Watercolour Demo 12″ x 9 “
Copyright 2009 Jean Burman
Today was one of those days. You know… the kind of day that dawns at the end of a frenetic week… where just about every possible scenario has been thrown at you… and you survived anyway! That’s a pretty good feeling… and the best possible way (not to mention “reason”) to start a new day! (((chuckles)))
Today began in earnest as I packed up the car with my art supplies and demos and headed for the Art Barn to teach the second in a series of three watercolour workshops I had dreamt up while on the road North. The Watercolour Like WOW workshop series was conceived at around 140kph somewhere out on the Marlborough Stretch… with Earth Wind and Fire at 120 decibels! Grin.
It finally came to life last Saturday morning with a hastily assembled group of artists all eager to stretch their creative wings and learn how exciting (while at the same time how darned frustrating) the watercolour medium can really be. I decided the thrust of the class should be to de-bunk the myth that watercolour is a difficult child with a rotten attitude… and cultivate the truth that watercolour is in fact… (once you know your way around the individual nature of pigment paper and brush) one of the best mediums to work with and actually “quite enjoyable”!
Last week we loosened up with exercises which demonstrated the differences between transparent and opaque paints and the granulation effect. Today we followed up with eye exercises (no not those ones!) using a pre-determined mixture of opaque and transparent pigments dropped wet into wet to get varying effects within the iris. I love doing eyes. In watercolour… they really are the mirrors of the soul!
These are unfinished samples but you can get the idea – [I loaned my finished samples for further reference]
We then followed up with a relatively simple portrait… something that most artists could easily handle. Portraits offer quite a few opportunities to really get a handle on the medium. And get a handle they did! It never ceases to amaze me how… given the same set of instructions… the results from each artist are always (without exception) so different. In watercolour especially I think… where every piece of a person’s character is there to see. The personality is right there in the paint. As if by magic!
Early demo – but like all good chefs – here’s one I prepared earlier (see above)
After coffee and homemade cupcakes (I know – can’t help myself – have to get a cupcake in there somewhere) we all went our separate ways until next week…. and I went out to lunch with my old school chums.
How’s this for a cupcake? – public art Cairns Esplanade
It’s always great to catch up with the girls I went to school with. It’s a regular thing… and one of the things I had missed so much while I was away. We had lunch at Cocoa Amour which sounds way more glamourous than it actually is… crashing plates… and plenty of staff attitude. But the food was delish and the company second to none!
Winter in the Tropics
After that I headed down to the Esplanade in search of the public art display that had been set up for Festival Cairns 2009… an eclectic display [that I only managed to find some of] before being (literally) swept up in the Tropical Wave Festival – a multicultural event – featuring the culture and cuisine of all the varying ethnic groups that make up this great town.
Torres Strait Dancers
Tropical Wave Festival Stage with Samoan singers
People came from far and wide to bring a variety of music sights sounds and aromas from around the world to the Tropical North of Australia.
(not so) Traditional Tea Ceremony!
I’ll have to go back later to find the rest of the public art… and the piano project as well. I managed to find only one piano… but there was a nice young man doing a very good job of playing it while I was there. So I stayed for a while to listen.
Don’t you think his girlfriend looks ever so much like Sandra Oh?
Thankfully tomorrow’s another day… and I will get to do the rest of it then. I’ll be walking by 8… then there’s the Indigenous Art Fair at 11… and lunch with my kids after that. Oops… promised I wouldn’t mention them here… so delete that last line. If anyone asks… I didn’t say anything okay? (((chuckles)))
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
WOW is the right word, Jean, as in “WOW, you’re on fire.” I wish I was there to take your workshop. One of the big revelations about watercolor for me came when I realized some years ago that I had been wrestling with the medium instead of enjoying it. After all, I suddenly recognized, all I’m doing is coloring my drawings.
Yeah… the strange paradox of watercolour is the more you relax into it and go with the flow the easier and better it gets. But relaxing into it can take years! Anyone who knows anything about the medium… knows that watercolour is NOT necessarily relaxing. Especially starting out. But it can be a lot of fun… and doesn’t need to be taken so seriously…. and that’s what I’m hoping to impart. I don’t know of any other medium that can so comprehensively and effectively paint itself if left to it’s own devices. It’s the “leaving it” (and trusting it) to do it’s own thing that most people struggle with. Some degree of faith is required… and the ability to leave things alone long enough to settle themselves out. Sounds like a metaphor for life doesn’t it? That’s why I like watercolour! LOL
Hi Jean! How wonderful to hear and see you being so industrious! I see you are back in Cairns…its a long way to drive!!!
Watercolour has been so aptly described by you and I see that it is a metaphor for life…just go with the flow! I often use the “skills” of watercolour in alot of my paintings to blend solid colours into one and to give an illusion of either light or water. Its fun, just playing with the whole principle. What a sterling idea to go forth and share that knowledge that you have acquired..I hope many minds have been opened due to your passion! XXX
I noted the piano with the mural…groovy!!
I know! I’ve been trying to track them all down… there are apparently six of them placed around the city somewhere. The trick is to find them. They will apparently be in place for the next two weeks over the Festival and then will disappear to who knows where. I would like to see them stay as they create such a musical presence with people sauntering up to play a tune or two… bringing people together through music. It’s totally cool! So great to see you Jools… thanks for stopping by