2022 03 01WatercolorArtist PDF

BEYOND THE BRUSH: 47 Handy Tools
ARTISTSNETWORK.COM
PLAY THE
ANGLES
Take a Creative
Approach to
Reference
Photography
+
WE ASKED:
WHAT’S
THE ONE
WATER
BRUSH YOU
CAN’T PAINT
WITHOUT?
p. 18
WORKS!
3 Artists Share Tips for Painting
Luminous Light & Dazzling Color SUMMER 2022
Contents SUMMER 2022
Features
24
COASTAL ADVENTURES
For plein air painter Geoff Allen,
the boatyards of Southern
California offer endless
opportunity and inspiration.
BY JOHN A. PARKS
34
THE ALLURE OF
LIGHT ON WATER
Poppy Balser finds the unique
qualities of watercolor to be
perfectly suited to her artistic
pursuit of light on water.
BY ROBERT K. CARSTEN
44
ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES
The artist Deborah Rubin
applies her passion for realism
to subjects of all sorts.
BY AMY LEIBROCK
60
52
THE TRASH BAG
60
MAKE LIFE A
SUITCASE WORK OF ART
By incorporating symbolism Landscape artist Giordano
and drawing from personal Gattolin, of Italy, welcomes
experience, Daniela Werneck creative adventure into both his
weaves powerful emotion and painting process and his life.
storytelling into her work.
52 BY STEFANIE LAUFERSWEILER
BY ANI KODJABASHEVA
2 Watercolor artist | SUMMER 2022

Columns
4 EDITOR’S NOTE
The spellbinding sea
6 HAPPENINGS
A Caldecott win for
watercolor, plus new art
indulgences and more.
10 CREATIVITY
WORKSHOP
Enliven your compositions
with an unconventional
view or vantage point.
BY PETER JABLOKOW
16 ANATOMY OF
A PAINTING
A 20-month trip to the
North Sea points Winslow
Homer in a new creative
direction.
BY JERRY WEISS
18 BURNING QUESTION
We asked five artists:
What’s the one brush you
couldn’t paint without?
BY ANNE HEVENER
20
20 BRIGHT IDEAS
Go beyond paint and
brush to discover some 10
unique additions for
your toolkit.
BY LAURIN MCCRACKEN
ON THE COVER
72 OPEN BOOK Beyond the Brush 20
Gain a new perspective by
taking your sketchbook Play the Angles 10
out on the water. What’s the One Brush You
BY KATHRYN MAPES TURNER Can’t Live Without? 18
Water Works! 24, 34, 16, 72
Get Social Slicing Along (detail; watercolor on

paper, 16x12) by Poppy Balser
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Editor’s Note Watercolor
ARTISTSNETWORK.COM
F rom a sailboat on the high sea

to the crash of water on rocks,
the sea and shore are settings
that offer painters an abundance of
creative possibilities. For watercolor
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Anne Hevener
SENIOR DESIGNER Brian Roeth
SENIOR EDITOR Holly Davis
MANAGING EDITOR Christina Richards

artists—who are so well acquainted DIGITAL EDITOR Suzanne Strobel
with the power and flow of water—
ADVERTISING
the attraction is perhaps a natural one.
For this issue, we visited with several artists for whom AD SALES COMMUNITY LEADER Mary McLane
the call of the sea is powerful. For artist Geoff Allen, it’s Northeastern, Western U.S. & International; 970/290-6065
the docks and busy shipyards along the California coast mmclane @goldenpeakmedia.com
that inspire his complex compositions (page 24). For Poppy ADVERTISING CONSULTANT Kaline Carter
Balsar, of Nova Scotia, it’s the beautiful shores along the Southeastern U.S.; 505/730-9301
Bay of Fundy that act as muse (page 34). “I enjoy simply kcarter@goldenpeakmedia.com
watching water move—the waves coming in; reflections
rippling gently; streams flowing to the sea,” Balsar says. MEDIA SALES COORDINATOR Lori Hauser
715-318-0037; lhauser@goldenpeakmedia.com
GOLDEN PEAK MEDIA

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Jeffrey Litvack
The sea, once it casts its
“
spell, holds one in its net of
CHIEF SALES OFFICER Farrell McManus
VP, STRATEGY Andrew Flowers
wonder forever.
”
NEWSSTAND SALES Scott T. Hill
scott.hill@pubworx.com
—JACQUES COUSTEAU
EDITORIAL OFFICES
9912 Carver Road, Blue Ash, OH 45242
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“It all captures my attention and imagination. The water’s
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edge is a balm to me.”
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In 1881, when the watercolor master Winslow Homer
spent 20 months in a small English village on the North US/Canada 800/811-9834
Sea, he made paintings of the rough and stormy seas, but Foreign subscribers 386/246-3371
what truly captured his attention were the fishing boats wcm.pcdfusion.com/pcd/customersupport/app/17221
and the women awaiting the fishermen’s return (page 16).
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Although the bodies of water, as well as the focus, mood
and style, vary in each case, the work of these artists share To submit a request, visit
a common thread: a fascination with the mesmerizing— peakmediaproperties.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

and at times, perilous—qualities of the coastal landscape.
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Elsewhere in the issue you’ll learn about artists who are
Internationally distributed by Curtis Circulation Co.,
captivated by other creative thrills: the challenge of painting
730 River Road, New Milford, NJ 07646
realism (page 44), the joy of embracing artistic adventures
Tel: 201-634-7400. Fax: 201-634-7499
(page 60) and the healing power achieved by sharing our
human stories in our art (page 52), to name a few. Attention Retailers: To carry Watercolor Artist in your stores,
No matter the subject, once an artist is under its spell, contact: sales@goldenpeakmedia.com
there’s no other choice but to pick up the brush again and

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Happenings
/ MAKING A SPLASH /
Jason Chin
Jason Chin, winner of the 2022 Caldecott Medal for his poignant illustrations for the picture book,
Watercress, discusses his artistic choices and intentions.
Watercolor was the right medium brush marks in these paintings aren’t black. I thought this particular palette
for this book because it’s common hidden. They’re simultaneously brush matched the story, which is a somber
to both Western art and traditional marks and bamboo. In Watercress, tale full of memories of America and
Chinese art, and I used several tech- I looked for opportunities to highlight China. The majority of the story is set
niques that Chinese painters use. In my brushstrokes. I used drybrush in Ohio in the 1970s, but it includes
Chinese landscapes, mountains are techniques, for example, so you could two flashbacks to China in the 1950s.
often painted with soft washes so see the marks of the brush hairs. I chose yellow ochre as a primary
that they appear to be emerging from For any book I’m illustrating, color for the paintings because it’s
clouds and mist. This gives them I usually limit my palette to five rich but not bright. It reminds me of
a dreamlike quality. I thought this colors to create cohesion. In this case, old photos and 1970s decor. I chose
would be a nice way to represent the I used yellow ochre, cerulean blue, cerulean blue because it’s more muted
theme of memory that runs through- cadmium red, burnt umber and ivory and reminds me of the blues used in
out the book, so I utilized Chinese landscape paint-
soft washes and lost edges ings. Ivory black is
in the paintings. a reference to Chinese
In Chinese bamboo brush paintings and callig-
paintings, an artist paints raphy. (Normally I get my
each part of the plant— darkest darks with sepia or
stalk segments, stems Payne’s gray). These three
and leaves—with single colors, plus burnt umber,
brushstrokes. The bamboo produced muted yellows,
is depicted in silhouette, greens and blues, which
and distance is conveyed made the few spots of red,
by modulating the value of in the protagonist’s shirt
the ink. I incorporated this and the family car, for
approach into the illustra- example, stand out.
tions of corn stalks in the
book. I also took inspira- Jason Chin is the author and
tion from Chinese brush illustrator of several award-
paintings. I love how the winning children’s books.

New + Notable
/ STUDIO STAPLES / / ON THE SHELVES /
Art: Explained: 100 Masterpieces and
What They Mean [$20]
Reading this book
by art historian,
best-selling author
and artist Susie
Hodge is like
walking through
an art museum
with your own
personal docent.
Inside you’ll find
pictures of 100
recognizable
works of art, like
Andy Warhol’s
soup cans, the
Terracotta Army
and Michelangelo’s
Sistine Chapel
Custom Watercolor Sketchbook [$36] ceiling. Each of
If you’d love to create a customized sketchbook, check the 100 works of art is a piece widely recognized
out the Lake Michigan Book Press, in Kalmazoo, Mich., as exceptional, and viewed with awe and wonder.
where you can work with book artist Crystal Shaulis. The Hodges has set out to answer the inevitable question:
sketchbooks lie flat and come with five paper choices, in “What made this one so special?” laurenceking.com
three sizes, with eight thread colors and seven cover colors.
You can add a back pocket or more pages. Shaulis is an
instructor at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center and has had Lives of the Surrealists [$40]
her artist books exhibited at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Author Desmond
University of Nebraska and the Muskegon Museum of Art. Morris explores the
etsy.com/shop/lkmichiganbookpress inner workings—
the motivations,
personalities,
character
strengths and
flaws—of 35 of
the individual
artists known
collectively as the
Surrealists. Morris
is a Surrealist artist
himself and, as
such, has a unique
vantage point into
what he considers
more of a lifestyle
than a genre of
fine art. “Unlike
the Impressionists or the Cubists, the Surrealists
didn’t obey a fixed visual code,” reads a press release
Credit Card Watercolor Palette [$13] from the publisher, “but rather the rules of Surrealist
Measuring just over 3½ inches in length, this pocket-sized philosophy: Work from the unconscious, letting your
aluminum palette comes with a 3D-printed insert of 4, 10 or darkest, most irrational thoughts well up and shape
18 paint wells, a watercolor paper card, which fits inside the your art.” Read about the complex lives of these
cover, and a cover to protect the paint wells. unique individuals alongside photos of the artists and
etsy.com/shop/macraftworkshop reproductions of their work. thamesandhudsonusa.com
Happenings
/ WATERCOLOR WORLD /
New Auction Record for

Watercolorist Jacob Maentel
The sometimes strange and often shocking world of fine art sales can feel like a separate sphere
altogether from the role of an artist at the easel, but auction results can provide some insight
into the changing trends. Art supply sales have spiked in the age of Covid-19, as more and
more people discover painting and other creative outlets, and the same is true for the world of
art collecting.
When the folk art collection of Peter and Barbara Goodman, for example, was sold at a
Christie’s auction in January of this year, many sales records were broken. Among them was the Pair of Portraits of
selling price for a watercolor painting by Jacob Maentel, Pair of Portraits of Husband and Wife, Husband and Wife
(watercolor and
which realized $562,500. In an interview with Antiques and The Arts Weekly, John Hays, Christie’s
gouache on paper,
deputy director, had this to say about the Goodman collection: “This ranks up there, piece by 12x7¾ [wife] and
piece, with some of the most exciting folk art collections that have ever come to market. It may 11⅞x7¾ [husband])
be one of those moments we look back on and say, ‘It’s a benchmark.’ ” Maentel was most famous by Jacob Maentel
for his watercolor portraits, rich with details of 19th-century American life. CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2022

/ WATERCOLOR WORLD /
Utah Museum of Fine Art Acquires

35 Works by Chiura Obata
The family estate
of watercolor artist
Chiura Obata’s has
gifted 35 of his paint-
ings, made between
1934 and 1943, to the
Utah Museum of Fine
Art (UMFA). Utah
became a place of deep
and somber signifi-
cance for the Obata
family after the artist
was forced into the
the Topaz Internment
Camp, which was
located in central Utah,
during World War II.
During his internment,
Obata founded an art
school and taught chil-
dren and adults how to
paint, even organizing
Very Warm Noon Without Any Wind. Dead Heat Covered All Camp Ground an exhibition at the
(Topaz Relocation Center, Utah, 1943; watercolor on silk) by Chiura Obata camp. This experience
GIFT OF THE ESTATE OF CHIURA OBATA, FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION OF THE UTAH MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS. would continue to
impact the artist’s work
throughout his life, but
he also felt deeply con-
nected to nature, and
had even immigrated
to America in search of
what he called “Great
Nature.” Both of these
topics are explored in
the works gifted to
the UMFA, and the
museum plans to orga-
nize an exhibition of
the new collection for
the fall of 2022. WA
Moonlight (Topaz War

Relocation Center, Utah,
1943; watercolor on silk)
by Chiura Obata
GIFT OF THE ESTATE OF CHIURA OBATA,
FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION OF
THE UTAH MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS.
Creativity Workshop
Quincy Dredge Interior

in Summer (watercolor
Up Close and Powerful

on paper, 19x30) depicts
a partially submerged
mining vessel once used
to extract copper from
sand. I shot my reference
photo while balancing
Discover dynamic compositions for your paintings on the edge of the
foreground beam, using
with these reference photo tips and tricks. the panoramic setting
on my iPhone to capture
more of the light filtering
By Peter V. Jablokow into the space.
I began my professional life as an

architectural illustrator. The subject
of my artwork would be whatever
structure I was assigned to depict, and
it would always be positioned in the
As an illustrator, I’d had my
fill of conventional straight-on
compositions—what I think of as
“portraits,” although my subjects are
typically structures or machines. With
My work tends to be detailed, so
I mostly paint from photos. I think
about three things as I snap pictures:
distortions, foreground objects and
unusual angles. I look for distor-
center of the picture plane. The closing the freedom to change my point of tions that occur near the outside
of this career, in 2010, happened to view, I moved closer to my subjects. edges when I move in close because
coincide with a visit to the copper min- Turns out this created a dynamic, they often create linear movement
ing ruins of the Keweenaw Peninsula, encompassing atmosphere that and energy in the viewfinder. To
in Michigan. There, I found exciting I found exciting. I felt like a kid climb- create depth and detail, I look for
subjects that inspired me to start ing all over anything big, exciting and an object I can place in the extreme
painting in watercolor (see Quincy new. I try to make my compositions foreground—something over which
Dredge Interior in Summer, above). express that childlike wonder. my eye can wander. Certain angles,

especially low ones, can create inter-
Play the Angles
esting illusions of scale. For example, For photos A and B, I placed the camera directly on the shiny railroad
if I’m walking along railroad tracks, track but at slightly different angles for the individual images. Moving
I’ll try some shots below the height the camera that small distance drastically changed the reflection on the
of the rail. This creates a foreground rail. This is why I take a picture, move a little and take another picture to
see what might appear. To further focus on the rail, I cropped the top of
object and an exaggerated sense of photo B in Photoshop. Then, while painting Joliet Bridge Rail No. 2, I exag-
scale. A low horizon can also make gerated the size of the rail so it engulfed even more of the foreground.
objects appear to loom overhead, so
they feel larger and heavier.
When I find a photo that inspires
me to make a painting, I’ll open the
image in Photoshop and manipulate
shapes and values to improve the
composition, following principles of
design. These include making sure
there’s a center of interest, a secondary
area of interest, variety and dominance
in light and dark shapes, and domi-
nance of either warm or cool values.
I have several approaches for get-
ting photo references that pack the
strongest punch:
Shoot from all angles: When
I encounter something of interest,
I pull out my Panasonic LUMIX A B
FZ300. It’s a relatively inexpensive
camera with much better zoom
capability than I have on my iPhone.
I tend to start farther away from my
subject to get an overall view and try
to capture as many angles as possible.
Next, I move closer, continuing to
capture all possible angles until the
foreground objects start to exit the
viewfinder and closer objects seem
to fly toward my face. In addition,
I position the camera as high as I can
(I need a drone) or as low as possible.
All the while, I move in small incre-
ments while adjusting the position of
the camera to see what happens (see
Play the Angles, right).
Merge multiple shots: After
I run out of close-up options, I’ll start
taking photos in a series (my favorite
approach). For these photos, I close
in on portions of a subject that are
too big to effectively fit into a sin-
gle frame. I’ll take a photo looking
straight on, then take another one
with the lens rotated slightly higher,
then another with the lens pointing
even higher. Later I’ll use Adobe
Photoshop or Affinity Photo—two
similar photo-editing programs—to
combine the series into a single photo Joliet Bridge Rail No. 2 (watercolor on paper, 22x22)
(see Put It Together, page 12).
Creativity Workshop
Put It Together
Standing beneath the stern of a ship being restored in
Iceland’s Reykjavik Harbor, I was struck by how large
the vessel felt. Stepping back to fit the structure in my
camera’s viewfinder would have made the ship feel
distant and destroyed the dynamic. Instead, I stayed
close and snapped a series of photos, moving the
camera a bit upward after each shot. Later, I loaded the
images into Photoshop, clicked on “File” on the toolbar,
then “Automate,” on the drop-down menu, followed
by “Photomerge.” I then selected the “Perspective” set-
ting, which keeps straight lines straight, and Photoshop
sewed the images together seamlessly. The merged
photo served as a reference for Reykjavik Ship (opposite).
REFERENCE 1
REFERENCE 2 REFERENCE 3
REFERENCE 4
MERGED
REFERENCE
PHOTOS

Reykjavik Ship
(watercolor on
paper, 30x19
Creativity Workshop
Bend the Truth

While spending time in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, I returned every day to an area with a weathered
wall lining a tight street. I wanted to capture the feeling of walking alongside the battered masonry,
but I couldn’t convey that impression with a standard photo (A). Instead, I used the panorama setting
on my iPhone, a feature that expands the field of view while creating a curved, “fish-eye” distortion (B).
Later, using Photoshop, I cropped the panoramic photo and moved the wall from the left side of the
picture to the right side (C), resulting in a photo reference for the painting San Miguel Wall.
A B
San Miguel Wall (watercolor on paper, 12½x41)
See a step-by-step demonstration, from photos to finished work, of

More Online! one of Jablokow’s paintings at artistsnetwork.com/go/jablokow-demo.

Pan the scene: Taking photos in
a series to be merged later gives me
distorted wide-angle images in which
straight edges stay straight after the
photos are combined. Alternatively,
Follow the Light
I placed a vintage typewriter in a variety of places and positions, seeking
the panoramic feature on my iPhone dramatic light effects and shadows. When I saw a view I liked, I shot a ref-
creates wide-range photos with a dis- erence photo, closing in with the camera. Both the photo and Typewriter
torted, fish-eye perspective, in which Type Bars Sketch display the typewriter at an unusually large and some-
straight lines became curved (see what confusing scale—which makes for a compelling composition.
Bend the Truth, opposite). I can use
the panorama feature either vertically
or horizontally, depending on the
view I want to capture.
Watch the light: Often, as I study
my photos, I’ll see that I want yet
another angle or that the light could
be more interesting at a different time
of day. For example, I have a 1930s
Underwood typewriter in my studio.
Sometimes when the light catches my
attention, I’ll pick it up and put it in
the window or carry it into another
room or even outside to see what
I can come up with (see Follow the
Light, right).
After a photo session, I often have
hundreds of references to choose
from, which I enjoy reviewing. Even
when I don’t find a photo I wish to
paint, I’ve still enjoyed the experience
of taking the photos, so my time REFERENCE PHOTO
wasn’t wasted. WA
Award-winning artist and watercolor-

painting instructor Peter V. Jablokow
(peterillustrator.com) is a Signature
Member of the American Watercolor
Society, the National Watercolor Society
and the Transparent Watercolor Society.
Try this at home

SHOOT THE WORKS
Select a subject and take reference photos
from a variety of angles, distances and
lighting situations—the more photos, the
better. Then spend time examining them
to see how greatly even small changes
can affect the composition. If you have
photo-imaging software, try merging
a series of photos. Use at least one
photo taken from an unusual angle Typewriter Type Bars Sketch (watercolor on paper, 11x15)
as a reference for a painting.
Anatomy of a Painting
Continental Drift
In the early 1880s, WINSLOW HOMER sailed to
England and changed the course of his art.
By Jerry N. Weiss
H aving exhausted the pastoral

subjects to which he’d long
been devoted and seeking
a change of scenery, Winslow Homer
(1836–1910) sailed for London in
Flamborough Head, England
(1882; graphite and opaque white
watercolor on tan laid paper
with red and blue fibers, 174⁄5x24)
March, 1881. By August he’d settled by Winslow Homer
ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO; MR. AND MRS.
in Cullercoats, an English fishing vil- MARTIN A. RYERSON COLLECTION
lage on the North Sea. Homer found
a studio with an unobstructed view
of the harbor. He drew and painted
during daylight hours, then played bil- the women who awaited the return
liards and danced with the locals in the of fishing boats. They strike monu-
evenings. The artist had intended to mental poses, such as that of the girl
return to New York in September but in Flamborough Head, England, silhou-
stayed in Cullercoats for 20 months. etted against magnificent seascapes
During that period, Homer pro- and vast skies. These young women are
duced nearly 150 watercolors and distant cousins to the pensive children
drawings of the ocean and the people who played in pastures in Homer’s ear-
who depended upon it for their live- lier watercolors. Their stoic acceptance
lihood. His palette, vivid to the point of a dangerous life heralds a shift in
of raucousness before he left America, the artist’s mindset. When he returned
shifted to tonal silvers and grays in to the United States, Homer left New
England. His subjects became graver: York for the coast of Maine. There
storms raged, ships foundered in he spent much of the rest of his
high seas and fishermen—depicted as life reworking this essential motif,
abstract groups dressed in oilskins— humankind against nature. WA
persevered silently in the face of
mortal risk. Jerry N. Weiss is a contributing writer
The theme Homer returned to for fine art magazines. He teaches at the
most often at Cullercoats was that of Art Students League of New York.
“Black and white, if properly

balanced, suggests color.”
—WINSLOW HOMER
Look for part three of this four-part series on Winslow Homer in the Fall issue.

The model for the fisher girl in Flamborough Head, England, was Maggie Jefferson Homer once said, “Black and white,
Storey. This Cullercoats teenager became a favorite model for Homer, who paid if properly balanced, suggests color.
her a shilling an hour while she posed on the village green; however, the great The construction, the balancing
chalk cliffs of Flamborough Head are more than a hundred miles south of of the parts, is everything.” When
Cullercoats. Although Homer apparently traveled along the North Sea coastline, viewing this monochromatic study,
it’s unlikely that Storey actually posed for him at Flamborough. Rather, the artist one can imagine not only color
probably assembled separate studies of the landscape and his model, then but also altitude, distance and
combined them, superimposing her figure on the headlands, to dramatic effect. the movement of wind.
The application of opaque white paint reveals Homer’s mastery of Elderly residents of Cullercoats
watercolor. The paint was brushed on forcefully for the girl’s remembered Homer many years
clothing and the nearest cliff face, but the pigment was diluted later. According to interviews
with water to indicate more distant planes. The paint is spread conducted in the 1950s, “His vitality,
most thinly for clouds and at the horizon line. Gray tones added in truly American, left the stolid,
pencil follow a similar process: They’re faint on the farthest cliff, phlegmatic fishermen literally
growing progressively darker toward the foreground until reaching amazed.” Having watched him work
their most emphatic expression in the model’s figure. The quickly on site, they declared Homer
impression of atmospheric perspective is stunningly realistic. “the fastest painter in the world.”
Burning Question
What’s one brush

you simply couldn’t
paint without?
Kris Parins A 1-inch flat is the

can't-live-without
brush for Kris Parins,
My “one brush” is a 1-inch flat. I find I can accomplish at least half of a painting but she makes use of
using this one size alone. I use it to create everything from wet-into-wet cloud versions by several
makers, including
formations to dry-brushed sparkle on the surface of a lake. My first 1-inch brush, Winsor & Newton's
which I purchased in 1999 and have since worn out, was a Richeson Kolinsky One Stroke, Martin
F. Weber's Museum
sable. My current brush is a One Stroke sable-hair by Winsor & Newton. I find Topaz and a Kaerëll
the brush to be aptly named since it can hold an amazing amount of water by Raphaël.
and pigment—perfect for painting big juicy washes. I also use synthetic flats,
which hold their sharp edges and corners, making them a great option for “cutting in” and for
making smaller lines and marks. I like the Museum Topaz by Martin F. Weber Co. Another favorite
that’s less expensive is a Kaerëll flat brush by Raphaël.
Stephen Quiller
My favorite brush is the 1-inch synthetic brush from my
signature Series 7010 by Jack Richeson & Co. Although
listed as being 1 inch in width, it’s actually closer to 1¼
inches. This brush can be used not only for transparent
watercolor but for all watermedia. What further sets
it apart is its construction: The brush uses 11 different
strands of monofilament—in different thicknesses and
lengths—to shape the brush from the belly to the tip, so it
has a nice snap and comes to a razor-sharp edge. It holds
a generous amount of paint and water, and it stays in
good condition for a very long time.
For his painting, June, Pipsqueak

Creek (acrylic watermedia on
Crescent watercolor board,
36x24), Stephen Quiller made
use of his eponymous brush
series—in particular, the 1-inch
size, his workhorse.

Michael Reardon
I use the Black Velvet No. 12 round by Silver Brush almost
exclusively in all of my paintings. A former “sable snob,”
I rather reluctantly began experimenting with synthetic
brushes several years ago, partly due to cost but also
because I’d been hearing how much the quality had
improved. At first, I mostly used Escoda Perla brushes,
which are really wonderful. Then, based on glowing
reviews from several students, I tried the Black Velvet.
I was hooked. In a blind test, I’d have sworn it was a sable.
The brush features a blend of natural and synthetic hairs,
so it has the water retention and springiness of a top-line
sable at a fraction of the price. Also, unlike sables, it holds
Iain Stewart its point for a very long time, which for me is the sine qua
non of a watercolor brush. I’m still using a 2-year-old No.
The Escoda Perla is, to me, the 12 that has retained a great point after many watercolor
Swiss Army knife of brushes. It miles. From large washes to the finest detail, this brush
can do it all, but the "blade"—or hasn’t failed me yet.
point—is all knife, producing fine
razor-sharp details and
fantastic marks, both thick and
thin. Also, it’s synthetic, so it’s
animal-friendly.
Brenda Swenson
“It has a funny
name,” says
Brenda Swenson,
of her favorite
My favorite brush is the da Vinci Series brush, "but it is
memorable. It’s
5080 CosmoTop Spin in the 20mm (¾ called the
inch) size. This brush is soft enough not to CosmoTop Spin,
by da Vinci Brush."
disrupt glazes but stiff enough to hold its
shape for wide strokes and thin lines.
Unlike many synthetic brushes, it doesn’t
release all of its paint at once. At $25, it’s
also the least expensive brush
I own, but it’s my absolute go-to for
The Supervisor–Coden Shipworks (watercolor on negative painting. After my students
paper, 17x11) by Iain Stewart
watch me put it to use, they rush off to
the nearest art supply store.
Bright Ideas
6
7 8
1 4
14
2
12 13
5 11
3
9
10
25
22
20 21
19
38 39
23 24 26
27
36
37
41 44
42
45
43
40
An Artist’s I recently returned from a week-

long painting trip and realized
that my paint box could use some
cleaning and decluttering. One by
Toolkit
one, I cleaned each of the items and
laid them out on my painting table.
Seeing everything spread out before
me, I couldn’t help but feel amazed
at the broad range of equipment in
my collection of supplies, beyond the
Artist LAURIN MCCRACKEN takes us beyond requisite brushes and tubes of paint.
As I carefully examined each tool, I
paper, brush and paint to explore some of asked myself if there was a valid rea-
the less common supplies in his toolkit. son to keep it in my toolkit. Here are
my answers:

9. Sticky notes can be used to test the start-up flow of
masking fluid.
10. Scratch into watercolor with nails and pins to create
texture and add highlights and other effects.
15 16 11. A palette knife works great for getting paint out of
palette wells and drawing lines in wet colors.
12. Need an energy boost? An old Army issue stainless
steel dinner knife is great for spreading peanut butter
17 18 or Camembert.
13. An old toothbrush can be used to spatter paint and to
clean corners of palette wells.
14. I keep an assortment of craft knives for cutting paper,
making scratches and restoring highlights.
15. Extra craft blades are also handy to keep around.
32 16. A commercial paint-tube cap opener helps loosen
29 stuck-on caps.
28
17. My grandmother’s nutcracker opens stuck paint-tube
30 caps better than anything else I’ve tried.
18. All-purpose fold-up utility tool. The foldout needle nose
pliers have infinite uses, and the screwdriver function is
33 31 very handy.
34 19. A tube winding key works great for getting the last bit
of paint out of the tube.
35 20. Sandpaper and fingernail files can be used on dry
watercolor paper to create textural effects, such as the
spray of a splashing wave.
21. I use a small windup measuring rule to measure paper
and anything else too large for the architect’s scales.
22. A plastic scraper or credit card can be used for smooth-
ing masking film and scraping shapes into wet areas.
23. An erasing shield facilitates erasing small areas with-
out affecting the surrounding area. It can be used to
46 correct an original drawing or to remove pencil marks
after the painting is complete.
24. Scissors cut watercolor paper and myriad other things.
47 25. Band Aids work for both cuts and equipment repairs.
26. A wooden dowel is great for burnishing the edges of
masking film or masking tape.
27. Use a plastic palette knife for mixing paint and bur-
nishing the edges of masking film.
28. Utility knife. Be sure and get the one with the corkscrew.
29. Use a needle-tip squeeze bottle for moving controlled
amounts of water from your clean water jar into palette
1. A rubber cement eraser can be used to remove dried wells. It works better than a spray bottle.
masking fluid. 30. Use pencil sharpeners that accommodate several sizes
2. Pieces of a sand belt sander cleaner can also be used of pencils and have an environmentally friendly con-
to remove dried masking fluid; it’s softer than an eraser tainer to capture the lead particles.
so it won’t tear the paper. 31. Use a lead pointer when you need a finer line than you
3. Masking fluid remover is the best means of removing can get from your pencil sharpener.
masking fluid from corners and small areas. 32. A few pencils of various grades of hardness/softness are
4. A sewing kit comes in handy for clearing small open- needed for quick sketches and notes.
ings, such as masking fluid nozzles. 33. A plastic applicator is good for smoothing and apply-
5. Natural sponges are great tools for painting trees, ing adhesive masking films.
shrubs and bushes. 34. The Magic Sponge removes watercolor from paper and
6. Architect’s scales can be used to measure and divide can be used to clean palettes and other tools.
areas of a painting into equal or proportional spaces. 35. Nori paste repairs tears in watercolor paper and
7. Micro-pens work well for straight lines and repairs. patches areas where the masking tape has lifted the
8. H and 2H mechanical pencils are essential for creating surface of the paper.
basic drawings. 36. A small package of tissues is handy for dabbing paint.
Bright Ideas
37. Cotton swabs can be used to lift out soft areas of paint. 44. A circle template is useful for getting those circular
38. Extra fine nibs work well for applying tiny amounts of shapes in your drawing just right.
masking fluid. 45. Bubble levels are necessary when hanging paintings,
39. I like masking fluid that dries to a neutral color and can but they’re also great for squaring up your paintings
be removed easily. when you tape them on the wall so you can step back
40. Alligator clips and rubber bands are great for orga- and judge your progress.
nizing and packing for a trip. 46. Kneaded erasers work well for lifting excess pencil car-
41. Paper clips have a thousand uses, such as applying bon from the watercolor paper without damaging it.
small amounts of masking fluid or making a handy 47. The Mars white eraser is the preferred eraser for water-
paper towel holder for the edge of your painting board. color paper. It comes in many forms—there’s even
42. Coffee and cocktail stirrers can be used to mix paint. a portable, battery powered model. (Don’t forget the
43. A small triangle helps when you need a straight edge to eraser refills.)
correct or improve your drawing.
Small nails and pins are useful tools for scratching into your watercolor Although there are devices specifically designed for opening stuck paint-
to add texture to a scene, revive highlights, create the look of grass and tube caps, I’ve found my grandmother’s old nutcracker to be the most
numerous other effects. consistently reliable tool for the job.
I recommend an all-purpose fold-up utility tool. The foldout needle A plastic scraper or credit card can be to scrape marks and shapes into
nose pliers have infinite uses and the screwdriver function is very handy. wet areas of paint, creating foliage, grasses and other textures..

Paper clips can be used for a thousand and one things such as applying A circle template is useful for getting those circular shapes in your
small amounts of masking fluid or making a handy paper towel holder drawing just right.
for the edge of your painting board.
I still haven’t gotten to that top drawer, which is full of Laurin McCracken (lauringallery.com) is a Signature Member
beading needles and ruling pens—and I possess miles of of more than a dozen watercolor societies. His paintings have
masking tape I have yet to sort through. What’s in your been included in multiple shows across the U.S. and China, and
toolbox? WA his work has been featured in several books and magazines.
A "must have" product I always have on hand is "The

Masters®" Hand Soap. It effortlessly cleans paint, messy
mediums, and clay off my skin, plus the conditioning
agents in it keep my hands from drying out. I also
reach for this soap for all my day to
day chore clean ups like yard work,
gardening, restocking wood, car
maintenance, and so much more!
~Kathi Hanson, Artist & Artist Educator
Join Artists Network Membership to access videos,

art magazines, exclusive events, and more!
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Coastal
Adventures
GEOFF ALLEN’s plein air paintings provide a candid glimpse into the
working life that underpins the Southern California coast. BY JOHN A. PARKS

LEFT
A Boat Called
Dancer (watercolor
on paper, 14½x20½)
BELOW
Boat Row
(watercolor on
paper, 14¼x19¾)
owever pristine and pic- coastline is famous for, but he’s con- huge still life that changes every day
H turesque a beach resort or

marina may be, we’ll invari-
ably find, not very far away,
a dustier, grimier, working
world of boatyards, dry docks, repair
shops, suppliers and fitters. For an
artist, such places offer a wealth of
tinually drawn to the working life
that underpins it all. His paintings, all
executed en plein air, give us candid
accounts of what it’s like to be in a
boatyard, letting us in on the action
of a business with which most of us
are unfamiliar. “I live in North County
as boats come in and go out.”
Visual Opposites
Although clearly excited by the life
and action of such places, it’s the
visual qualities on display that seem
to intrigue the artist most. “It’s
curious sights: elegant boats pulled San Diego, and the pandemic restric- a place of visual opposites,” he says.
out of the water to reveal chunky tions made me dig deep into where “I’ve been drawn to smooth, curved
hulls, cranes, rail tracks, scattered I live,” says the artist. “My favorite sculptural forms throughout my art
tools, boating paraphernalia—and places to paint are Shelter Island and career, and it seems natural to me
a cast of characters who are expert Oceanside Harbor, in Oceanside, Calif. now that I love painting boats. I’m
in their trades. On Shelter Island Drive, the one road attracted to the contrast of huge
This is the world to which accessing the island, there’s a menag- smooth white forms against all the
California artist Geoff Allen is drawn: erie of dry-dock companies. One sharp, angular, dark and grungy sur-
He’s happy to paint the splendid company allows me to paint on site, roundings of a dry dock or boatyard.”
beaches and picture-perfect scenes and it feels like I’m accessing a unique Allen’s visual pleasure is increased
that the Southern Californian culture that’s in constant flux. It’s a by his enjoyment of the denizens
TOP LEFT
Harbor Shack
(watercolor on
paper, 10¼x14¼)
FIRST-PLACE WINNER AT
THE 4TH ANNUAL PLEIN
AIR EXHIBITION, SAN DIEGO
WATERCOLOR SOCIETY
BOTTOM LEFT
Point Loma
Lighthouse
(watercolor on
paper, 19½x14½)
OPPOSITE
Driscoll’s Wharf
(watercolor on
paper, 10¾x14¾)
oil, I would go back at the end and

blur and break edges,” he says, “but
with watercolor you live ‘in the now,’
and everything has to happen while
it’s wet. To use a juggling metaphor:
There are more balls in the air in
a shorter period of time, and to get
through it effectively takes a little
planning.” Allen notes, however, that
sometimes circumstances require him
to forgo a preliminary sketch. “If the
focal area is in motion, I jump into the
drawing right away. No sketching.”
With his interest in creating
lively, wet-into-wet passages in his
paintings, Allen adopts a particular
strategy to building the work. “The
key to make it all manageable is to
work in sections,” he says. “These can
be joined as you move back to front,
top to bottom or left to right. I try to
use as large a brush as possible so as
not to re-stroke or noodle the paint
after the first pass. The more water
I can float the pigment in, the better.
This allows the water to do the work,
which is so much more graceful than
what I’m able to do.”
Allen works on 140-lb. rough paper.
To keep it flat, he tapes it to the board
on his easel, although he finds that
it often buckles as it gets wet during
of these places. “I’ve always had an I look for opposing areas of interest the painting process. “Stretching the
affinity to the people I meet at the situated on a diagonal.” If he has time, paper would solve the problem, but
boatyards and docks. We’re all sort of the artist makes a preliminary sketch then I’d have to carry several boards
‘on the job,’ and I feel like I’m trying to determine format, placement and around,” he says.
to honor them in some way by depict- scale. “Any sketch is an opportunity to Allen describes his initial approach
ing them at work.” practice the painting before I begin,” to a painting as a “broad attack.”
Allen paints his subjects with he says. “Unlike oil or other opaque He makes a simple, clear drawing in
a fast, direct watercolor technique, media, watercolor is a ‘one go’ shot graphite, showing the major shapes,
generally completing the work in less when it counts. When you put that and then begins laying in broad areas.
than two hours. His first task is to dark boat mast in, that’s it.” He doesn’t wet the paper first but pro-
determine the view he wants to paint. Allen also uses the sketch to plan ceeds by running beads of paint over
“I look for visual relationships around where to join shapes and where to large areas. He holds on to areas that
a compelling focal area,” he says, “and break them. “If I were working in are going to remain white, although

occasionally he finds himself lifting artist to make necessary edits and as a turning point in his own work.
pigment—a task he completes with simplifications. Like most water- “He’s so good about articulating and
a brush or sometimes a Magic Eraser colorists, Allen has a repertoire of creating visual dynamics in his work,”
sponge. Sometimes, when adding shorthand marks and gestures. “I wish says Allen. “I increase my success
things like white masts on boats, I was more conscious of simplifying when I go into a session having that
he’ll use a little opaque watercolor or my subjects,” he says. “I tend to put in mind: soft to hard, back to front,
gouache. At times the artist can be too many elements into my paintings, light to dark, colorless to colorful,
quite physical with his work, spattering and the only way to get them to sit defined to undefined and big to small.
paint or draining washes off the side together in the same two-dimensional I’d be lying if I said I had it all figured
of the picture. His easel allows him to space is to break edges and connect out before I jump into one of my usual
quickly change the tilt of his board so them. All I know is that in watercolor, hour-and-a-half painting sessions.
that he can control the flow of washes a piece has the most visual bang if it I go into it with the best intentions
more easily (see Allen’s Easel, page 28.) has a softness of atmospheric space and plans, but there are certain habits
along with the hard ‘one go’ flourishes that always emerge.”
Refining the Work of mark-making.” One of the challenges with the
Working against the clock and paint- Allen credits a workshop he took artist’s subject matter is that the
ing complex scenes requires the with watercolorist Chein Chung Wei figures are continually moving in and
out of his field of view, and he has to says. “The simpler the composition is,
determine how to draw and incorpo- the more expressive risks I can take,
rate them into his picture. “Unless but if the composition is complex, it
they’re part of the main subject, such becomes more difficult to really let
as a woman under an umbrella, I usu- loose with the water. If I feel that I’m
ally put them in last, placing them in just filling in spaces, I start throwing,
locations that add to compositional splattering and spraying water. It can
balance,” he says. “Or they might feel desperate or random, but it usu-
work as a ‘jumper’ between one area ally adds up to variation and interest.”
and another to move the eye around In fact, the artist often does a little
the composition. I’m always amazed more work on a painting when he gets
that people literally show up right at it back to the studio. This involves
the moment I’m ready to put them some tweaking and, occasionally, addi-
in. I’ll drop what I’m doing and paint tions and adjustments. “I don’t really
or draw them in.” Occasionally the think it’s in conflict with the plein air
artist will take a photograph and add approach,” he says. “In the end you
the figure later. “That’s the part of want to get something that looks good.
plein air work that’s interesting to me Outdoors, I can’t see what I’m doing
because the piece evolves as you’re sometimes, and then I get exhausted.
making it,” he says. “You have to keep I’m in a race, and a lot happens really
reconsidering the composition for quickly. So I take a break, go to my
what it needs, like people that help corner to rest, then return to look
resolve it.” at the work anew. That’s when I see
Allen’s lively and physical painting things that I’d missed.” He has also
Allen’s Easel approach requires a degree of confi-

dence and an openness to risk-taking
that doesn’t work well if he gets tight
found that hanging a piece in proper
lighting, can be helpful for identifying
areas that may need more work.
Allen designed and built his or precious. “It’s a good idea to tell
own watercolor easel to incor-
porate features he couldn’t yourself, ‘If this painting doesn’t Conveying Atmosphere
find in commercially available work out, I’ll repaint it in the studio.’ A rich sense of atmosphere is quite
equipment. In particular, he That way, you’re uninhibited and free palpable in Allen’s paintings. Splinter
wanted to reduce weight, pro- to take risks while on location,” he (opposite), for instance, depicts
vide a method of easily tilting
the board and incorporate
sunshades. “I was tired of
wooden setups that weighed
a ton, especially since I have a
bad back,” he says. “I glued and
epoxied Gatorboard together
to build it. It weighs 6 pounds
with paper—much less than 22
pounds of wooden easel.”
Allen mounted his boxlike
structure on a photo tripod,
using a movable head. “It’s
lightweight, and I can quickly
tilt it any direction and angle as
I work,” he says. “I realized how
important the angle is to what
I’m doing and how fast I want
washes to flow.” Allen’s easel
also has Velcro on it, so he can
hang his brushes off of the side
to keep them out of his way.
Because it’s so important to
paint under even lighting, he
also built the easel to hold two
semi-opaque sun visors—one for
the paper and another for the
palette. “I haven’t had to carry
an umbrella for years,” he says.

a large cruiser that has been pulled defined, while elements in the far wanting to be an artist but then
out of the water. Men are working background, like the palm trees, got interested in economics and
on the underside of its stained hull are treated more loosely. Our focus found himself at the University of
amidst scattered pieces of equipment. remains on the boat and the two men California, Santa Barbara. As a relief
“Boatyards are dusty places,” says working on it. A tiny red-white-and- from his studies, he took up street
Allen. “People are sanding, scraping blue flag draws our eyes upwards and photography, an activity which began
and drilling. This one felt like a rail out of the painting. to sharpen his sense of place and
yard with those huge tracks they use Allen achieves similar magic in build his pictorial repertoire. Allen
to pull the boat out of the water. They San Diego Yacht Club Cranes (page 30) finds that street photography, like
had a system with which they could wherein the background has been painting boatyards, feeds his pas-
bring several boats out at once and softened to a delicate haze against sion for people, light, atmosphere
move them around on the tracks.” which the sailboat on the dock is and architecture. “When I paint, the
The artist has increased the sense silhouetted. Here again, we see the ‘exposure’ is the one-and-a-half hours
of atmosphere by softening edges, artist’s interest in the industrial par- that I’m there painting,” he says.
particularly in the foreground. Detail aphernalia surrounding boating with “Everything around me is fair game
is suggested rather than closely the cranes, and the tractor. Note how for the design. I’m usually taken with
the sparkle on the water in the back- one focal area, and everything else
ground is achieved by dragging the simply serves the design to make that
ABOVE brush across the pebbled surface of area sing.”
Splinter (watercolor the paper. It was around this time that Allen
on paper, 14½x19¾) Given the artist’s delight and deep also began to get interested in water-
OPPOSITE knowledge of the ocean shore, it’s color. He took a watercolor class at
Eutrepe (watercolor a surprise to learn that he was born the University of Neveda, Reno, then
on paper, 10¼x14½) and raised in Missouri. He grew up went on to attend graduate school at
Claremont Graduate University, in more on plein air painting. “With an of his paintings. Perhaps the most
Los Angeles, where the focus was less in-home business, I was going nuts poignant is Morning Bug (opposite),
about learning formal applications being inside all the time,” he recalls. a simple view of a Volkswagon Beetle
and more about contemporary art “It was sucking the joy out of paint- driving on the empty road in early
and the Los Angeles art scene. After ing. My best painting happens when morning light with a pair of surf
completing his graduate studies, my mind is lit up with how I’m going boards strapped on the roof. It carries
while teaching drawing at Glendale to capture a scene and with all the with it all the promise of a day at the
Community College, in Glendale, possibilities of expression. I found beach. “It’s a great moment of the
Calif., he had the opportunity to lead that studio work for me was too slow, day,” says the artist, “and at one time
students on a month-long watercolor contemplative, stiff and illustrative, in my life, I used to do that. I had
course in Greece. which is part of the job of an illus- a girlfriend in Pasadena who taught
The artist eventually left Los trator. In contrast, plein air is fast, me how to surf and, even after the
Angeles to start an illustration busi- intuitive, risky and expressive, so it relationship ended, I kept on surfing.
ness with his wife but found that became the ultimate counterbalance A lot of mornings I’d get up at 6:30
watercolor became a daily activity. For to my studio practice.” a.m. and head to the beach while it
a while he took oil-painting classes, was still dark.”
but quickly realized that he was more A Sense of Place Asked what it is that he thinks
adept at watercolor. He went on to Allen admits that he’s fortunate to live his paintings bring to the world, the
take workshops with such luminar- in a part of the world that possesses artist is thoughtful. “Meaning and
ies as Joseph Zbukvic, Chien Chung such a rich and glorious coastal life. reflection, a sort of overall sense
Wei, Charles Reid, Andy Evansen and His own affinity for the sea and the of peace,” he says. “Something that
Keiko Tanabe. He also began to focus goings-on around it is present in most reminds the viewer to appreciate

ABOVE
Morning Bug a moment of solitude. I definitely The artist’s paintings, with their
(watercolor on think painting, the way I’m trying to brilliant light and open beaches,
paper, 10½x14½) practice it, is about creating a sense of are certainly a portrait of Southern
OPPOSITE place and mood. Even though I paint California, but they also convey a
San Diego Yacht at a specific location, I hope that passion and joy that can surely touch
Club Cranes I can express that place in a way viewers wherever they may be.
(watercolor on
paper, 14½x19¼)
that it could be anywhere. Not just Turn
FIRST-PLACE WINNER AT THE
SAN DIEGO WATERCOLOR
a portrait of a specific place, but an
archetype of a place. More people
John A. Parks is a painter, a writer and
a member of the faculty at The School of
page for
SOCIETY TRIENNIAL
EXHIBITION have access to the work that way.” Visual Arts, in New York City. a demo.
Meet the Artist

Geoff Allen (geoffallenart.com; @geoffallenart) grew up in Missouri and initially
studied economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, before taking up
art-making. He completed an MFA at Claremont Graduate University, in Los
Angeles, then worked briefly as a scenic artist in Hollywood. Soon he found himself
teaching art classes, running several college art galleries—and mounting his own
solo exhibition at Post Gallery, in Los Angeles. Eventually he went on to start an
illustration business with his wife, Jennifer Brinley. Finding it hard to work indoors
all the time, he became increasingly interested in plein air painting and eventually
took workshops with a number of celebrated watercolor artists known for working
en plein air. The award-winning artist is a member of the San Diego Watercolor
Society. He makes his home in North County San Diego.
demo
Where Pickups Meet the Sea

Follow along to learn about the various stages of my plein air painting process.
By Geoff Allen
Plein Air Scene

I arrived at this public boat launch in the Santa
Barbara Harbor in the predawn hours because
I wanted to get my drawing done before first
light. I chose the title “Where Pickups Meet the
Sea” to describe what was happening as I
painted: Pickup trucks were backing into the
sea to launch boats. I’m drawn to this location
every time I visit Santa Barbara.
The Underdrawing
I jumped right into the underdrawing on
watercolor paper, without doing a preliminary
sketch. To me the underdrawing is a series of
“reminder notes,” outlining shapes, placement
and, most importantly, defining whites.
First Wash
The first wash is essentially my best guess
(factoring in fading) of the saturation and value
of the morning light. Not too much, not too
little—it’s a difficult balance that sets the color
mood for the rest of the painting session.

Artist’s Plein Air Toolkit
WATERCOLORS
• Holbein: jaune brilliant #1 and #2, yellow ochre,
cadmium yellow, cadmium lemon yellow, cadmium
orange, verditer blue, lavender
• Daniel Smith: carmine (or permanent alizarin
crimson), cobalt teal blue, cerulean blue, phthalo
blue, dioxazine violet, sepia, burnt umber, burnt
sienna, pyrrole transparent orange, cadmium scarlet
(or pyrrole scarlet), cadmium red or pyrrole red,
green apatite genuine, moonglow (or shadow violet)
• Winsor & Newton: French ultramarine blue, cobalt
blue
• Sennelier: Chinese orange, raw umber, neutral tint
• Other: titanium white
Plein Air Piece BRUSHES

• Escoda, Da Vinci Casaneo, and lots of old used
After about an hour-and-a-half of painting, I realize that I’ve become brushes from eBay for experimenting
fixated on the details, so I stop to rest my brain and eyes before
considering the “big picture” and adding those final touches. I can push PAPER
a piece right over the edge of ruin by mindlessly overworking it, so I’ve • Saunders Waterford, Baohong and Arches—all rough
developed the habit of hitting the brakes before this happens.
Final Piece with Studio Touch-ups

Once back in the studio, it’s time for me to remember what the image was all about: the quiet energy of saturated
light and glassy water. To complete Where Pickups Meet the Sea (watercolor on paper, 10½x14½), I added more
saturation to the dominant small sailing boat, added a shadow to the building and darkened the foreground. WA
The Allure of
Light on Water
With the highest tides in the world, Nova Scotia’s Bay of Fundy is
a wellspring of inspiration for Poppy Balser. BY R O B E RT K . C A R ST E N
“I
think of watercolor as a medium for which an act of balance between a more
the actual characteristics of the paint mat- studied approach and getting the
ter as much as the hues,” says Canadian paint to say what I want it to say
artist Poppy Balser. I love its ability to without overstating it.”
create soft edges and the suggestion of translucency.
I like to let wet colors mingle on the paper for a shim-
mering sense of light.” Seaside Attraction
An avid plein air and studio painter, Balser works Seemingly born with the lure of the
with separate goals for each practice. “My plein air sea in her blood, Balser was raised in
painting approach,” she explains, “is spontaneous— New Brunswick, Canada, by the
reactive to the qualities of the light and atmosphere shores of Passamaquoddy Bay. She
that I see. I attempt to suggest the intricacies of nature recalls, “When I was young, I spent
rather than exhaustively painting every detail within long summer hours rambling and
a scene. I paint with conviction and don’t attempt to exploring the seashore. I loved watch-
hide brushstrokes and marks, but I also don’t mind ing the endless ebb and flow of the
when the marks run together and blur.” On the other tide. With a 25-foot-drop tidal range,
hand, she describes her studio work as “more detailed there was always lots to see as water
and larger” and goes on to say, “I aspire to make it look would cover, then, in turn, reveal fas-
as fresh and simplified as my plein air paintings. This is cinating features of the seabed.”
an evolving process since something in my nature also Now living on the other side of the
demands precision and accuracy, so my studio work is Bay of Fundy, in Digby, Nova Scotia,
ABOVE
Waves Rising
Up to the Rocks
(watercolor on
paper, 21x29)
RIGHT
Coastal Lace
(watercolor on
paper, 12x16)
she observes, “I enjoy simply watching water move—waves done quickly, establish format and
coming in; reflections rippling gently; streams flowing to composition. Color studies, often
the sea. It all captures my attention and imagination. The created en plein air, take in either the
water’s edge is a balm to me. I always come away from time entire scene or only an area that
spent at the seashore feeling rested and refreshed.” Balser anticipates may be problem-
Naturally, Balser finds painting seascapes particularly atic. When the artist is sure of how
inspirational as she continually searches for subjects that she wishes to paint a scene, she may
display the interaction of light on the water, whether its skip the color study, but very seldom
the light filtering the spray and mist tossed up by waves or will she skip the value study. “It’s too
light reflecting, mirror-bright, off tidal pools. important!” Balser asserts. “When
I don’t do a full-size value study, I end
up regretting it. The process of work-
Plan for Success ing out the composition and then
“I strategically plan most of my paintings,” says Balser. painting it quickly in black and white
BELOW
Dance of Light and Preparatory steps the artist typically uses to create a large helps me greatly to understand the
Water (watercolor studio work include thumbnails, color studies, a pencil steps I’ll want to take to make the
on paper, 21x29) drawing and a full-size value study. Balser’s thumbnails, completed painting. It helps me to be

sure I’ve worked through and carefully The Power of a Value Study
considered how I’m going to handle Balser’s full-size value studies are striking paintings in themselves.
every space within a painting.” They allow her to work through possible composition problems and
For each value study, the artist establish light patterns, so she can create the final color painting with
first creates a careful and precise line confidence, even without masking fluid.
drawing of her subject, using an HB
or Blackwing pencil, usually on 90-lb.
Arches paper. She works from refer-
ence material, such as thumbnails,
color studies and photos. The artist
proceeds to apply light gray paint,
typically a mix of ultramarine blue and
burnt sienna, to areas of correspond-
ing and darker values. Afterwards, she
applies washes of medium gray and,
finally, dark gray values to complete
the study. “Painting my study rather
than just using pencil is much faster,”
says Balser, “and since the black-and-
white study is to scale, I’m more likely
to identify and resolve any problem
areas than if I’d done a smaller study.”
Once the value study is complete,
Balser tapes it to a large window and
then tapes a sheet of 140-lb. Arches
rough watercolor paper directly Full-size value study for Light Washes Over the Tidal Pools (watercolor on paper, 24x36)
over the study. The sunlight coming
through allows the artist to accurately
trace with pencil the general outlines
of her design.
Point Prim
In both its value study and its cor-
responding finished painting, Light
Washes Over the Tidal Pools (see The
Power of a Value Study, right), the
viewer can observe Balser’s extraor-
dinary perception of light and her
assured depiction and organization
of shapes, as well as her sensitive
response to color. Frigid winds pre-
vented Balser from sketching on
site for this piece, so she took lots of
reference photos. “What I especially
like about this painting is its unusual
viewpoint of the ocean—at least for Light Washes Over the Tidal Pools (watercolor on paper, 24x36)
me,” she says. “Typically, I try to get
a horizon line in my seascapes to give
a sense of where I am in relation to
land and sea; however, when shooting
photos, I was peering from probably
30 feet above the scene, and I just
“I like to let wet colors mingle on the
loved the way that late afternoon
light was glowing on those tidal pools.
paper for a shimmering sense of light.”
That’s what I wanted to capture.” — P O P PY B A L S E R
Turning the corner out of the winds that day, Balser One reason the artist so carefully ABOVE
painted the color study for what would become Wrapt in plans her work is that she doesn’t use Wrapt in Mist
Mist (above). She chose the archaic spelling, “wrapt,” in the masking fluid—preferring to avoid (watercolor on
paper, 14x21)
title in order to associate the word with the adjective painting areas needed for whites and
“rapt,” signifying how enraptured she’d been by the light, highlights. In explanation of how OPPOSITE
spray and mist in the scene. she achieved the soft edges of the Favourite Coast
The location for Wrapt in Mist, as well as many other luminous white spray and mist at the (watercolor on
paper, 8x10)
paintings, is a favorite rocky point of land, not far from her top of Wrapt in Mist, she explains,
home, called Point Prim. “I go there often for its rugged “I began this painting by putting in
beauty and its 270-degree view of the water,” she says. the sky and water at the top, painting
“There’s a channel that goes toward town, and it seems the not quite up to that large white area
whole Bay of Fundy stretches out right in front of you. On of spray. Then, with a round, squirrel
the land are wonderful spruce trees, their growth made mop brush full of clean water, I wet
sparse and sometimes stunted by harsh winds, salt spray the outer margins of the unpainted
and poor soil.” area so that the blue paint could
Balser’s plein air painting Favorite Coast (opposite) work its way partially into the water,
depicts spruce, land and sea on another cold, but calmer, creating a nice soft edge.”
day. To avoid having the water and paints freeze during
cold-weather painting, the artist adds up to 25 percent
vodka to the water. “The biggest problem, though, can be Chasing Weirs
that the paint freezes on the paper,” she says, “so if it’s 28 Reaching back to her childhood,
degrees Fahrenheit or less, I switch to oil paints.” For the Balser fondly remembers herring
spontaneous mark-making in the sparse areas of spruce weirs—large enclosures of poles and
boughs, Balser used an old, distressed round brush. “You netting for trapping fish—in nearly
couldn’t make a smooth stroke with it if you tried,” she every bay along the New Brunswick
quips. She also used a No. 4 pointy round brush for the coast. “It’s a vanishing practice,”
fine lines of the branches. she says, “so last summer my

daughter and I went for a couple of days to Campobello a maximum of three times in a given area—the first time
Island—a place where the practice still survives—so with a light wash, the second with mid-tones and the last,
I could chase down weirs to paint. It was foggy, but if necessary, with darks. “This helps a painting stay fresher
I found a spot where I could see one of these netted struc- and more spontaneous in appearance,” says Balser.
tures, and I painted Weir in Offshore Fog (see From Plein Weir in Offshore Fog became the color study for Balser’s
Air to Studio, page 40).” extraordinary studio painting, Weir Revealed by the Falling
Balser’s plein air paintings are often greatly simplified Tide (see From Plein Air to Studio, page 40). The manner
due to constraints of time, the movement of sun and in which Balser painted the diaphanous, overlapping lay-
shadows, and the rising or falling tide. An important ers of netting and branchlike poles creates a graceful, airy
pointer the artist learned from one of her first mentors, delicacy in marvelous contrast to the heavy visual weight
William Rogers, is to try to touch the paper with her brush she materializes in the sheared-off, angled rocks.
From Plein
Air to Studio
Due to cold temperatures and
changing light, Balser created the
plein air painting, Weir in Offshore
Fog (right) quickly and loosely.
LEFT
The weir in the background has Weir in Offshore Fog
a chimerical quality. Back in the (watercolor on
studio, Balser re-created the scene in paper, 11x14)
a larger format and with more detail
and refined color, producing Weir BELOW
Revealed by the Falling Tide (below). Weir Revealed by
the Falling Tide
(watercolor on
paper, 24x36)
One particular sight caught the artists attention. “I really

Tall Ships wanted to capture the moment when the crew climbed the
Balser found subject matter for another set of paintings rigging to unfurl the sails halfway to prepare for leaving
during a 2017 tour of tall ships. “Our town made a festival port,” she says. “I took lots of photos and, in the studio,
of it and invited artists to paint,” she says. “The square- I selected the best postures to tell the story of their labors in
rigged ship Picton Castle caught my eye, and I did several Many Hands Make Light Work, [opposite].” For the fine lines
color studies. Figuring things out was difficult because of of rigging, Balser used a Cheap Joe’s Lizard’s Lick pointed
the perspective changing with the rising or falling tide, but round brush, practicing each stroke several times above
I got lots of good information, such as the way the light fell the paper to get the movement just right. She kept a tissue
on the sails. handy and would immediately blot out any errant lines.

Meet the
Artist
A Signature Member
of the Canadian
Society of Painters
in Watercolor, the
American Society of
Marine Artists and
other artist’s orga-
nizations, Poppy
Balser (poppybalser.
com) has won top
awards at many
plein air festivals,
including numerous
best-in-show and
first-place prizes. Her
work is widely col-
lected and exhibited
at galleries in Nova
Scotia and Maine.
Many Hands Make

Light Work
(watercolor on
paper, 29x21)
collectors’ walls I hope to help people value and treasure

Of Treasures Told the importance of our natural world so that its sublime
Through her paintings, Balser shares her sheer delight in beauty will endure.”
being outside by the water, but she also seeks to preserve
and celebrate nature’s beauty in the lore and lure of the Artist, arts writer, exhibitions juror and workshop instructor
sea. She notes, “I’m afraid for the future of our natural Robert K. Carsten (robertcarsten.com) works in various media,
world as we know it. Forest fires and severe flooding have including watercolor.
threatened many regions in our country even in recent
months—signs of things to come with global warming.
By bringing pictures of wild spaces onto gallery and Turn the page for a demo.
demo
Wave Patterns
Preparatory thumbnails, color studies and value studies allow me to
launch into a studio painting with a good sense of what’s needed and
a fair amount of assurance. The trick is to avoid overworking the piece.
— By Poppy Balser
Artist’s Toolkit
PAINTS
• Daniel Smith watercolors: raw sienna light,
Hansa yellow medium, cerulean blue and,
sometimes, sodalite genuine for value studies
• Michael Harding watercolors: quinacridone
rose, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue and, for
value studies, burnt sienna mixed with
ultramarine blue
SURFACES
• Arches 90-lb. rough watercolor paper for
value studies
• Arches 140-lb. rough watercolor paper for
final paintings
I don’t stretch or presoak the paper because
that tends to loosen the sizing, resulting in
dulled colors. Step 1
BRUSHES Wanting to create a studio painting with a spontaneous feel, I loosely penciled
• Rosemary and Co series 7320 sable long flat in basic shapes. Then I applied the first wash of blue with a ¾-inch flat brush.
brushes, sizes ¼-, ½- and ¾-inches, plus an While the paint was wet, I added notes of raw sienna and a purple made with
Eradicator brush
cobalt and quinacridone rose, using separate ½-flat brushes for each color.
• Cheap Joe’s Lizard’s Lick pointed round
• Assorted small rounds and a round squirrel mop
MOUNTING
Preferring not to use glazing and mats when
framing large works, I mount my paintings
either to Gator Board or, for very large works, to
specially made cradled plywood panels. I prime
the wooden panels with three coats of Golden
GAC 100 acrylic sealer, letting each coat dry for
24 hours. I then apply Golden semi-gloss regular
gel to the wood with a palette knife, lay the
paper on top and smooth the paper onto the
board with a brayer. For plein air work, I prefer
to mount the paper beforehand. In the studio,
I often clip the paper to a board, later mounting
the painting. When the painting and mounting
are complete, I’ll apply three sprayed coats of
Golden satin MSA archival varnish. After the
varnish dries, I apply two to three light coats of
Gamblin cold wax or Dorland’s wax medium,
Step 2
buffing it gently with a paper towel. I place Preferring to work wet-into-wet so colors mingle and create soft edges,
I mixed puddles of colors as far in advance as I could. I further developed
small works in plein air frames; I frame large the headland, rocks, crashing wave and pool of water. I used a mixture
works in floaters. of raw sienna with a touch of quinacridone rose as edging against the
cooler shadows in the water, creating a sense of sunlit glow.

Step 3
Applying more mid-tones,
I strengthened the contrast and
color saturation throughout the
painting and began applying darks,
especially to the rocks and rivulets
of water falling between the rocks.
Final Step
I decided I didn’t like the straightness of the sienna-colored top edge of the back rock. Using a Rosemary and Co
Eradicator brush, I lifted the color and proceeded to repaint the edge, making it a more interesting shape. I added
my final darks and a few fine lines in the rocks to complete Wave Patterns (watercolor, 10½x14). WA
ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES
With an eye on both nature and architecture, Deborah Rubin
pushes the boundaries of watercolor to combine spectacular
scale with brilliant light and meticulous detail.
By Amy Leibrock
ABOVE
Pink and White Peonies
(watercolor on paper, 30x47)
OPPOSITE
Sycamore (watercolor on paper, 76x50)
Deborah Rubin started creating before she can even remember.
“My mother found that if I was given materials, I’d make stuff,” she
says. “When I was one-and-a-half, she gave me a big, blunt needle
and some buttons, and I made a red, white and blue necklace.”
That early artistic spark ignited a lifetime of art-making. I thought were interesting that nobody else noticed.” Back
Today, Rubin is known for photorealistic paintings of trees, then she used pen and ink to draw conventional teenage
florals, cityscapes and seascapes. She paints with an subjects, like 45-rpm records and her record player. “To
opaque application of watercolor, a medium not typically me, looking and seeing is the most important thing,
utilized for such hyperrealism or opacity, but it’s Rubin’s because if you don’t have that vision, then the work isn’t
vision—not the materials—that guides her. special. You need to make something your own,” she says.
“I’ve always done realistic painting; exactly what I see in The artist may have developed her realism focus early,
front of me,” she says. “In high school, I’d seek out images but watercolors came later. She majored in art at the

“The successful artist works
LEFT
a lot. If you don’t work hard,
Calvin (watercolor
on paper, 21x33)
you don’t get it done.”
BELOW
Hollyhocks With Ivy
(watercolor on
paper, 70x51)
University of Illinois, where she con-

centrated mainly on oil painting.
“I never slept,” she says. “I managed
to get a key to the art building and
was there all day, seven days a week.
A lot of people think artists are flaky
and disorganized and all these other
things, but the successful artist works
a lot. If you don’t work hard, you
don’t get it done.”
She’d only tried watercolor once, in
high school, and hated it. Like many
oil painters, however, when she
became a parent, she sought out a
new medium that would be easier to
use safely around her baby. The tubes
“Take a piece you’ve screwed up
form and they aren’t as willowy or
and rework it into something else— wispy,” she says.
Rubin works almost exclusively
that’s how you learn.” from reference photos. “Sometimes
I’ll have an image or I’ll see some-
thing, and I’ll want to paint it right
of Grumbacher watercolors she’d put away more than 20 away. Those are the most exciting
years earlier were still usable, so she began to experiment circumstances for me,” she says.
and teach herself how to work with the medium. “The subject must have all the good
At first, Rubin’s watercolor style was loose and transpar- elements of design, by which I mean,
ent, but she quickly figured out ways to make the color composition, color, shape, texture,
more deep, dense and opaque. “I’d have some washy stuff, pattern, line and both negative and
but I loved the brilliance, and I got to know how much positive space. These all have to be
paint to put in how much water to make it just right,” she part of the visual field for the paint-
says. “I find that there’s much more to watercolor than ing to succeed.”
there is to oil painting. You can spread it easily, it dries When Rubin decides on an image
quickly, and it allows a lot of variety on paper. So in some to paint, she may make alterations,
of my paintings, I’ll have a background that’s loose and like adding another flower or two to
blurry, then I can go to the foreground and use deep colors create balance. Once she’s happy with
to make everything more precise.” a composition, she prints it out to
the true size of her painting surface.
A BLOOMING CAREER For large paintings, she divides the
In Autumn Light Flowers and the natural world have been another through image into four or six 13x19 parts
(watercolor on
paper, 20X60), Rubin
line in Rubin’s life. As a child, she would dig up wildflowers and tapes them together. Then she
was attracted to the in the woods and bring them home to plant in her yard. tacks her watercolor paper onto a
bright yellows and When she started painting with watercolors, wildflowers huge fiber board, projects the image
bits of blue that were one of her first subjects. “I eventually moved on to onto the paper and makes the draw-
created a stained- domestic flowers because a lot of them have much more ing. “Sometimes I rearrange the
glass effect.

composition, or I leave spots blank if I think I may put An artist’s ability to “see, look
something else in the space,” says Rubin. “This process can and observe,” Rubin says, is the key
take hours—it depends how big and how complicated the to painting realistically. “In my
image is.” paintings, there’s so much going on.
Before she begins painting, Rubin determines the domi- I’m constantly looking to see where
nant colors and mixes a large amount of each in mixing the light is, where the greens or yel-
cups, creating up to four or five colors. She likes Da Vinci lows may change hue or value. It
paints, but she’ll often supplement with Winsor & Newton can be dizzying.”
colors. For paper, she typically uses Arches but will also use For the darkest, almost-black
Fabriano at times. “Some other papers have a greater tex- darks, Rubin likes to use a mixture of
ture, and some are softer—those qualities don’t work well burnt umber, indigo and a little
with my style and technique,” she says. Payne’s gray. “Real black is very
If Rubin’s reference photo has a background that’s not intense, but it comes in handy for
crisp and clear, she’ll apply liquid mask with an old brush toning down an area or in color mix-
to mask out the flowers. Once that dries, she paints in the tures,” she says. When she’s nearing
background, lets it dry and then peels off the mask, as she the finish in a painting, Rubin says
did when painting Hollyhocks With Ivy (page 47) and Pink she’s so tired that she doesn’t even Pink Poppies
Poppies (bottom right). For masking, Rubin’s go-to product want to look at it. “I take it off the (watercolor on
is Richeson’s Shiva liquid mask. She likes its thick consis- table, hang it up and just leave it paper, 47X30)
tency and the fact that it comes up cleanly with a rubber
cement pickup. If the mask gets too thick, it can be
thinned with a few drops of water because it’s latex based.
The progression of the rest of a painting varies depend-
ing on the image, the colors and the size. “If I have yellow
flowers against a darker background, I’ll put the flowers in
first so I can see where I am. Then I start with the leaves
and put in the shadows,” she explains. “Sometimes I go
from one section all the way across, and sometimes I’ll put
in all the gray and blue colors first. The darks go on last.”
there. A week or two later, I’ll start
looking at it and rework it a little.
After I’ve put it away for a while,
I’m able to ‘see’ it again.”
THE SKY’S THE LIMIT

Rubin started to focus on trees as
a painting subject about seven years
ago, inspired by a picture she took in
northern Arizona. “I would just look
at it and look at it. I knew I wanted to
paint it, but I didn’t understand how
I was going to do it,” she says. When
she finally tackled what turned out to
be the painting Sycamore (page 00), it
provided a genuine challenge. Because
the tree is white, she worked nega-
tively, painting the black areas first.
“Half the time, I couldn’t even see
what I was doing,” she says. “I was
working from big photos, and some-
times I’d have to cut them up into
little squares. It was like doing a jig-
saw puzzle, but the finished piece has
a real ‘wow’ factor.”
Rubin admires a variety of impor-
tant painters, including such disparate
artists as John Singer Sargent and

ABOVE
Birds (watercolor on Georgia O’Keeffe, but she acquired I wouldn’t grow as an artist,” says Rubin. “She encouraged
paper, 40X60) was a
challenge for Rubin.
some of her most significant lessons me to expand my horizons.”
The pigeons were all from her high school art teacher, Esserman also pushed the budding artist to rework
shades of black, but abstract painter Ruth Esserman. “I still paintings instead of starting over after making a mistake.
she used steel blues remember a lot of things she taught “She taught me that you have to take a piece you’ve
and dark browns to me, and they weren’t about process screwed up and rework it into something else. That’s how
capture different
shades and nuances. or technique,” she says. At one point you learn,” says Rubin. “It was excellent advice because a
Esserman highly praised a work by mistake could take me into something new that I’d never
OPPOSITE TOP Rubin, so the young artist created even imagined.”
Daisies (watercolor a few similar works. After the third Today, Rubin says she still hasn’t run out of new things
on paper, 24x24)
version, the teacher told Rubin she’d to explore and to teach to her own students. She finds that
OPPOSITE BOTTOM get a failing grade if she turned in the creative possibilities for her work are endless. “I feel
Packard’s another such work. “She said that like I’m still learning, even after all these years.” WA
(watercolor on I could do this kind of work the rest
paper, 25X30) of my life, and it would be fine, but Amy Leibrock is a Cincinnati-based writer and content manager.
Meet the Artist

Deborah Rubin (deborahrubin.com) paints in watercolor and
occasionally oils and gouache. She has been pushing the boundaries
of photorealism and hyperrealism since the mid 1970s with an eye on
nature and, more recently, architecture. A native of Chicago, Rubin holds
a bachelor’s degree in fine art from the University of Illinois. She currently
lives in western Massachusetts. Rubin’s watercolors will be on view at
R. Michelson Galleries, in Northampton, Mass., through July, 2022.
The Trash Bag
SUITCASE
THE STORIES OF DISPLACED CHILDREN AS WELL AS HER OWN
HEART-WRENCHING EXPERIENCE WITH FOSTER CARE LED
DANIELA WERNECK TO TRANSFORM PAIN INTO PAINTINGS.
By Stefanie Laufersweiler

T
For her “Alone”
series, Werneck,
he thought of packing up and carrying “I had a dream of adopting since I was working with models
your most valued possessions in a plastic a young teenager,” she says. The cou- she knows, creates
compositions that
garbage bag is hard to imagine for most ple’s two sons knew enough about have a story to tell.
of us. Houston artist Daniela Werneck, that dream that it became theirs, too. Her painting, Tired
however, knows that this is often the “They always asked when their sister of the Way Things
case for foster children when moving was going to come,” Werneck says. Have Been
(watercolor on clay
from one home placement to another. The family ran into frequent road-
panel, 12x36) alludes
Having luggage is a luxury that foster blocks in the process. Files were lost, to the trash bag,
kids typically don’t have. “When they’re taken out of meaning that hours of family prep which often doubles
a home by CPS [Children’s Protective Services], typically classes went uncredited and had to be as a suitcase for
they have only a few minutes to put their belongings into retaken. Employees at CPS came and children in the foster
care system.
a trash bag and leave,” she says. Even when the situation in went, making consistency nearly
which they’ve been living isn’t working, the experience can impossible, and delays were routine.
be traumatic. “These children lose everything they’ve Werneck eventually learned that the
known,” Werneck explains, “and it’s so scary. Then, they’re biggest obstacle was that they were
put in a place where they don’t know anybody.” trying to adopt a girl into a family
with two boys in the household.
“Sadly, it’s because so many girls in
“Alone” in the Aftermath foster care have been sexually abused,”
Werneck and her husband became personally acquainted Werneck says. Getting rejection after
with the challenges of foster care and adoption in the rejection when they had a loving
United States after many tries—86 to be exact—to adopt. home to share was heartbreaking.
LEFT
Picking at Crumbs (watercolor on clay
panel, 18x24) was the first piece Werneck
painted after her painful experience with
an unsuccessful foster placement. “The
model is a friend who represents the child
I fostered, but at a younger age,” she says.
“The empty birthday party signifies
loneliness, and the balloon her absent
birth mother. The crows’ crumb-picking
implies a cheerless life. The boy in the
picture frame represents the biological
brother from whom she was separated.”
BELOW
The upside-down background in I Am
More Than My Story (watercolor on clay
panel, 18x36) signifies a world turned
upside down, but the hummingbirds
represent love and hope. “The girl’s paper
crown symbolizes a fragile innocence,” the
artist explains, “and a desire to be
important to someone.”
One foster child who lived with the family for three The paintings that followed the child’s departure were the
months made such an impact that she inspired the artist’s artist’s way of healing from an agonizing situation—one she
“Alone” series. Unbeknownst to Werneck, the preteen had fears is too common. Though Werneck tried hard to navigate
never done well in homes where there were already other the process, she ultimately decided that, sadly, adoption
children. “She and my sons fought all the time,” Werneck wasn’t going to be the way they’d grow their family. She
says. Before she arrived to stay with the family, CPS had created three paintings that were specifically about the girl
already determined that the child wasn’t a good match for she’d fostered. Picking Up Crumbs (top) and I Am More Than
adoption. “We were so disappointed with the situation,” My Story (above) are two of them. “I painted them because
says Werneck. I needed to,” Werneck says, “to be able to let her go.”

Numb (watercolor
on clay panel, 18x24)
Symbols and Shifts the paintings are something we might expect to see on was the first of
several watercolors
The “Alone” series, which initially a child,” Werneck says, “but here a paper crown suggests that Werneck
began as a cathartic exercise, has that something of value is not being given its true value.” painted with the
grown into a body of nearly a dozen Butterflies are another motif that appear in several upside-down
works in watercolor. The collection of works in the series (see Dreamer, page 57). The artist uses background. “I’d
read a story of
scenes feature dreamlike imagery that them as a way to establish depth and connect areas of the a foster situation
mixes memory and metaphor. Each composition, but also to represent hope. that said something
girl pictured is a friend or family The fascinating upside-down backgrounds speak to the like, ‘My life is upside
member of the artist, since it’s not instability that many foster kids feel as they continue to down,’ which gave
me the idea,” she
permissible to paint children in foster dream of a happy home life. says. She doesn’t
care. “Everything else about them— turn the surface to
how they’re dressed or posed—comes
from my memories or imagination,
Working Through paint that part of the
painting. “It’s not
related to my experience,” she says. the Rough Parts unlike what I do
when I’m painting
In some paintings, the girls appear Originally from Brazil, Werneck started her career as a face and find that
contemplative and curious; in others, an interior designer after graduating from the Fine it’s not looking right,”
discontented or uncertain. We sense Arts School of Rio de Janeiro in 1999. She relocated to she says. “I turn it
strength, perhaps even stubbornness, Australia in 2008, where she lived for a few years—a time upside down to
evaluate. So, it’s not
but also fragility. Various elements during which she started to refocus creatively. “I didn’t a foreign idea to
provide compelling symbolism. “The know English, so I couldn’t work as an interior designer,” paint that way.”
paper crowns that appear in some of she says. “So, I devoted more time to painting. That’s
when I started to move from being a designer to being “I like the freedom it gives me to correct something,” she
an artist.” says. “On paper you can’t lift and restart as easily as you
The mostly self-taught watercolorist now lives in Texas. can on Aquabord.” The surface also supports Werneck’s
After steady work on portrait commissions, Werneck was technique of “sculpting” with paint. “When the paint is
able to make the switch to full-time artist in 2015. It was still wet on the board, I can come in with a brush and
in that same year that she discovered Aquabord, a clay actually move the paint and put the pigment where I want
panel painting surface, made by Ampersand, that had a it,” she says. “You can’t do that with paper.”
significant impact on her work. While the artist’s techniques are otherwise fairly standard,
In general, the artist isn’t one to be picky about her sup- she does have a unique starting strategy: At the beginning
plies. “Coming from a poor country,” she says, “I always used of each painting, Werneck selects one detail that especially
what I had because we didn’t have much.” It was almost by excites her and paints it to its finish. Only then does she
chance that Werneck picked up the only piece of Aquabord proceed to tackle the painting as a whole. “Doing this helps
left on the shelf while shopping for paper. She tried it and me push through the ugly parts or stages of the process,”
found that it perfectly suited her perfectionist nature. explains the 47-year-old, who admits that this approach
To depict the dress in More Than I Am Today (watercolor on clay Werneck’s personal healing continued with the painting of Serene Mother
panel, 30x22), Werneck painstakingly removed pigment over the (watercolor on clay panel, 30x22), in which she turned to nature for nurturing.
course of two months. “I painted everything underneath—the skin, “I was seeking comfort and consolation, like a child wanting their mother’s
the underdress, the water—then lifted the tulle details using a small warm and cozy lap,” she says. “The voice of our Earth Mother, or Mother
flat brush,” she says. Listen, a book of stories highlighting the Nature, speaks to the soul.”
resiliency of foster children around the world, inspired the painting.
The poem the girl is holding, written by Werneck and her youngest
son, ends with, “I will want so much more than I was given. I can be
so much more than I am today.”

The butterflies in Dreamer (watercolor on clay panel, 24x36) not only work on a symbolic level, as a sign of hope,
but also strengthen the composition by developing a feeling of depth and creating a sense of movement.
has often encouraged her to continue painting through the

constant interruptions that accompany motherhood. “I want Meet the Artist
to make the whole painting as good as that one part,” she Daniela Werneck
says, “so it makes me want to go back and finish it.” (danielawerneck.com)
focuses on realistic
figurative watercolor.
The Power of Being Seen Born and raised in
A number of young people who had spent time in the foster Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
care system were invited to an exhibition in Werneck’s stu- she currently lives in
Houston. The artist is
dio, in downtown Houston, to see paintings in the artist’s a Signature Member
“Alone” series. “They thanked me for acknowledging their of the Watercolor Art
lives through my art,” she says. “It was so good for me.” Society of Houston
Working on the series, it seems, has not only helped the and the Texas
artist heal from her own pain, but the paintings have also Watercolor Society,
and she also enjoys
PHOTO BY DARIA RATLIFF
empowered others. “I felt like their response gave me what

membership in the
I needed,” Werneck says. “I like that the paintings give oth- National Watercolor
ers hope.” Society and the
Portrait Society of
Stefanie Laufersweiler is a freelance writer and editor living in America. Her artwork
Cincinnati, Ohio. has earned a number
of awards, including selection as a finalist in the Splash
19, 21 and 22 watermedia art competitions.
Suitcase donations for foster children are accepted at

charitable organizations across the United States. If
you’re interested in contributing, search online to find
a local donation drive or agency in need in your area. Turn the page for a demo.
demo
A Dedication to Home
When growing up, we’re all greatly influenced by the people and world around us,
which builds and shapes us. There are many things that I miss from my childhood in
Brazil—my grandmother, my grandparents’ home, the sound of birds, and so much
more. This painting is inspired by that longing that stays with us long after we leave
a place behind. We never forget where we came from. We’re entangled in memories.
— By Daniela Werneck
Demo
Reference Photo
I reused a photo of Lisa, a model I’d
Materials photographed many times. Working in
PAINT Photoshop, I rotated the image a bit to
QoR watercolors the right to change its angle and create
(by Golden): a new composition. I added the hands
using other images I had on file.
• pyrrole red light
• transparent
yellow oxide
• van Dyke brown
Rublev
watercolor
(by Natural
Pigments):
Step 1
• Prussian blue I transferred the image to
the clay panel, using the
SURFACE dots technique: I applied
• Aquabord clay dots to the image in
panel (by Photoshop, printed the
Ampersand) study
s in real size (on 8x10
BRUSHES
sheets) and then used
homemade carbon paper
• Silver Brush tto transfer the dots to the
Black Velvet board. The idea is that,
rounds. with dots, there’s less to
erase. I like to select a
single detail—in this case,
the hand on the left—and
bring it to a finish before
I start the rest of the
painting. It inspires me
to keep going.
Step 2
After finishing that
driving detail, I began
developing the rest of
the painting, using
pyrrole red light,
ttransparent yellow oxide,
van Dyke brown and
Prussian blue.

Step 3
I wet the surface where I wanted to
place the flowers in front of the subject’s
hair using a small flat brush to lift out
the previously applied paint. Then,
I started painting the tree branches and
all the flower clusters. This tree is a
yellow ipe, which is native to Brazil.
Step 4
Next, I started working on the details.
To create the tree branch texture, I’d
apply a layer of color, lift areas of that
color and then apply another layer of
color—repeating the process until
getting the effect I wanted.
Final Step
To complete Tangled (watercolor on clay panel, 12x36), I added more flowers and birds. The swallows are a nod to Brazil’s Portuguese culture. The
birds are monogamous, and therefore associated with love and fidelity, but they also symbolize departure and return, like the Portuguese settlers.
After I decided the painting was finished, I walked away for a bit in order to view it again later with fresh eyes and to make changes, if needed.
Then, I sealed the painting with coats of a spray UV varnish and a layer or two of liquid varnish, which allows me to frame it without glass. WA
Make Life a
Work of Art

For Giordano Gattolin,
painting is just one part
of the creative life he
practices at his home
and organic farm in
Central Italy.
By Ani Kodjabasheva
“You can turn your life and

yourself into a piece of art,”
says Giordano Gattolin. “I think this is the
key to being happy and joyful in all things.”
The Italian artist has recently moved back
to the rural property where he grew up and
where he developed and ran an organic
farm for 17 years with his partner, Tamara
Duncker. The farm also functioned as
a retreat center, and for years they hosted
groups for seminars and courses about
art, dancing and meditation. The couple
also maintained an olive grove, vegetable
garden and truffle grove.
Five years ago, when Gattolin and
Duncker felt the need to recharge, they set
out on a prolonged trip around Southern
Europe in a camper van. This year, they’ve
returned to their property in Central Italy
and are working on reviving it as a center
for alternative education with a green-
house and orchard. After decades of work
as an organic farmer, Gattolin says he con-
tinues to explore new agricultural methods
and sees his way of life and his art as
being part of the same creative path. “For
me, it’s completely connected,” he says,
“to paint and to be creative in other
ways.” As an example, he explains that
pruning olive trees requires concentration
and craft developed through mindful repe-
tition—not unlike working in watercolor.
“You have to connect to the plant,” he says.
“You need to be focused and attentive to
know which branches to cut.”
Gattolin views all these activities as all
being a part of a larger mindset in which
he seeks to “create his own life.”
Cornflowers (watercolor on paper, 15x22)
the Port of Rome is located. There,
Gattolin attended workshops with
local watercolorists, including
Massimiliano Iocco, Roberto
Zangarelli and Igor Sava. Inspired by
the location and by his dedicated col-
leagues, Gattolin found himself
painting for many hours, every day.
THE POWER OF
REPETITION
Although this openness to change has
regularly led to personal and artistic
growth for the artist, Gattolin has
learned that repetition is also essen-
tial to strengthening one’s craft.
Whether caring for olive trees or
painting the human figure, doing
something again and again is what
often leads to breakthroughs.
With this in mind, Gattolin likes to
revisit a subject, returning frequently
to locations in and around his home in
Umbria, a region in Central Italy that
borders Tuscany. One of his favorite
painting spots is the region around
the hillside village of Castelluccio di
Norcia, a place the artist has been vis-
iting since his youth. He finds that
climbing to secluded spots in the
mountains there makes him feel as
though he’s in the Himalayas. “I’m
really close to this place,” he says.
“I like to paint it and repaint it and
then repaint it again.”
Gattolin has found that, over time,
repetition leads to a more effortless
flow, allowing him to integrate the
lessons learned from mistakes into
his current process. Figuring out how
to work through a problem can take
days when you’re first learning to
paint, he notes. “But the more you
TOP TO BOTTOM
Tuscan Farm House WELCOMING CHANGE train,” he says, “the more this
(watercolor on Part of Gattolin’s ongoing practice is examining his emo- becomes second nature. So, as you
paper, 12¼x16) tional well-being as a means to welcome change. When move your brush across the paper,
Sunday Morning he and his family made the decision to combat feelings of you realize immediately when you
(watercolor on “burn-out” with a multi-year tour in a camper van, Gattolin need to move it another way.”
paper, 11x15) started painting regularly and showing his work. The spec- Thus, painting becomes an exercise
tacular scenery he encountered across Spain and Portugal, in being present, responding to acci-
and the artists he met along the way rekindled his engage- dents as they occur and just letting
ment with watercolor. “Painting was always there. It was things happen on the paper. By work-
always a part of me,” Gattolin says. The tour, he explains, ing in this manner, Gattolin believes
provided the space for that part of him to reemerge. a watercolorist can take full advantage
At one point in their travels, the family rented an apart- of the medium’s inherent qualities—
ment in Civitavecchia, a coastal town near Rome, where its “fluent and unpredictable nature.”

Yellow (watercolor on paper, 15x22)
WORKING EN PLEIN AIR

When I designed my own equipment for outdoor painting, I knew
I didn’t just want a tripod. I wanted a small mobile studio—a sort of
all-in-one mobile painting box-studio—but lightweight. For the
painting box, I discovered that a wine box, the kind used for gift
packs of six bottles, was the perfect size. It just had to be modified
and strengthened. Not having a lot of tools on hand in our
temporary camper “home,” I kept it simple. The box holds only those
tools I find absolutely necessary. With experience, painters quickly
learn how to limit what they carry, knowing that extra weight makes
the adventure of painting on location much more tiring and less
pleasant. The rest of my setup includes the following supplies:
PAPER: I generally carry a few loose 15x11-inch sheets of Arches
and/or Saunders Waterford 300-lb. rough paper. Alternatively,
I might bring a 16x12-inch paper block.
BRUSHES: I use various sizes of both Escoda and Winsor & Newton
squirrel mops, Escoda Pearl synthetics and sable rounds, and a few
high-quality Chinese and Japanese calligraphy brushes of different
sizes (I use the finest as a liner).
PAINT: I use a wide variety of watercolor brands, usually putting
out about a couple dozen different tube colors onto my palette.
MISCELLANEOUS: I always pack a pencil, eraser, masking tape,
Gattolin takes advantage of his hand-built blotting paper and sponge. My palette is made of iron, so it sticks
paintbox and streamlined plein air toolkit to paint to the magnets I inserted into my paint box. I use tin water
on location. containers for the same reason. All of the equipment can be locked
onto my stand, which makes it easy to move, if necessary.
TIME TO RECHARGE not painting, you’re developing something within yourself.
Gattolin has been careful to avoid the creative block that A pause can be grounding,” he says. “And when you do
can often arise from an unvarying routine. In his youth, he start painting again, you’ve often jumped forward and are
moved from his parents’ home to the nearest town of able to bring new perspectives to your efforts.”
Assisi, where he first began his art practice. Later, he
moved to London, where he stopped working as an artist
for a time. He eventually returned to Italy to try his hand EMBRACING THE JOY
at farming. For Gattolin, such stops and starts in his art Gattolin cherishes the fact that he can paint only when he’s
practice have tended to open possibilities. His advice is to moved to do so. To him, it’s important that making art be
welcome such breaks—and even purposely create them. distinct from doing work. For this reason, he decided to no
Typically, the artist works intensively on a project for longer work on commission; he needs a subject to speak to
a few days at a time and then puts his brushes aside for him from the start. The artist compares the experience of
a while. “One week, I may do nothing but paint, and then painting to that of romance. “It’s a beautiful, joyful thing;
I may stop for a week and do something else,” he says. but if you force yourself into it, you lose the joy.” The prac-
“Other times, I may stop for a few months and then go tice of repetition leads to mastery, but that’s only possible
back to painting again.” if the drive to create is there.
Gattolin acknowledges that a long hiatus might be Believing you can’t find joy in painting if you’re full of
frightening, especially for new painters, but he maintains doubt, Gattolin encourages artists to suspend the critical
that breaks can be healthy and generative. “Even if you’re thoughts. “I try to stop the judging,” he says. “I try to
A Dock in the Sky (watercolor on paper, 12¼x16)

Putting People in the Scene
When adding figures to a painting,
I don’t always follow a standard
protocol. Sometimes I plan ahead
for figures, marking their positions
in the preparatory watercolor
drawing with a quick sketch. Other
times, I don’t plan for them at all
but decide to add them at the
finish. Sometimes I use dense color;
other times light, diluted washes.
There are a few considerations and
strategies, however, that I always
find helpful when introducing
figures to a scene:
1. Tell a story. I always begin by
imagining the circumstances
behind the scene: Who are these
people? What are they doing? What
story do they tell? Often the
character’s storyline is explicit;
other times, the mere addition of
a few material elements—chimney
smoke or an abandoned bicycle, for
example—are enough to suggest
a human presence and create the
necessary vitality in the piece. As you can see in Sketch Figures (watercolor on paper, 11x15), it doesn’t take an abundance of detail
to suggest a figure. The presence of people can inject movement and vitality into your composition.
2. Determine the level of attention.
Choosing where to insert a figure in If I’ve determined the
the composition depends on several figure’s position in
factors. If the figure is central to the advance, as in Alley in
story, I’ll give it more importance Bomarzo (watercolor
with greater attention to the details on paper, 15x11), I’ll
and contrast, and with more typically use the brush
expression in terms of positioning. to cut around the
If the figure is a secondary element, figure, painting the
however, I take care not to use negative shapes in the
excessive detail. first washes and taking
care to leave highlights
3. Use your intuition. As a caveat on the head and
to the above remarks, keep in mind shoulders. I’ll then
that introducing figures into a leave the figure to
painting also involves sensitivity paint later. If I’m
and intuition, which for me take introducing a figure
that wasn’t previously
precedence over compositional planned—without
matters. Following one’s intuition is having left any white
always more exciting than respect space for it—I’ll add
for the rules. I think of it this way: If them as dark, simple
the rules represent what we know to silhouettes, which
work; intuition represents the I paint using wet-into-
unknown—the possibilities still wet color blends. To
waiting to be discovered. hint at some points of
light, I’ll use small
4. Remember the light. Often my touches of dense
figures are very dark, simple white gouache
silhouettes created with wet-into- straight from the tube.
wet color blends. Introduced at the
end of the painting process,
without any white space having
been left for them, I hint at a few
points of light by using small
touches of dense white gouache
straight from the tube.
“My watercolors connect me to the
outside world, to other people.”
TOP LEFT
Ponte di Santa
Croce (watercolor
on paper, 11x15)
BOTTOM LEFT
Castelluccio
(watercolor on
paper, 15x22)
ABOVE
Piano Grande
(watercolor on
paper, 15x22)

accept that results will vary. Sometimes the results are In his more personal work, Gattolin uses mixed media,
fine; sometimes beautiful. Other times, I may not like the including oil and acrylic. He hopes to express deeper truths
work and decide it’s not good enough, and I can let it go.” through abstraction and conceptual compositions that use
Gattolin has met painters who seem never to be satisfied objects as symbols. Letting go of technical mastery and the
with their art. While this is natural, he recommends that conventions of realism invites a different artistic language.
artists embrace even the imperfect work, because it, too, Gattolin hasn’t focused on this kind of work lately, but
tells a story and teaches a painter how to move forward. he would return to it if he found himself facing some per-
sonal challenge. A single painting can affect him for
months. “It will keep on telling me a lot of things about
TWO KINDS OF PAINTING myself,” he says. “In this way, it offers a path to growth.”
Over time, Gattolin has divided his art-making into two By comparison, the artist describes his watercolor prac-
very different types: the watercolors, which he exhibits tice as much less demanding, but then he modifies his
publicly, and more experimental work, which he does purely statement to say that watercolor is demanding in different
for himself. During the time he was developing his farm ways—the challenges having to do mainly with technique
and retreat center, he practiced art primarily as a form of and not with inner conflict. “I do this painting for plea-
self-exploration. “I discovered that if you paint feelings, sure,” he says. “When I feel that I’d like to paint, I go and
emotions or just visions, then what you put on the canvas is start a watercolor.”
also a way of working on yourself,” he says. “You can know If his abstract paintings express a more private, interior
yourself better when doing this kind of artwork. It’s diffi- world, the artist’s watercolors convey impressions to which
cult work, and it took time before I had the courage to share others can easily relate. “My watercolors connect me to the
it—and all those deep feelings—with other people.” outside world, to other people,” he says.
Autumn in Spello (watercolor on paper, 15x22)
A SENSE OF PLACE Though he’ll always remain open to adventure and new
Gattolin’s landscape paintings are imbued with a sense of directions, the artist keeps coming back to the landscapes
place so immersive that even someone who has never been of Umbria, where he tends to his art with the same care
to the site will feel at home in the scene. The compositions and persistence he gives to his groves of olive trees. WA
feature such sights as the sun-baked architecture of old
Italian towns, brightly painted farmhouses amidst fields of Ani Kodjabasheva (anikodjabashev.com) writes about fine art
dry grass and fishing boats afloat in a shimmering sea. In and education.
an otherwise free-flowing approach, the artist uses a few
precise details—the sharp lines of a farm building and a
herd of cows in Piano Grande (page 67), or the bell tower
framed against the quiet sky in Autumn in Spello (above)— Meet the Artist
to ground the viewer. The result are paintings that
communicate clearly with eye-catching confidence. Giordano Gattolin was born in Milan,
Italy, into a family of artists. When he
Gattolin creates his watercolors with minimal sketching, was 10, his family moved to Assisi, in
which he does very freely. “The first sketch is about having Umbria, where he grew up amidst
fun and letting things happen,” he says. When preparing woods, hills and olive groves. Although
for a painting, he says he likes to remain free “to make he has worked in oil, acrylic, ceramics
a mess and play with color.” In the actual artwork, which and other media, his primary focus has
he usually completes in the studio, the artist increases the been and remains watercolor. His
award-winning watercolors have been
amount of control. He typically applies two layers of wash, widely exhibited across Italy as well as at venues in China,
with sharper detailing added as a third layer. His palette Japan, Indonesia, Argentina and Mexico, among other
features a fairly limited range of colors as a base, but he countries. To learn more about the artist and his workshop
usually adds extra colors to pick out the details. offerings, visit giordanogattolin.org.

TriBeCa Crossing A proud sponsor of artists
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Artists Magazine 39th
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FINAL CALL FOR ENTRIES! Deadline: May 29, 2022

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Art Instruction Most of nature’s shapes are symmetrical. Trees tend to
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Oil painting is a popular medium but it has two drawbacks.
1) Adding additional layers such as highlights on top of wet
paint. 2) The ability to produce thin lines. These issues can
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Giuliano Boscaini..... 9/19-9/21 & 9/22-9/24
online entry information go to
www.WomeninWatercolor.com Jeannie McGuire ......................... 10/3-10/6
Nicki Heenan ........................... 10/11-10/13
Tad Retz................................... 10/19-10/21
ST SIMONS, GA - MAY 23-25 PETOSKEY, MI - AUGUST 22-25 Ian Fennelly ................................. 11/1-11/4
OXFORD, OH - JULY 11-14 NEW HARMONY, IN - OCT 5-8
Master Artist Workshops TUCSON, AZ - NOV 15-18 Average Class Size 8-12 students
Huntsville, AL | (256) 535-6372 | hsvmuseum.org Newburgh, NY 845-787-4167
mkmeyerson@gmail.com
Don’t miss your chance to

advertise in the next issue of
Art sts
Watercolor
Mary McLane 970-290-6065
Kaline Carter 505-730-9301
ADVERTISER’S INDEX
General Pencil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Golden Peak Media . . . . . . . . . .23, 69, C3
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John C. Campbell Folk School. . . . . . . .71
Judy Mudd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
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Open Book
Working on the Water

“Rafting the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River is an
incredible adventure,” says artist Kathryn Mapes Turner
(kathrynmapesturner.com). When traveling the 280 miles of
the river corridor, which can take up to three weeks by raft,
Turner brings along her sketchbook and paints. “Between
rapids, I paint quick sketches of the views from the boat,”
she says. The artist is careful to pack any artwork, like her
sketch Mat Cat Camp (detail; watercolor on paper, 8x6),
into waterproof bags before the river once again
starts to overtake the sides of the boat. “Later,
when I’m settled at my campsite,” she says,
“I pull out my paints again to capture the
shadows, light and color of this
unique desert landscape.”

1EOI%7TPEWL
14th Annual Don’t miss your chance to have
Watermedia your artwork celebrated in

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WLúGEWI for our annual Watermedia

Showcase is coming up March 14.
Enter today for a chance to be
among the victorious!
Victory of Wings
by Soon Warren
LEARN MORE AT ArtistsNetwork.com/Art-Competitions/Watermedia-Showcase
Home of
®
SINCE 1264
Watercolor masters
paint on Fabriano
Artistico paper
Still Life on Hand-Tied Rug

By Laurin McCracken
Watercolor on Fabriano Artistico Soft Press
For more information visit SavoirFaire.com

and follow @ArtSavoirFaire on Instagram
@ArtSavoirFaire

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BEYOND THE BRUSH: 47 Handy Tools

2 Watercolor artist | SUMMER 2022

Get Social Slicing Along (detail; watercolor on

F rom a sailboat on the high sea

SENIOR DESIGNER Brian Roeth

SENIOR EDITOR Holly Davis

MANAGING EDITOR Christina Richards

GOLDEN PEAK MEDIA

VP, STRATEGY Andrew Flowers

a common thread: a fascination with the mesmerizing— peakmediaproperties.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

there’s no other choice but to pick up the brush again and

Printed in the USA.

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Award-winning artist and watercolor-

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An Artist’s I recently returned from a week-

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A "must have" product I always have on hand is "The

Join Artists Network Membership to access videos,

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H turesque a beach resort or

oil, I would go back at the end and

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Allen’s Easel approach requires a degree of confi-

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Plein Air Scene

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Plein Air Piece BRUSHES

Final Piece with Studio Touch-ups

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One particular sight caught the artists attention. “I really

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Many Hands Make

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University of Illinois, where she con-