Thank you for your report!
We have received your report and it is currently under investigation by a forum moderator.
What was your light-bulb moment?
Welcome to the forum.
Here you can discuss all things art with like-minded artists, join regular painting challenges, ask questions, buy and sell art materials and much more.
Make sure you sign in or register to join the discussions.
Hang on Studio Wall
This is a Studio member-only feature!
Join our Studio membership and save your favourite Painters Online content, from gallery artwork to step-by-step guides, to your own online mood boards. Create your go-to place for inspiration and learning. Plus, members can also enjoy a range of exciting features including monthly art videos and a digital magazine library.
If you are already a Studio member, simply login to your account.
Not a Studio member? Why not try our free 30-day trial - no commitment, no credit card required
Showing page 1 of 2
- 1
- 2
Message
Posted
Just wondering what everyone thinks is the best piece of watercolour advice you received (and can share) that took your development up a notch or two?
.... Alternatively, what was the best light-bulb moment in your skills development?
For me, being encouraged to be more relaxed about colours mixing on the canvas, rather than the palette, was a satisfying moment/discovery (albeit still learning).
Thanks in advance
Posted
In watercolour? Discovering that you can avoid using white gouache by using either Yellow Ochre or Light Red, mixed with another colour (eg, green) to make opaque touches; you can also use Naples Yellow. Not that there's anything wrong with using white, but you can get a much softer and more appealing look by using one of the opaque earth colours.
As for other areas of work - watching Christian Arnould (not that I use the copious solvents that he uses) apply his oil paint as you say: mixing on the canvas, going right in and correcting as you go - and using predominantly long flats, or Egberts - very useful brushes. I always used to use round brushes, but that led me into stippling, which always look likes, well - stippling; it can get very repetitive, and mannered; flats and Egberts help you to sculpt and shape the paint.
Then - alla prima doesn't have to mean doing everything in one sitting, and labouring over a picture until you've whipped it into some sort of shape, which again I used to do. Acrylic enables you to take years on a painting if you want to, and oil paint benefits from what I call - and maybe others do too - "tacking up": reaching that sticky but not wet stage, when you can apply light touches over the slowly curing paint to achieve all sorts of subtle effects.
Finally - learning (in this case from David Hockney, not that he told me personally) that acrylic is ideal for the old method of glazing with none of the long waiting for paint to be dry enough to glaze (or scumble) over. You can add any number of glazes in acrylic in a fraction of the time an oil painting would take if you used similar techniques.
I suppose all of these were lightbulb moments at the time - and whatever Sylvia says, I'm sure she's had them too: maybe she's just not feeling very playful right now, but you don't get to where she is now without having learned a great deal on the way - and it's the learning process which creates the lightbulb moments: they don't necessarily come in flashes of inspiration delivered out of the ether; the more you learn, the more you get them; the more you keep exploring, the less likely you are to forget what you've learned.
Posted
For me, it was the discovery that different colours have different properties; that probably sounds very dull, but learning that some are transparent, some opaque, some permanent, others not, some granulating etc has really helped me to improve (I think!) I wish I’d known about this years ago.
Posted
In watercolour? Discovering that you can avoid using white gouache by using either Yellow Ochre or Light Red, mixed with another colour (eg, green) to make opaque touches; you can also use Naples Yellow. Not that there's anything wrong with using white, but you can get a much softer and more appealing look by using one of the opaque earth colours.I must keep this in mind and try it. Appreciate your other points too, thanks
Posted
Recover from your embarrassment, young Evans! You must have had such moments, if you take a bit of time to think about them - you've been progressing steadily through X years of painting and drawing: I'm pretty sure you could write a book about it if you chose to. By the way - I should know this - have you ever worked in oil paint? I don't remember seeing any of your pictures painted in oils - is that my failing memory, or have you never done it?
Showing page 1 of 2
- 1
- 2