Chapter 7 in Tony Smibert’s Painting Landscapes from your Imagination is all about composition.
“Whether drawn as a crisp outline or sketchy…the result is the same:
a landscape which you evolved from nothing; and only a beginning to the possibilities”
This was certainly the case today particularly using the “Three Line Sketch”, which Tony describes as his “secret weapon…the ultimate planning tool for watercolour.”
In Chapter 2 of Painting Landscapes from your Imagination Tony Smibert describes the Nature of Watercolor:
“The essence of painting in watercolour is to understand and work with the simple mysteries
of suspension, settling and drying, which takes place everytime we lay down a wash.”
He then adds perhaps the perfect mantra for watercolour painting:
“There are no rules in watercolour, only consequences”
Today’s exercises, which are full of “consequences”, some more successful than others, finishes Chapter 6 with more washes, dots, dabs and the addition of knife work to remove the dried paint creating white highlights from the underlying paper.
Worldwatercolormonth Day 6
“When you pick up your brush it should come to life in your hands” writes Tony Smibert at the beginning of Chapter 6 in Painting Landscapes from your Imagination. He continues, “Somehow we have to free the brush so that it will dance across the page as if it were alive in our fingertips rather than trapped by them.”
This second part of Genie of the brush is all about Making Marks, the title of the chapter, using the four simple steps of Dotting, Dabbing, Dragging and Rolling, with my brushes hopefully dancing across the page.
The best part of this exercise was following Tony Smibert’s suggestion to “free movement to a rhythm or a beat.” I took this to heart and dotted, dabbed, dragged and rolled to one of my favourite Jazz pieces, Blue Monk by the great, late Thelonius Monk, the genius of the keys to match the genie of the brush. It was also the perfect opportunity for another “Over my shoulder” video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it.
Over my Shoulder VI – Making Marks
One of yesterday’s landscapes that followed the exercise using a combination of dots, drags, dabs and rolls. Definitely a good day 🙂
You can find links to all of my other Over My Shoulder videos on
From Yardwork to Artwork: The Photinia Story Part Three
Let me begin by wishing all of my American friends a very happy 4th of July
Today’s quote is taken from Chapter 6: Making Marks in Tony Smibert’s Painting Landscapes from your Imagination: “There are no rules, no right or wrong ways to use your brushes, and no limitations to your creativity once you release this “genie of the brush.”
I think the genie was definitely released today
as I followed the exercises that combined washes and brush work.
Worldwatercolormonth Day 4
I would like to dedicate today’s post to the memory of the great humanitarian, Nobel Prize winner and holocaust survivor Eli Weisel who died at the age of 87 on Saturday, and to the memory of 13 year old Hallel Yaffe Ariel who was stabbed to death four days ago while she slept inside her house in Kiryat Arba, in a crime that is beyond comprehension. May they both rest in peace.
Todays title is taken from Tony Smibert’s Introduction to Painting Landscapes from your Imagination. The book is a joy to read and full of a wonderfully inspiring text from which I will take my favourite quotations over the next few weeks. The full quote today reads:
“When a watercolour emerges from the wash, it does so imbued with possibilities.”
This exercise is entitled Sunset over the Valley and combines the various washes from the last two days, namely flat, graduated and variegated. Adding the graduated sunset wash in the top right hand corner was a quiet revelation. It involved turning the board, wetting the sky up to the edge of the mountains and then dropping in the red which then charged the wetted area – oh what joy! Light red was recommended for this but not having any I combined brilliant red with burnt sienna with a satisfying result I feel.
Worldwatercolormonth Day 3
I would like to dedicate today’s post to the memory of those who lost their lives so cruelly in Baghdad and Bangladesh.
For this week’s Photo Challenge: Opposites Ben invites us to “show how opposites can tell a story about people, places, or objects. The tension can reside in what you choose to show — old vs. new, big vs. small, dark vs. light — or in how you frame and design your shot.
In this photo of the work table in my studio, which I think meets Ben’s criteria, the two watercolour paintings opposite each other are of different views of the McDowell Sonoran Reserve in Arizona. I have also submitted this today as part of a post for Worldwatercolor month under the title “Be your own painter,” where you can read more about the story behind the title.
Arizona remembered I 2.7.16
The title of today’s post is taken from Tony Smibert’s quote in Exercise 3 of Landscapes of the Imagination, which I am working through this month, “Be your own painter and adapt what you want to your own work”. This exercise is all about graduated washes and includes maneuvering the board upside-down as the secondary washes are applied.
The quote was all the inspiration I needed to apply the exercise to memories of our memorable trip to Scottsdale, Arizona, where we stopped before continuing on to that never-to-be-forgotten visit to Antelope Canyon.
That night we walked on the McDowell Sonoran Reserve after sunset where the Saguaro cacti were dramatically silhouetted against the evening sky. It was thanks to Laura Macky that we included this in our visit and her wonderful post Painted Saguaro is one that I recommend you all visit. Thanks once again Laura 🙂
Arizona remembered II 2.7.16
Worldwatercolormonth Day 2
Happy First of July everyone, and to my friends in Canada a very Happy Canada Day once again. Today is the perfect day to start a new project and what better project could there be than a month of watercolor painting as part of World Watercolor Month, thanks to Charlie O’Shields at Doodlewash.
This time a year ago I was part way through all the watercolour exercises in the book by the great Australian artist Tony Smibert, Lessons from the Great Masters, which my dear friend and always-inspiring Debi Riley happily introduced me to on her blog. Some of you may well have followed my journey on thechangingpalette through those four weeks last year. I thought for these next four I would work my way through another of Tony Smibert’s books, Painting Landscapes from your Imagination, something which I often love to do.
So for Day 1 of World Watercolor month I undertook the first exercises in the book and am now eagerly looking forward to making progress in the coming four weeks.
I will certainly endeavour to paint everyday, but on those days when I’m visiting my beautiful granddaughter, which will always take precedence over everything else, I will plan to post some of my favourite paintings from last year’s Lessons from the Great Masters. Today’s exercise working with washes was an encouraging start to the month. I hope you agree 🙂
Happy Canada Day from Vancouver
thechangingpalette 