I tried not to make a mistake today, although yesterday’s mistake yielded an interesting outcome. I was inspired by a detail of a Kandinsky painting (don’t remember which one), that had two lines slanted and canted toward each other. Instead of keeping the lines separate, I made them cross over. I used a paintbrush to […]
I carefully prepared before setting watercolor to paper today. I used my compass to draw circles and my French curve to draw a sweeping curve across the paper as well as two parallel curved lines. I even used a straight edge to draw a couple of diverging lines. In the next step, I used latex frisket […]
Today I experimented with another type of frisket (liquid latex that, when dried, resists watercolor paint). I dripped little perfect circles at different places, then drew larger circles with a compass. I washed the paper with lemon yellow except for the partial circle at the lower left. I overpainted most of the yellow with a […]
Today’s watercolor was inspired by yesterday’s photograph of a coffee table made from a tree. I constructed it from memory, using a compass to draw more than 30 concentric circles. I used a French curve to outline the branches, which I placed on lines radiating from the circles’ center. I was hoping to begin by painting the central […]
The other day I began a series about circles, inspired by Kandinsky’s Heavy Circles. As I was helping my wife shop yesterday at the department store (meaning as I sought out the nearest place to sit down), I propped my feet up on this coffee table, when I realized that it was filled with circles. It, […]
I’m always looking for interesting things. Sometimes they are run-of-the-mill items that I look at differently. For example, in the yard yesterday, I saw a flower that hadn’t completed its transition to complete wakefulness. The stamens were in the process of stretching out. I caught them in their semi butterfly’s-tongue state. Back in 1988 I was […]
The inspiration for today’s watercolor was Kandinsky’s Heavy Circles. I saw this piece at the Norton Simon Museum, and it was stunning. I did not have Kandinsky’s image in front of me when I painted today’s study. The main feature I wanted to capture was a dark background with circles, and a fair amount of […]
Usually, when I’m finished with a watercolor, it reminds me of something. Today, I can’t think of a thing to name the composition below. Maybe that’s a good thing. At least I didn’t take my pencil of a pre-determined walk. (Note: Paul Klee, Bauhaus Master used the phrase, “take a pencil point for a walk”, […]
Some days it easier to make art than others. I started today’s watercolor in the same manner as yesterday. I drew three contours with my 4B pencil. I interrupted the shape that runs diagonally from lower left to upper right, with a pair of parallel, gently-curved lines. Yesterday I discussed the bi-tonal qualities of Daniel Smith’s (DS) Rose of […]
I began today with two pencil curves, each of which included a tiny loop. I closed my eyes while I was drawing. I found myself constructing a mental image of my sketch. It was more of a feeling than a picture in my mind. I find it difficult to describe the actual experience, but it was unusual, […]
