What People Say – October 27th Edition
Love the quality of your DVDs and the artists that you choose to
represent 
Kathy L., Griffith IN
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Love doing business with you!
Linda M., Arlington VA
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Great videos and quick service. We love it!
Jo N., Mariposa CA
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Blogging Artists: Nicholas Simmons
Nicholas Simmons is a busy man. He’s currently overseas at art exhibits in Europe. Nick’s blog is a great way to keep up to date on all his adventures and awards. Nick’s style is conversational and relaxed. He gives you an inside look into not just his work but the art world as a whole. Another blog bonus is his fantastic followers, many accomplished artists themselves.
Barbara Nechis Interview (Parts 1 and 2)
Listen, as CCP’s Lynn Powers interviews Watercolorist Barbara Nechis!!!
Part 1
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Part 2
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In Watercolor from Within, Barbara Nechis works outward from a single spot of permanent magenta using memory, emotion, and the flowing paint on her paper to guide an inspired floral design. You’ll learn to make principled design decisions confidently and quickly as you develop a loose, direct painting into an intricate, layered composition. Barbara paints intuitively, responding to to what happens on the paper. Her composition reflects her feelings about her subject instead of literally representing the flowers.
Barbara emphasizes balance between repetition and variety. She corrals transparent color with opaque pigments and contrasts hard-edged elements with wet-into-wet petals. She avoids mixing on her palette but encourages blending by double-loading wide, square brushes and tilting her paper to make pigment flow.
Julia and Gail Ayres’, ” Painterly Printmaking with Monotype”
Grounded in their mastery of printmaking, Julia and Gail Ayres’ Painterly Printmaking with Monotype, explore the combination of techniques with a wide variety of materials. In their creative and inspiring instructional video, Gail and Julia demonstrate their masterful techniques and awesome results. In this workshop you learn both the additive and reductive monotype techniques using non-toxic inks. They use everything from brushes to brayers and Q-tips to fingertips.
Pat Weaver’s, “Animal Portraits in Watermedia”
Capture your pet’s personality with watermedia artist Pat Weaver. Pat’s direct painting approach and limited palette helps you strip away distractions and work fast on fur, whiskers, feathers, and other eye-catching textures. In Animal Portraits in Watermedia, you’ll complete five watercolor and acrylic paintings on a variety of surfaces, so you’re sure to find the right combination for all your favorite animals. You’ll learn to control value by balancing fresh pigment and water, and Pat’s color-mixing shortcuts help you create anything from bright red to black in seconds. You’ll create convincing fur without painting individual strands, and you’ll layer color to allow glowing hints of your underpainting to peek through. Learn to see your pets in a new light in Animal Portraits in Watermedia with Pat Weaver.
Stepping Back
After a summer off, I’m back drawing and painting at the local open studio two nights a week. I’m determined to learn. Every realistic painting I’ve ever liked rested on the scaffolding of strong drawing so I know this is what I have to do.
My first few attempts were dismal. Misshapen blobs were all that appeared. What was wrong?! Then David Kitler and Craig Nelson came to the rescue! I had not employed their technical tips. When I finally started to calculate angles, compare relative sizes, align body parts, and look for negative and/or overlapping shapes, the drawings got remarkably better. Amazing!
I’m impatient. I tend to skip over the mundane small things. And, in the long run it’s those little things that make the difference between a learning experience and a simply frustrating experience. As with painting, I think we need to periodically step back and become our own teacher. We know if we’re cutting corners. We know it takes time and focus, and we know if we are giving it our best or simply going through the moves.
I wish it were not the case but it makes me admire really fine artists all the more.
Cheers,
Lynn
Some More Questions for Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch
A question from Trish (New Mexico)
I bought the beeswax and damar crystals to make my own medium. I’ve seen it done two ways: melt beeswax then add damar crystals and melt that at a higher temperature. Another artist melts the beeswax in a stock pot, and melts the damar crystals at a higher temperature in a separate pot, and then mixes both together. Since the beeswax is not supposed to be overheated, the latter makes more sense to me. So why is the first method usually the one recommended?
Hi Trish! I’ve never actually seen the first directions myself, so I can not answer you on that level. But, I always melt my damar in a large electric skillet at a higher temperature, then pour in the beeswax and turn the heat down. I like to melt 2 1/2 lbs beeswax to 1/4 lb damar, but there are many variations of ratio out there! Play with what works best for you-keeping in mind that too much damar will make the final painting/mix more brittle. I’ll be in Santa Fe teaching in 2010! Check my blog for dates if you are in the area:) www.gingerfetish.blogspot.com
A question from Karen (Massachusetts)
After how many layers of wax do you fuse? Or, do you fuse after every layer?
Karen,
I perscribe fusing at each layer and this is the best procedure to ensure maximum durability. When I am working on a piece over an extended period of time and the wax surface has become quite warm from all the work time, I fuse less often-maybe every third layer-believing that the extra warm surface I have created in the concentrated work time is helping in the fusing! Good luck and just keep playing in it to find what makes sense to you.
A comment from Sue (Texas)
I just want to read your answers to others questions. Thanks, Sue
Hi Sue-glad to have you! Check out RFpaints.com for forum posts too-great questions being answered there by all kinds of artists
I’ll be in the Dallas area then San Antonio at the end of January and the beginning of February respectively! Look for me and maybe take a workshop?!
What People Say – October 20th edition
“Never disappointed.”
Ilse G., Napa CA
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“I’ve really enjoyed the DVD’s that I’ve gotten from your company.”
Ginger Y., Spring TX
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“I placed an order Tuesday evening, the package arrived Thursday at noontime; and I live in Maine! Great service, thank you!”
Helen F., Maine
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Blogging Artists: Sherri Haab
Sherri Haab’s blog is as active as she is. With her constant traveling and creations, Creative Inspirations is a great place to catch up on all things Sherri. From her and her husband Dan’s latest inventions to Sherri’s newest book, the blog always has something to pique your interest.
Ratindra Das: On Control of the medium.
Besides materials like pigments and brushes, an artist paints with beliefs and personal convictions. Much too often for watercolorists we read about ‘how to control this, or control that.’ Really, however, we work with a theme or an idea. During the painting process I wait for the moment when the medium takes over, and I relinquish control. My friend and teacher, Cheng-Khee Chee, said, “Let the medium obey its own natural laws.” I am only a guide until there begins a dialog with the medium. At that point there is no separation between the artist and the medium. Images percolate through conscious mind to the subconscious level and there they set up shop! Meditation is the self-disciplined process of exploring deeper levels of our individual capacity and awareness. Some of the discipline used to learn how to meditate is applicable to creative activities. Through meditative activity we learn how to sharpen and focus our inner vision or the “mind’s eye.” Art of all forms is an expression of spirit.
A true artist transcends the technical virtuosity and reaches out for the deepest subconscious level to get the most because that’s where the creative power comes from. The artist listens to his muses. Creativity is the process of bringing into existence something that has not been previously done or seen. Phil Dike said, “The flight of the creative process, like the flight of birds, is unpredictable. Whenever art becomes predictable, it is something apart from art.”
Styles come and go, but learning to find yourself is a search and a continuous process. I always strive to make a perfect painting, but hope the hell I never get it, for that will be the last day of my life as an artist.
Ratindra Das is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society and holds Master status in the Transparent Watercolor Society of America, and a signature member of five other national watercolor societies. His instructional DVD workshop, Painting a Personal Reality is currently available.
Artist News and Notes
Jean Pederson’s DVD workshop won’t be out for a few more months, but we still wanted to wish her congratulations for winning the Charles Comfort Medal for outstanding figurative work from the Canadian Scoiety of Painters in Watercolour.
To learn more about Jean’s work, visit her website, and drop Susan a note if you’d like to be notified when Jean’s DVD is ready for Pre-Order.
David N. Kitler’s, “Draw with Confidence: From Basic to Brillant”
It’s all in the title with David Kitler’s, Draw with Confidence: From Basic to Brilliant. David’s DVD contains dozens of exercises covering shading, outlines, composition, reference photos and more. David encourages you to draw from multiple sources – objects, photos and your imagination – and he works with diverse subjects. He finds shapes and shadows in birds and flowers then uses architectural sources to demonstrate perspective and his six steps for creating depth. In the final lessons, he explores texture and contrast in a finished, lifelike drawing of a ground squirrel.
To strengthen your artistic foundations, join David Kitler in Draw with Confidence: From Basic to Brilliant.
Pre-Order Special Begins on Barbara Nechis’s “Watercolor from Within”
In Watercolor from Within, Barbara Nechis works outward from a single spot of permanent magenta using memory, emotion, and the flowing paint on her paper to guide an inspired floral design. You’ll learn to make principled design decisions confidently and quickly as you develop a loose, direct painting into an intricate, layered composition. Barbara paints intuitively, responding to to what happens on the paper. Her composition reflects her feelings about her subject instead of literally representing the flowers.
Barbara emphasizes balance between repetition and variety. She corrals transparent color with opaque pigments and contrasts hard-edged elements with wet-into-wet petals. She avoids mixing on her palette but encourages blending by double-loading wide, square brushes and tilting her paper to make pigment flow.
Take advantage of the Pre-Order special and get the chance to ask Barbara a question!
1. After an on-line Pre-Order is placed, you will receive a questionnaire form via email.
2. You can fill it out with your question for Barbara and send it back.
3. The artist will then select questions from the group to answer.
4. Over the next several weeks, answers will be publicly available on the newly revamped ccpvideos blog and made available to everyone!
Planning and Feeling
Over the past years, we’ve filmed artists of varying interest to me. Because of the nature of my job, I’ve reviewed their workshops all the same. It has been a surprise how much affinity I’ve found with each artist. Be they watercolor, oil, pastel or mixed media, I learn from the approach each individual has applied to their creative process.
Some artists are very analytical. I’d put my mother (Jan Kunz) into this category. She carefully observes her subjects, especially the light, and plans her paintings. Her ability to handle the medium is amazing. Feeling plays a strong role in the process, but it is not dominant directive. For the most part, I follow in her footsteps, however far behind.
In contrast, other artists rely less on planning and more on feeling their way to a conclusion. Barbara Nechis is such an artist. She absorbs her information via her heart. Before she begins her painting she studies and then puts her reference materials aside and paints archetypical shapes that echo her experience. She encourages her pigments more than controls them. It’s fascinating.
Both techniques/approaches are equally valid. And happily, each have so very much to teach us no matter where we are on the continuum.
Blogging Artists: Claudine Hellmuth
Claudine Hellmuth, Beewax Collage and Collage: Textures and Techniques, has been keeping her blog since September of 2005. It’s truly a behind the scenes look at where Claudine is traveling and sneak peaks at all the great art she’s working on. Whether it’s weekly challenges, updates on her pet cats and dog or showing some new technique, Claudine’s blog is a wonderful look into her life as an artist and beyond.
Check out her post on Free Your Creativity.
Claudine’s DVD workshops include:
Collage: Textures and Techniques
Collage: MORE Textures and Techniques
Beeswax Collage
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