July 2007

It’s been a busy week. Last Wednesday I conducted a watercolour workshop for the local Art Society in a small country town not far from here. I had put quite a bit of thought into what I would try to impart to the group in the 2 and a half hour timeslot allowed.

Watercolour 5″ x 7″ on Arches cold pressed (medium)

artwork & content Copyright Jean Burman 2007

2 and a half hours is not very long… especially when it comes to the difficult and challenging… but completely “delightful”… medium of watercolour! A further challenge for me was the rather large group’s mixed level of experience with the watercolour medium. Although many were accomplished artists in other mediums… only some were accomplished watercolour artists (but interested in learning something new). Some had dabbled in the past (with mixed results)… and some had never painted in watercolour before.

So… as you can see… the challenge was to come up with a way to keep the interest of the experienced artists… whilst trying not to bamboozle the rest! Among those who had dabbled with it… there were many pre-conceived ideas and notions about watercolour… and many had been disappointed by their results in the past.

Clearly… my first job was to restore faith in the medium… and to try to convey the sense of joy that lives and breathes in watercolour… and the best way I knew how to do that was to introduce the concept of “no rules”. It’s quite strange and wonderful what can happen when the spectre of rules and regulations are lifted from us… suddenly anything seems possible!

Watercolour 5″ x 7″ on Arches cold pressed (medium)

artwork & content Copyright Jean Burman 2007

And so… to the strains of inspirational Mozart… I began with a favourite Skip Lawrence quote…

“There are no rules in watercolour… only consequences” (Skip actually said “There are no rules in ART… only consequences” but hey… I’m sure he wouldn’t have minded… and may have even approved of the aberration!)

This one action alone gave everyone permission to “relax”… and just go with the f~l~o~w! And so… with an audible sigh… (and a collective giggle)… there was a palpable shift in the atmosphere… and we were underway!

I had decided earlier (for speed and efficacy) we would work in small format (postcard size)… 5″ x 7″… on four different types of paper. Cold pressed medium… cold pressed rough… hot pressed smooth… and for good measure… and in the spirit of “no rules” a piece of canvas textured acrylic paper.

Watercolour 5″ x 7 “on canvas textured acrylic paper

artwork & content Copyright Jean Burman 2007

This deviation from the norm drew initial resistance from the “experienced” ranks… but soon everyone had relaxed into the spirit of the experiment. The approach was to be loose and free in the early stages… using “flung” masking fluid and candle wax marks initially… and then randomly wetting the paper leaving plenty of gaps of dry paper (for vitality in the finished work).

We then proceeded to drop in… from the end of a large dangling brush… a juicy mixture of various transparent pigments. I explained how by using transparent pigments only… it didn’t matter how many colours we put down… it would be impossible to create the dreaded “mud”. We then threw ground salt onto the washes and waited.

Watercolour 5″ x 7″ on canvas textured acrylic paper

artwork & content Copyright Jean Burman 2007

It’s always fascinating to watch the chemical changes that occur between the salt and the various pigments as the paper dries. Even more interesting to add the heat of a hairdryer to push the paint around as we sped up the drying process. (We only had 2 and a half hours remember – grin)

After the paper was dry the fun began… as we looked at the paper and tried to figure out what we could make of it! This was where the imagination came in… to find a subject within the confines of a 5″ x 7″ piece of paper with random swirls and marks on it… and then draw and tease out the subject using negative painting techniques and accentuating marks and brush strokes. It was nothing short of amazing as I made my way around the room… to see what each one had read into it... and made out of it!

Watercolour 5″ x 7″ on Arches hot pressed (smooth)

artwork & content Copyright Jean Burman 2007

I am now more convinced than ever that there is “always” something new under the sun… and that despite having the same materials and the exact same set of criteria… each artist will almost always come up with something that is inately individual… and unique to them.

Watercolour 5″ x 7″ on Arches cold pressed (medium)

artwork & content Copyright Jean Burman 2007

I believe also… too much is made of the watercolour medium… and there are too many rules and regulations (spooky do’s and do not’s) attached to adhering to the time honoured techniques. Sure… there will be problems if you don’t follow some sort of process… but on the other hand… much fun and excitement will be missed out on… if the medium is not played with and exploited to it’s full potential.

I can’t think of one single better way to learn what to do (and more importantly… what not to do) than to take a fully laden brush and and a piece of good quality paper… and just run away with it!

What fun!

Watercolour 7″ x 5″ on Arches cold pressed (rough)

artwork & content Copyright Jean Burman 2007

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I attended an exhibition opening many years ago… which featured the works of several abstract artists… none of whose names (oddly) I can now recall. I do however largely recall the artworks… and remember being totally gobsmacked at the absurdity of the titles… (if not the artwork itself)

“Drawing the Line”

artwork & content Copyright Jean Burman 2007

“Red with black stripe”…I remember… described the work perfectly! As I stood in wonder at the base of the outsized… overworked panel of yes… you guessed it… flat red paint with single black stripe… I couldn’t help but wonder “what on earth is that all about?” And then… almost as soon as it had entered it… the question passed from my mind in such an indecently short amount of time that I almost forgot what it was that I was there for. I stumbled onto the next one… searching searching all the time searching… in an ever increasingly eager quest for some form of greater meaning.

So what exactly IS abstract art?

Abstract art… (also known as non-representational or non-objective art) as it is now generally accepted and understood… is art which does not represent objects in the real world. It relies almost entirely upon colour and form… offered in a non-representational way to describe the subject… which is naturally… (or unnaturally)… abstract in thought, deed, and action. Huh? Okay… shall we start that again?

Andrew’s Abstract breakfast ketchup- photograph testing macro lens (grin)
Copyright Andrew 2007

Abstract art is art that doesn’t look like anything at all… well… anything “recognizable” to the naked eye anyway.

In other words… it’s a cow… but we have to be told it’s a cow… because it really doesn’t look like a cow… or anything else really either!

Abstract art should not be confused with contemporary art… which is art that does represent objects in the natural world… but not necessarily in a way we are entirely familiar with!

So… it’s a cow… but it’s dioxazine purple… and it has a giant sap green udder… and it is waiting patiently at the outsized cadmium red door to the quinacridone gold coloured cheese factory. It’s standing knee deep in some indescribably smelly burnt umber brown madder… oops… matter… on a rapidly waning cerulean blue moon. How do we know it’s a cow? Because it looks like a cow even though it’s purple and all those things… and we know it’s a cow because… um… well… just because we do! So stop asking ridiculous questions.

Abstract art is the direct opposite to Representational art. It is art which “represents” something. It looks like… um… exactly what it is.

It’s a cow and it looks like a cow… it may be a little boring and perhaps a tad unimaginative… but it’s definitely… unmistakeably a cow.

Andrew’s Abstract Breakfast Toast (grin)
Copyright Andrew 2007

So now we know what it is… how do we go about viewing it… and making it?

As a viewer of abstract art we should probably ask the following questions:

1. Am I trying to make something out of nothing?

2. I can’t see it… but can I feel it?

3. Does the title help me understand it better?

4. Have I given it my best shot?

As a maker of abstract art we could probably ask very similar questions:

1. Am I trying to make something out of nothing?

2. I can’t see it… so who the hell else will be able to? (the artist however always feels it)

3. The title must be of no help at all… what is art if it is not mysterious?

4. Have I given it my best shot? Sure… I threw the paint didn’t I? … it stuck… it works… and if not… do I care?

Naaaahhh!

You may glean from this that I am not a lover of abstract art… but all jokes aside… as my level of appreciation for all art grows… abstract art has finally won a very special place in my heart. It does however need to meet the criteria for all good art… and that is… it must have that certain je ne c’est quoi. It must engage us with an intangible excitement. The brushwork must be dextrous and the execution “painterly”. The composition must be flawless and meet the time honoured criteria for all pleasing works of art.

Axis Mundi – Copyright Pauline Jones 1999

(Isn’t it fabulous?)

So… contrary to (some) popular opinion… it’s not about grabbing a board and throwing a bucket of paint at it. I would even go so far as to suggest that remarks like… “any four year old child could do that” seem somewhat ignorant and out of place and totally unwarranted in the world of accomplished abstract art.

So… if the devil is in the detail… all that is left for us to do… is to develop a healthy appreciation for the genre… taking each one as it comes… and judging it on it’s individual merit.

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