Direct Painting – Painting to see : Peindre pour voir

Nocturne

Music : a short composition of a romantic or dreamy character suggestive of night, typically for piano.
Art : a picture of a night scene.

Did you know that trying out a new way of painting is so bloody difficult? So difficult that I do not even recognize myself in this painting. I can’t find myself in it, even though I know full well that I am the one that painted it.

It’s funny as the same thing happened to me when I handed in my Master’s thesis. When I reread it, I could not find myself in it, as there is a certain “way” of writing that you must follow when writing a thesis… and I was not there. It all looked well and dandy, but nowhere could I be found.

So the same thing goes with painting. Learning a new way of painting is making me “see” differently and I have to apply the paints in a different manner. I could say that I am an apprentice of some sort. Again no lines were put down at the beginning, I laid down a wet wash throughout the paper, then right away added some mountains and reflections in the water. Then waited a bit for the wash to dry a bit, and added the forest. Then waited for it to totally dry and then added the foreground forest and reflections in the water.

Paper: Arches Watercolour
Colours: New Gamboge, Q. Rose, Cobalt, Payne’s Grey

Direct Painting, Watercolour

Clarity

Featuredby Jane HannahLeave a Comment

There are moments in our lives,
there are moments in a day,
when we seem to see beyond the usual — become clairvoyant.
We reach then into reality.
Such are the moments of our greatest happiness.
Such are the moments of our greatest wisdom.
— The Art Spirit by Robert Henri

I painted this evening scene three times before I was happy with it. At least my horizon line is lower, and I could have lowered it even more. But it’s ok all in all. The scanned painting is not as nice as the real thing, it seems flatter.

Watercolours: New Gamboge, Cadmium Red, Alizarin Crimson, Cobalt Blue, Burnt Umber, Payne’s Grey
Paper: Arches 15″x10″

Direct Painting, Painting, Watercolour

Westering

Featuredby Jane Hannah2 Comments

From sunrise the wind blows
always to sunset
going where the stars go
my breath the wind
this little boat my body
its ragged sail my soul
going where the stars go
— Ursula LeGuin, Final Poems 2014-2018

Painted the same image three times and it gave three different results. The aim was to create a morning atmosphere as this was an early photo scene. I am presently following Uma Kelkar’s amazing class, and she is making us work on morning landscapes, evenings and nocturnes. Can’t say enough good words about her as she is an amazing teacher. I am really not used to painting without lines, so this is a huge challenge for me. Which one do you prefer? I’d love to hear from you…

I’m still seeing the Lonely Mountain Erebor today…

Direct Painting

Lonely Mountain

Featuredby Jane Hannah2 Comments

A dry-voiced chickadee
reproves what’s gone amiss.
From our crab-apple tree
she gazes critically
at autumn’s entropy
and quietly says this:
I am Chickadee,
and things have gone amiss.
— Ursula K. LeGuin

When I finally looked at my painting, I thought that this could be the Lonely Mountain Erebor in The Lord of the Rings. I have not painted in a while, because of an erratic schedule. When I was working, my schedule was the same, day in and day out. With retirement in tow, it is now all over the place, a haphazard array of classes, fitness sessions, drinking my coffee oh so slowly… the sublime gesture of it all! There and here!

This painting was done in direct watercolour with no lines before. Just to remind me why it looks the way that it does. Humph!

Direct watercolour painting… no lines.

Direct Painting, Watercolour

Direct Painting in Watercolour

Featuredby Jane HannahLeave a Comment

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.
Art is knowing which ones to keep.
— Scott Adams

What does direct painting mean? It just means that you do not draw any lines whatsoever beforehand. You take your brush, and your brush becomes the calligraphic tool. Very very intimidating at first, but then you get a thrill of doing it. So for this painting of the Joshua Tree National Park in California, I find that it is rendered very softly… a tad too soft in a way. I should have painted a level 5 value in the end to add contrast but I decided to keep it this way. Still happy with it!