I have found over the years that one of the most frequent problems a student has to overcome is that of freedom – the ability to paint a picture as a whole in a broad statement before details (if any is to be suggested) is put in, I believe this applies to watercolour more than any other medium, because watercolour is so direct and final in its application.
Naturally students are slow when painting because they are learning and are not confident enough in themselves to paint more quickly. With watercolour this can be disastrous simply because of the nature of the medium. If a wash is being applied slowly and it starts to dry, then panic sets in: the wash will show brush strokes, dark and light areas and all the horrible forms that a badly painted wash can give. This can be made more difficult by not using enough water with your paint. The times I have seen students working a large wash with an almost dry No. 3 sable! But, of course, this is not their fault. If you have no confidence, then it is natural to go slower and use smaller brushes; this seems to make absolute sense – but unfortunately, not in watercolour painting. To make the paint flow over the paper you need water, and plenty of it, mixed with the pigment, and to make it easier and quicker to apply you need a large brush (I use a No. 10 and No. 6 round sable).
So we have a problem. We need to work quickly, because of the medium, even if we have not got the confidence to do it and are much too slow.
Well, as always, there are no magical short cuts to experience, but if your energies are directed in a positive way, then goals can be achieved more quickly.
Figure1, Tipton St. John, 2 May 1984, afternnon, watercolour, 7.5x11"
Solving the problem
'When I have students who are in this dilemma with watercolour I set them half hour exercises. I can say without exception that everyone who has participated in these has been much happier afterwards and found a new respect for themselves and watercolour, and above all they enjoyed doing them – well, after I had put the stopwatch and the whip down!
'The half hour exercises also improve your powers of observation, which is fundamental to copying from nature. It will keep your watercolours free and fresh – no fussing with your small brush (unless you want to add detail later). It teaches you how to simplify forms and shapes (you haven’t got time to break them down into detail). Above all, when you have finished one, it gives you a tremendous feeling of achievement and satisfaction and that helps build up confidence which is the most important factor in watercolour painting.
'Once you have built up your speed (remember speed is a means to an end, not to make you the fastest watercolour artist in the world), you will find you settle into a natural and comfortable speed to suit yourself.
'These exercises are not only good for beginners in watercolour, but for anyone who paints in this medium. I find I need to do this occasionally and it helps to keep me on my toes! I also thoroughly enjoy doing them'.
How to begin
'First work to one eighth imperial size, approximately 7.5x11”. Before you start look at the scene and study it – eyes half-closed – to establish your light and dark areas of shape and tone, then draw in with a pencil the main features. After this is done, look very carefully at your subject again, be convinced how you intend to tackle it, gather all your concentration and begin.
'The half hour starts now, not at the drawing stage. When you have tried some exercises at this size work on quarter imperial paper, approximately 11x15”, and do the work still in half an hour.
'You will find that the painting is even ‘freer’ as you have twice the amount of paper area to cover in the same time – this is excellent training.
'Naturally you will do more painting in the half hour when the weather is of ‘drying quality’ than when it is damp and the paint never seems to dry at all'.
Illustrations
'During the spring, I went out locally to work on half hour watercolours for this article. The first one I did, Figure 1 (see above), was not what I was really looking for because there was nothing definite in the subject like the church or large tree in figure 2, but I was inspired by the amount of green and shimmering light there was.
'I started by drawing with an HB pencil the main shapes of the hills, trees and fence. The weather was warm and the paint dried quickly. I started with the sky using coeruluem blue and crimson alizarin. Then carried straight down the painting (while the sky was wet) working in the fields. I used Hooker’s green No.1, cadmium yellow pale and crimson alizarin. For the darker band across the middle I added ultramarine.
'I left white paper for some of the trees and the fence as I painted in the fields. This was all done with a No. 10 sable. When this was dry, using my No. 6 sable and the same colours but stronger, I painted in the middle distant trees, still leaving white paper in places to help to represent sunlight in the picture.
'Finally I painted in the left hand foreground tree, still leaving some areas on the branches as white paper. I put a little modelling into the branches which helped to bring this tree into the foreground. Finally I put a few dark accents on the fence and painted in the barbed wire. This painting took 25 minutes.
'Normally I would have spent a lot more time on a subject like this, but in doing that I could have lost some of the freshness and simplicity that this watercolour has'.
Figure 2, Harpford Church, 2 May 1984, afternoon, watercolour, 7.5x11"
'The location for the painting of Figure 2 (above) was only a couple of hundred yards away from the first one I did, so the paint drying conditions were the same. The inspiration came from the large tree only partly covered by new spring leaves.
'There was a little more drawing on this one, but I approached the painting in exactly the same way as the first, using the same colours for the sky, trees and fields. If the painting looks more finished than Figure 1 it is because there are definite recognisable objects for us to see, i.e., a large tree, church and houses.
'The sky was worked down to the church and houses behind the tree. Then I painted in the church (first wash) and the roof tops, leaving the gable ends white paper.
'While all this was wet I painted in the green areas behind the tress down to the river bank. Next I worked the distant dark trees over the sky (which was now dry)'.
Detail from Figure 2, same size as original work
'I had used my No. 10 sable for all this work.
'The next stage was the large tree. I worked up from the bottom using my No.10 sable, then changed to my No. 6 for the smaller branches. With this brush I added the foliage, using dry brush technique.
'I then painted my second wash on the church to give light and shade. Next I worked on the river bank and with horizontal dry brush strokes I painted in the river.
'Finally I worked some darker areas on the large tree, put in the tree on the left, the church windows, accents on the river bank and finally the fence. This watercolour took 30 minutes'.
Figure 3, Boats, Exmouth, 3 May 1984, afternoon, watercolour, 7.5x11"
'Figure 3, Boats Exmouth (above), also took 30 minutes although it might look a little more complicated. I believe that this happens because of all the boats and activity in the background. This was suggested very loosely using my No.6 sable brush (see close up Figure X0 which is reproduced actual size).
'All these watercolours were worked on Whatman paper NOT surface 7.5x11”'.
Detail from Figure 3, same size as original painting
'Do try some half hour exercises; I am sure you will get a lot of pleasure and confidence from them. It will help you (if you are one of the small brush brigade) to start with a larger one and then work to a smaller one as the painting progresses. If you find the paper size is too small for your natural working, then go larger. Also if the time is really too short, make your own time say one hour – but no cheating and working on for two hours, or the point will be lost.
'Finally the watercolour in Figure 4 (below) was painted on 11x15” paper and was completed in ten minutes. This was done while I was waiting for a cameraman to get me set for filming. I was told to relax for ten minutes and I painted what was in front of me.
'The very important point this picture makes is that it is worked very, very freely. Only the important areas are suggested, i.e., the sky, hill and telegraph poles. It is not in my nature to work as freely as I had to do here, but I feel that I made a very simple statement – telegraph poles in a landscape'.
Figure 4
Telegraph Poles, watercolour, 11x15"
This feature by Alwyn Crawshaw is taken from the November 1984 issue of Leisure Painter
The cover image on this month's issue is Le Depart pour la Promenade dans le parc des Lions a Port-Marly by Camille Corot from the Royal Academy's exhibition - 'Modern Masters from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection' which ran from 12 October to 19 December that year.
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