Woods III (sold)



This is a painting I did in 2003. It was in my early years as an artist and the medium was watercolor. I don't know why so many people start painting in watercolor because it is one of the hardest mediums to master.
Each medium has it's advantages and disadvantages. My first painting workshop (ever) was with the late, great Zoltan Szabo. I was so green that when I took his workshop, I had never even opened a tube of watercolor pigment, so I had no idea what would happen when I mixed water on my brand new palette with my brand new brushes and my brand new paints.
I was fascinated as Zoltan effortlessly showed us various techniques.
One thing he said stuck in my head. He showed us how to "charge" a second or even a third color into the wet area you were working. A green tree might be charged with yellow on one side and blue on the other. He said no other medium can quite duplicate that effect.
Somewhere along the way, I realized I preferred the textures of oils and acrylics. They also have the advantage of not needing matting and glass, a huge plus in my eyes.
I think I will try to repeat this painting in oil or acrylic. It will be a challenge. SOLD

2 comments:

vivien said...

this is lovely

you can get a similar effect with thinned (but vibrant) acrylics on UNprimed stretched canvas - it's a technique I enjoy using as I too like watercolour effects but hate the framing

Carol Nelson said...

Thank you, Vivien. I visited your website and I can see a lot of similarities between our painting styles. Love your abstracts and your tall,vertical seascapes.