I met Jacki on Redbubble, an on line marketplace for artists which provides a print on demand product service. I was immediately drawn to her experimental style and wanted to interview her to find out a little more about her and her methods of working.
"Oh the fragrance of roses on soft warm air, with strawberries and cream, the best of summer fare" Penny Quilter Click to see my gallery of Other Painting Subjects or more of my New Paintings.
A “wash” is the name given to the act of applying paint to paper. It is also the name of the mixture of paint/water that you use to paint a wash.
There are 4 types of wash. ![]() Helpful Harry, known also as Hairy Harry, assists Eleanor to package up her first original painting for shipping to Australia. ![]() Unfortunately that didn't go well. The package had to be unpacked and re-packed at The Pi Hut for a more professional finish! Watercolour paper is expensive, but if you want to get the best results you've got to use the right materials. This is SO important, cartridge paper and other types of paper aren't meant to be used with watercolour, and the results will reflect that.
Thomas Gainsborough Statue, Market Hill, Sudbury. #2.
Click to see my gallery of Landscape Paintings or more of my New Paintings. This is a huge topic to cover in detail as there are so many different sizes, shapes, and uses for watercolour brushes. Many of the brushes sold are not necessary. It is common for beginners to believe that owning a vast array of brushes will help them. Unfortunately this is not the case, only learning the skill to use them will help. I'm going to cover some general information about brushes, which I hope will enable you to make an informed choice when you come to buy your own. I have described the brushes I use, and my reasons for using them, but ultimately the choice is yours.
Interviews with other artists.Ann was an inspiration to me when I first began to paint. Up until that point I, like many others, thought watercolours meant "pale and wishy washy". When I saw her vibrant paintings in books and magazines and they encouraged me to be bold and put in those darks!
Ann, many thanks for being such a wonderful watercolour artist and so generously sharing your knowledge with us in your books and DVD's. “The reward of art is not fame or success but intoxication.” ~ Cyril Connolly Watercolour is considered by many to be the most difficult medium to work with because it is unpredictable. At first I wrongly viewed it as something I must try to control. However, over the years I have derived great joy from experimenting with this and other water soluble medium. At the time I couldn't articulate why playing with inks, bleach and a multitude of other things was so much fun. I've since learned that experimenting allows forces beyond our control to have an influence on the work and, by relinquishing a bit of control over the medium, one creates room for unexpected things to happen.
The Stour, Sudbury, Suffolk8th September 2014. Today is the start of Invisible Illness Awareness Week. I've been living with an autoimmune disorder since 1994. Instead of dwelling on the (many) negative aspects of this I am going to post one positive way that having AIH has changed my life during the coming week. (Or try to anyway). "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." ~ Vivian Greene.Because life's complicated enough...
The term "watercolour" covers a vast range of water-soluble paint. I am covering Pure Watercolour in this article as it is the most commonly used "watercolour". Answering My Own Interview questions.I have asked other artists if they would answer some questions, in the form of an interview, so you can see what methods they employ. I hope that by doing so it will demonstrate that there is no right or wrong way to paint. We are all individuals and our work should reflect that.
Much to my amazement and delight I have had a few replies but they have suggested that I answer my own questions first. So here they are:- CHALLENGE:- PAINT WITH THE WRONG HANDAccept a challenge.
”The seed of your next artwork lies embedded in the imperfections of your current piece.” ~ David Bayles. I am a great advocate of the saying "failing to prepare is preparing to fail" however, whilst creative brilliance is often achieved through consideration and detailed planning there are few gains without risk, but this can be a hard thing for artists to come to terms with. To take any kind of risk in order to develop your artwork is difficult once you have attained a certain level of success. However, as creativity implies the production of something new, you can see it is not always of benefit to have a clear idea of an end result in mind. Therefore, challenging yourself by taking risks should not be seen as something detrimental to creativity but rather, should be seen as an opportunity to be open to new possibilities and stop prior judgements being made about a works outcome. Are you waiting for the fraud police? I am."Go and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make. Good. Art." Neil Gaiman "An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory" - Ralph Waldo Emerson.Did you know most children stop painting by the age of nine?* At this age children recognise that what they are doing is not realistic but they're not sure why. Not wishing to suppress the child's creativity well meaning adults don't critique or help by teaching perspective and proportion. Worse still are the adults that tell a child that what they have produced is no good without showing them how they could improve. As a result of this sort of negative behaviour many adults have come to me saying they can't paint. Perhaps you experienced something like this as a child too?
It is a sad situation but one that allows me the opportunity to change those ingrained, negative beliefs adults often have about themselves. I love being in a position to help and encourage others to paint and realise their artistic potential. |
Eleanor Mann
Putting a "Spotlight on Watercolour"I am a watercolour artist and tutor. Welcome to my painting blog.
I'll share my new paintings and news with you here - before they're published on the main site. Information about watercolour painting techniques and step-by-step demonstrations and a host of other things are available by subscribing to my online "art group", For more information about this please click here. If you would like to subscribe to receive notification that I've posted something that may interest you (don't worry, you won't be inundated) there is a form below. Thanks for visiting. Please read the Privacy Policy
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