts to look through new eyes. His colorful, ofttimes whimsical, paintings fused studied elements of realism, cubism, abstract, surrealism, and impressionism into joyous displays of imagination uniquely constructed on the fly, all based on en plein air paintings and sketches made on location all around the world. Blue Moon (1942) Watercolor © Dong...
Categories: Artists in Action
Original PhotoTaken with Fuji Fine pix digital camera at St Antonin in Southern France Allan Kirk's impressionistic watercolor exercise shows how to capture light and present the beauty that can be found in the simplest of subjects. The composition is brought to life by the way transparent watercolor is used to reflect the strong light and dark tones found under the southern French sun. For Allan Kirk, watercolor impressionism is the constant pursuit of light. Living in the south of France, Allan is able to work under strong sunlight in old, dusty medieval towns. It is the combination of light and...
Categories: Step-By-Step Painting Ideas , Watercolor Lessons , Intermediate Techniques
Materials Used: Brushes 1 1/2" (381mm) Flat Winsor & Newton Series 965 1" Grumbacher Aquarelle Flat Red Sable #12 Winsor & Newton Series 7 Red Sable #10 Winsor & Newton Series 820 Red Sable #6 Grumbacher Watercolor Classic Red Sable #4 Round Red Sable Paints Sap Green Hooker's Green Dark Phthalocyanine Blue Cobalt Blue Dioxazine Purple Alizarin Crimson Permanent Rose Raw Sienna Burnt Umber Paper Spiral Pad (11" x 14") by Canson: 140lb cold press watercolor paper Miscellaneous #2 Pencil Kneaded Eraser Palette - Your choice. Mine is an old Robert E. Wood model. Water container (x2) with clean water...
Categories: Step-By-Step Painting Ideas , Watercolor Lessons , Beginner Techniques