ANN PEMBER WORKSHOPS

CLASS DESCRIPTION

SUGGESTIONS FOR CLASS

Make a simple drawing, editing shapes as you design the composition. Save time by coming to class with something ready to paint each day. Keep in mind the following ideas:

  Reference: Draw from nature, your sketches, or YOUR OWN photos. These first steps are the inspirations for your painting and should be all yours! Resist working from someone else’s idea; from  magazines, photos, or paintings. Avoid working from anything that is published. It is illegal! This step begins the designing process. You are composing the design as you photograph and sketch.

  Drawing: If you have trouble drawing; practice. Drawing forms the skeleton of your painting and is crucial to realism.  If you project one of your slides onto the paper, take the time to correct for camera distortions. Drawing skills will help you to recognize them. Edit the image; you don’t have to paint everything you see. Be creatively selective and your painting will be stronger for it. Tools you can use to help with the editing process include; small mats, 2 L-shaped mats, viewers, such as an empty slide mat, etc. You may draw first on tracing paper and transfer it to the watercolor paper. This saves the paper surface from being damaged.  Use only light lines. Commercial carbon papers make too dark a line for watercolor paper. It’s easy to make you own: cover a piece of tracing paper with soft graphite; smudge it with a tissue, dusting off any excess.  Use like carbon paper, bearing down lightly. A dark incised line cannot be erased. You can enlarge a small drawing by using a grid system to make the painting to scale.

  VALUE SKETCH: Light striking the subject creates values. Strong light and shadow patterns are powerful and make strong paintings. I especially like backlighting for flowers. Notice how the light merges shapes together, forming larger areas of mass. Squint or use a value viewer to see this. Design using these shapes to help you edit and simplify. Including too much is confusing. When painting a flower, choose a light or white flower. It will be easier to see the subtle color changes and reflections than if working with deeply colored flowers. Make a small simple sketch to help you work out the distribution of values; light, medium and dark. Form a pleasing composition using the lights and darks to simplify shapes. This is a good warm-up exercise before you paint. Do this in one color such as sepia, black, or pencil.