Happy Valentines Day!
After that, you'd think we have tons of flowers or candy to show you, but it looks like the only topical paintings come from Elaine T today. She starts us out with lovely roses and moves to an icy winter scene—to memorialize today's weather. After two weeks of sauna-like conditions in our studio, today was positively frigid. Just when we got used to dressing in summery layers, too!
And then we get to the subject of the day—couples. From baby and toddler diptychs to engaged couples, statuesque women and the boys of summer, we're all about people. Except when we're painting fruits, vegetables and ballpark food or butterflies and abstracts. Finishing up with Mark's get well card—in case you've overindulged on the chocolate hearts!
What's the art note today? Let's discuss color—blending, mingling, merging colors. It's one of the things watercolor does best. In fact, when done right, the water does half the work. But there's the catch—it has to be done right! Watercolor is basically pigment, paper and water. But it takes a lot of skill and artistry to know how to manipulate those three elements (especially the paint and water) to create a painting. Let's look at this example. Greeta has painted some simple fruit. How easy is that? Not even a background. Even so...the lush, shiny fruits...the sensual, light-drenched shadows...you can't take your eyes off these, can you?
I inserted it again so you can get a better look. Notice the sharp, clean edges on the highlights and how they add sparkle and shine. See how she's dropped rich deep color into wet shapes and let the colors softly mingle. Same for the shadows. Look how the colors chosen beautifully reflect the light hitting the fruit above, along with the color of the fruit itself. See the value changes and how they give dimension to round shapes and define the shadows. This one's worth examining closely to see how a fine artist handles three simple elements (paper, paint and water) and a simple subject to make lovely art you can lose yourself in.
See you next week!
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