Watercolor

Creating and Recapturing Whites in Watercolor Paintings

Watercolor is one of the most popular styles of painting. It is a favorite of the public and is the material of choice for some of today's most collectable artists. Many artists who work in watercolor soon realize that the thrill and excitement of color, and the application of that color, often "takes over" a work. It can be difficult to maintain whites because what that means is the complete avoidance of those areas. The paper must be carefully and systematically worked in such a way that no color is placed where whites will appear in the finished work. Because maintaining pristine white areas presents difficulty for many watercolorists, several techniques have been developed to "recapture" whites.

When you discover that the whites and lights that you wanted to keep in a work have disappeared, you might consider using an opaque white, a gouache or acrylic. Many artists consider any other method too time-consuming, or perhaps the whites they achieve with other methods are unsatisfactory for their work. While the use of opaque whites will recreate those lights, there are more aesthetic ways to get them. The following paragraphs will discuss several other options and how they might be of help to you in your watercolor paintings.

Painting around white areas is the purists' method, but is very difficult, especially for start-up painters. With practice, however, you will find that you have the latitude of working with several "qualities" of dryness to create different effects. For instance, if you are painting on dry paper around a white area, the edges that you create will be hard with sharply defined edges. If, on the other hand, you are painting around a white area on paper that is slightly damp, the pigment will spread and you will accomplish soft edges. With a bit of practice you will discover just the right amount of dampness for the look you are trying to achieve.

Scraping through areas of wet paint to achieve whites is probably the most popular way to recreate white and light areas. Several tools can be used to accomplish this scraping out of color. One popular tool is the angled end of a plastic handled watercolor brush. The plastic is hard enough to be an effective tool without causing damage to the softened surface. The edge of the handle can cut through and remove paint to create nearly perfect whites. This happens if the paint is still fluid enough to "move." Other tools one might use are scraps of mat board or perhaps a scrap of rigid plastic from a coffee can cover. No matter which tool you choose, the paint must be at an absolutely perfect point for this technique to work. If the paint is too dry, you will never be able to remove color; and if it is too wet, the pigment simply slips back to cover the scraped area. Again, practice will help you learn when the timing/dryness/wetness is right.Lifting off paint is another method used by artists, and they use it most often when they need a white area that was unplanned in the original concept. The idea is to lift off color with fresh water and a clean brush. Carefully define the area you want to lift away by wetting that area with clean water. Allow the water to sit on the paint for about 30 to 40 seconds. Then blot carefully with a tissue, paper towel or soft cloth. You can repeat this technique to create lighter and lighter areas. This method of white recapturing fails when staining pigments are used because these colors often leave trace stains on the paper.

Lastly, there is an old technique that can be used to create whites for certain applications. When wispy, linear whites are needed, especially in dark areas (such as an indication of grasses in a dark forest interior scene), use the edge of a stencil knife blade or a razor blade. By dragging the sharp edge sideways across the dark area, bits of the painted surface are scratched away. The object is not to cut the surface, but to scrape across the dry surface, removing small fragments of the paper while at the same time removing the paint.

Curiously, this technique for creating white wisps can be used to create very interesting texture in your work. This removal of pigment and bits of the surface leaves the paper receptive to additional paint. When new color is introduced into these areas, the pigments penetrate the scratched areas for very intense and very detailed line designs. The disturbed surface actually acts as a blotter to absorb more color than would be absorbed if the new color were introduced to clean paper. This technique is very interesting and useful, too.

Short of "White Out," we now see that there are many ways to achieve white and light areas in our watercolor. The most interesting watercolor paintings are those with studied applications of some or all of these methods. Why not try all of the white-creating techniques with your palette of colors? Have fun finding out which colors act as stains and which can be easily wicked up to reveal the white of the paper.

Look for a future article on the use of masks and stencils to create texture, tone and depth in your work.

Ampersand Art Supply High quality prepared wooden panels and accessory products including Claybord, Claybord Black, Claybord Textured, Gessobord, and Hardbord.

Competitions

Strathmore Illustration Contest

The Strathmore Artists for the New Millennium Illustration Contest is open to full-time students, non-professional artists, and digital artists. Original artwork must be created on Strathmore paper, and judging will be based on creativity, style, expression and use of technique. Winners' prizes in each category include First Place: $2,000; Second Place: $750; and Third Place: $250. So "Dream On" in sketches, drawings or paintings; reveal memories in photographs, lines of poetry, or pixels. See your participating retailer for an entry form, which must be postmarked by September 1.

Butterfly Association Photo Contest

The North American Butterfly Association holds art and photo contests biennially. The 3rd Biennial NABA Photo Contest will be held this year with a submission deadline of April 1. Photos must be of free-flying, unrestrained adult butterflies taken in the field in Canada, the U.S. or Mexico. The winner will receive $150 and the 1st runner-up will receive $50. Winning entries will be published in the Fall 2000 issue of American Butterflies. For further information, visit www.naba.org/contests.html.

Pastels

The Challenge and Reward of Pastels

There is no look quite like the look of a pastel painting. No other material even comes close to the velvety smooth tooth and powdery appearance. The surface is soft and fresh looking, with color that seems to be simply sitting on the surface.

Well, in many cases that is exactly what is happening. Many--dare it be said, most--pastel artists abhor the use of any type of fixative on their energetic and lively painting surfaces. Because there is no real "binder" or anchor to hold the powder to the surface, it simply sits there, bound only by the pressure it took to transmit color from pastel stick to paper. Because of this fragility, pastels offer some true challenges when it comes to storing, matting, framing, and presentation in general.

The softness (or hardness) of the surface onto which the pastel painting is drawn is one of the main factors in how well the powders actually adhere. If the paper is a velvet type or other real "toothy" surface, the tiny fragments of color penetrate the surface. Super-hard surfaces do not offer this bond, and each pastel stroke, in reality, simply sits on top of the surface. So, logically, the softer the tooth of the paper, the better the pastel will adhere. This range of softness goes from the velvet of fine sand-covered papers to the hardness of rigid colored papers, illustration boards, and pastel boards. Each individual artist's style will help dictate the amount of tooth that best suits her work. Bold and dynamic works do very well on hard surfaces. Portraits and finely detailed works usually benefit from a super-soft-base material.

But no matter which base material you choose, the same problems will inevitably haunt you when it comes to presentation of your work. For the sake of example, we will group all pastels together so that their inherent qualities and challenges can be examined.

The first challenge any pastel artist must surmount is the loss of powder from the surface of his finished works. Every time the paper is disturbed/moved/handled, tiny particles of pastel powder dislodge. Even storage of pastels is touchy. One must always maintain a rigid support on each side of the pastel, with the artwork covered by a smooth, clean, slick surface. Nothing with the slightest amount of tooth should be used as protective covering for a pastel. That would create a "blotter" effect and pull the image away from the artwork. One recommended cover is tracing paper or any other "slick" surface. Silicone papers used in the framing industry are especially helpful, as they repel the powder and simply slide over the surface with very little lifting of powder from the work.

After adequate storage methods have been adapted, the next challenge might be the choice of matting materials. One tip that can relieve much anxiety about mounting the pastel to a mat board is an old framer's tip. Rather than rest the mat against the surface of the mat, create a "fall out" space between the face of the artwork and the back of the matting. Attaching strips of foam board around the outer perimeter (back side of the mat) can easily do this. The space created by these strips will give the powdery discharge some place to fall and will protect the mat surface. This spacer can be one, two or even more thickness of foam board. The strips should be narrow enough not to show when the work is viewed from the front, but at least 1" to 1«" wide; and should be attached around the complete perimeter for proper support during the framing of the work.

Glazing of pastels presents additional challenges. Plexiglas or other acrylic sheeting should never be used over pastel works. These surfaces are charged with static electricity and can attract the powder from the artwork surface. This condition may lessen with time, but the particles pulled from the artwork could easily slip between the mat and the glazing and soil an otherwise perfect presentation. Clear glass is the glazing material of choice by most professionals. Non-glare glass can be used, but with much more than the thickness of single matting, there is serious loss of detail.During the closure of the art, backing, mat and glass, one should avoid the temptation to turn the package facedown. When the pastel is inverted, it will drop much of its loose powder onto the inside of the glass and cause a redo of the project or a soiled mat. The only way to close a pastel work is to work from the back side. Finish the closing process with a brad setter or hand-placed glazing points. (A brad setter is a hand tool that allows the artist to push a thin brad into the frame and thereby hold the contents of the frame tightly.) All jarring and tapping should be avoided, as they cause a release of pastel powder.Tips: Should a smear of pastel powder occur on a mat, use a clean, soft brush (and not your finger) to remove as much of the powder as possible. The heat and oil from your fingertip will set many of the colors on the mat surface and cause it to look soiled. Some ground-in smears can be removed with a magic rub eraser. Avoid kneaded or gum erasers.

Art Marketplace

New Packaging for Projector

Gagne has announced new retail packaging for the Mini Sketch the smallest and least expensive model of their opaque projector line of products. In addition, in order to enhance its reflective qualities, improve the projected image, and update the product visually, the product color has been changed from black to white. See your retailer.

Museum

A Visit to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Upon entering the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, you feel a quiet strength, an aura wafting within the building. This wonderful, new adobe structure with massive double entrance doors is positioned in the heart of Santa Fe, New Mexico, a city mostly known for its vibrant art community. With high ceilings and white walls, the structure--both inside and out--emits the same character and "presence" as that of Georgia O'Keeffe herself--quiet, simple, and elegant. And all of this combines to create an atmosphere that is less a building and more an "environment."

Along with the exquisite architecture, the Museum offers a frequently changing selection of artwork by O'Keeffe, but it is far more than that. The museum director, George King, has worked with the Museum's Board of Directors, the staff, and community members to create a plan that will guide this young and influential institution to its rightful place within the cultural organizations in not only New Mexico, but also nationally and internationally. Advancement of the Museum's collection of artworks and its scholarship plan seem well on their way to phenomenal success. Even the occasional visitor feels the strength and vitality of the "package" presented.The gallery exhibits works that are loaned from a wide number of sources, both corporate and private, works it might otherwise be impossible to see. Currently on exhibit through February 27 is Four Painters of the Stieglitz Circle, the second such exhibit pertaining to artists that Alfred Stieglitz promoted during his 40 years of exhibit organization in New York. The artists include Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, John Marin, and Georgia O'Keeffe. These are the American artists that Stieglitz felt represented the idea of the emergence of a specifically American Art. He held to this commitment strongly and continued to promote these American Modernists until his death in 1946. This exhibit brings 51 of their works back together for public enjoyment.

Other exhibitions of such power and beauty are planned for the future, including Arthur Wesley Down and American Arts & Crafts from March 10 through June 18; O'Keeffe on Paper from July 29 through October 29; and Views of the City: 1910-1940 from November 14 through Spring 2001.

A continuing commitment to diverse community activities is helping to create an uncommon bond between the Museum and the public. The Museum's education department co-sponsors programs with cultural centers and arts councils throughout the state. Free lectures on O'Keeffe, special development programs for educators, and copious hands-on art workshops for students offer outreach services to the entire state of New Mexico. There is also a special program for young women, the O'Keeffe Art and Leadership Program for Girls. Truly, this Museum is integrating itself into the very fiber of the community as well as that of the entire state. It is helping to make art a part of everyday life and is setting the pace of commitment for future organizations to follow.

The Museum's community involvement and enrichment--with its outreach programs, support programs and education-is trend setting. But the real function of the Museum is to offer for public view the work of the artist herself. It is, for many, an awesome experience to stand in the center of an exhibition, studying walls covered with O'Keeffe paintings, in the silence and serenity of such an alive and vibrant place. The warm and inviting atmosphere is most comfortable.

The Museum, like most others, has also created a gift shop and has brought together various contemporary crafts reflecting the aesthetic philosophy Georgia O'Keeffe reveled in. Here again, not only the items, but the style in which they are presented, makes one feel as though O'Keeffe would have designed the area much like it looks today. Good lighting, polished hardwood floors, good variety, and extreme quality are the hallmarks of the shop.

It is understandable that Santa Fe, New Mexico, may not be on your way to another location, but any Georgia O'Keeffe fan would not miss a visit to this Museum. It is worth the trip if that were all you wanted to do in Santa Fe. But, of course, there are many other wonderful galleries and they simply add to the enjoyment. Except for short periods of exhibition installation, the full museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10am to 5pm, 10am to 8pm on Fridays. (Closed New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.) Even during exhibition changes, some works are always viewable. See them at 217 Johnson Street, just a couple blocks west of the square. While planning your visit, be sure to visit the website (www.okeeffemuseum.org) for updates on exhibitions, programs and an expanded gift shop.

Note: O'Keeffe fans may also view her work through March 28 at the Bakersfield Art Museum (CA) in the exhibition titled Georgia O'Keeffe: Six Decades of Landscapes and Life.

Airbrush

A Little History
Part I: The Early Years

Abner Peeler, of Webster City, Iowa, invented the airbrush in 1878. Peeler was a professional inventor and held patents on over 100 items, including the typewriter and the screw machine. The first airbrush was actually called a "paint distributor" and did not even remotely resemble the airbrushes of today. An oscillating airbrush in principle, it was made primarily out of wood and sprayed paint in what would now be considered a crude manner. It is known that the first airbrush was sold to S. M. Thomas for the fee of ten dollars. One month after the invention of the airbrush, the first painting was completed with it--a self-portrait of Abner Peeler done on an enlarged photograph.

At the time, retouched photographs were all the rage. The availability of photography to the masses brought about the development of an industry that produced hand-rendered portraits of practically every man, woman and child in North America. Prior to the invention of photography, to have a picture made of you or of a loved one took time and money and was available mainly to the leisure class. The subject had to sit for the portrait painter plus, of course, pay a fee, thus requiring both time and money. With the availability of a photograph, you needed only to send it to a specialty house that would produce from it a portrait done in either pencil, charcoal, chalk, pastel, watercolor or oil, depending on your budget. Most of these portraits were done on enlargements of the photographs, which were fuzzy and out of focus, but gave the portrait painter the essential drawing and information needed to complete a likeness that would satisfy the client. Remember that during this time, images weren't as tight as those today, so the consumer was satisfied with lower quality.

In Chicago, a mecca for portrait shops, hundreds of people were employed to paint and draw on enlarged photographs. Two problems presented with doing the portraits were the instability of chalks and pastels and the time required to execute them. With the invention of the airbrush, which sprayed a dot pattern that looked very much like the grain of a photograph, the portraitist could work faster and in more permanent mediums.

Early airbrushes were propelled by a very primitive air source, also invented by Peeler. The air compressor was foot-operated, and the airbrusher would pump the pedals of the compressor that were attached underneath the drawing table. The air was pumped into a storage chamber where it was compressed, and a hose connected the storage chamber to the airbrush. In some instances an assistant would treadle the pedals to deliver air.

Although an eccentric inventor, Peeler was not a businessman. Three years after he invented the airbrush, he sold the patent for $700 to a man named Liberty Walkup. Over the next few years he would refine the airbrush twice, making $150 for both refinements, and then move on to bigger and better things. Walkup, on the other hand, was a promoter. Within the next ten years, he would propel the airbrush into the hottest art tool ever seen.Note: A tale about Abner Peeler: After having heard about the invention of the bicycle (invented in 1879 and refined in 1885) but never having seen one, Peeler went back to his workshop and built one. On its maiden ride, Peeler buzzed around his hometown, terrifying man and beast. Upon being horrified by the negative response to his new creation, he took it back to his workshop and chopped it up with an ax.

ArtPourri

MOMA NY News Finding itself without a van Gogh, MOMA has purchased a drawing of olive trees at Sotheby's for $8.5 million, a record price for a van Gogh drawing. A gift from the museum's chairman, Ronald Lauder, the drawing will go on view soon. Gary Garrels, recently of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, has been appointed chief curator of drawings and a curator of painting and sculpture at the New York museum.

Grant Awarded The Friends of Olana, a group that runs the Columbia County historic home of landscape painter Frederic E. Church, has been awarded $112,500 from the Institute of Library and Museum Services. The grant will support a wide range of programs at the historic site near Hudson, N.Y.

New Director Named The Cleveland Museum of Art has announced that Katharine Lee Reid has been appointed its new director. Reid was previously director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond.

Retrospective Planned The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum has scheduled a major retrospective of the work of fashion designer Giorgio Armani next fall. Armani is a major benefactor to the museum.

Painting Recovered A portrait by Paul Rubens that was painted during the early 17C. has been recovered after being stolen seven years ago in Belgium. Titled Unidentified Man Wearing a Ruff, the painting is valued at $3.1 million.

Milestones American painter Paul Cadmus has died at the age of 94. A social realist in the school of Thomas Hart Benton, he was renowned for his W.P.A. mural work in public buildings. Marc Davis, a master animator for Walt Disney, has died at the age of 86. Highly praised for his work, Davis helped to create characters such as Cruella DeVil and Cinderella.

Grants Nominations Due Did you know you could submit nominations to the National Endowment for the Arts for Grants to Organizations and the National Medal of Arts? For guidelines and applications, see the NEA web site at www.arts.endow.gov. Postmark deadline is March 31.

Exhibitions:

Chicago, IL Museum of Contemporary Art At the End of the Century: 100 Years of Architecture offers a global panorama of the century's visions and achievements in architecture and urban design. Through Feb. 27.

Hartford, CT Wadsworth Atheneum Salvador Dali's Optical Illusions presents a major survey of Dali's trompe l'oeil work. Through March 26.

Los Angeles LA County Museum of Art- The Age of Piranesi: Printmaking in Italy in the Eighteenth Century opens Feb. 17. This exhibition will survey the museum's collection of eighteenth-century printmaking in Italy with a selection of about 100 etchings, engravings, and woodcuts. Through May 14. J. Paul Getty Museum--The Body Beautiful: Artists Draw the Nude (1440-1850) chronicles how artists represented the human body over the course of 400 years and features more than 25 works from the museum's collection. Through Feb. 27.

New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art "Only the Best: Masterpieces of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon includes masterpieces of paintings by Rubens, Fragonard, Turner, Manet, and Monet. Through Feb. 27.

North Miami, FL Museum of Modern Art- Frank Stella at 2000: Changing the Rules features interrelated large-scale works, including paintings and architectural works. Through March 12.

Birthdays:

  1    Thomas Cole
  4    Fernand Leger
13    Grant Wood
20    Ansel Adams
26    Honor‚ Daumier

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Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 10 No. 4 -- February 2000