Stick, Fix or Bale?
Anyone who paints in watercolour knows how trying, and utterly soul-destroying, the medium can occasionally be. One minute it can be plain sailing, with everything flowing exactly as it should, where even the unplanned bits seem to be working in perfect synchronicity with the universe, creating an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction and peace with the world. It has the potential to turn the tables on you, on a whim, however, flatly refusing to do anything you expect of it, even if you’ve done it successfully a hundred times before, and creating overwhelming feelings of annoyance, inadequacy and bewilderment at just how rubbish the results are. Two steps forward and one step backward springs to mind.
In some ways, watercolour is a test of character; persevering relentlessly even when the paint refuses to behave demonstrates a strength of mind and purpose (and possibly outright stubbornness). Where giving in at the first hurdle might be considered a sign of weakness, it may also, equally, display great insight, knowing the limits of one’s own skill set, and knowing when to walk when the evidence suggests that would be the most sensible thing to do.
We can’t always blame the watercolour, though…
I had an issue with a roof on a recent painting that was entirely my fault.
In a moment of inattentiveness, I’d managed to draw part of the roof at the wrong angle (it should have been sloping upwards from left to right). Needless to say, I cursed myself for perpetrating such a rookie error. Am I not constantly telling students that this is what drawing out in pencil at the start of a project is for? An opportunity to review and correct minor errors before putting paint to paper. Why I overlooked this one, I don’t know, but the painting had advanced far enough for me to agonize over what my next course of action should be. Should I leave it be, in the hope that no-one spots it (a very risky move), try to fix it, or dump the whole painting and start again, from fresh? If this had been an important commission, I would almost certainly have started afresh just to be sure, but it wasn’t that critical a piece of work.
The painting had already given me grief. This was, in fact, version two, after discovering (in version one) that my paper was defective (the sizing had broken down, making it like applying paint to blotting paper). So, starting again – in my mind – wasn’t a particularly desirable option – leaving me with only option two… fix it.
This, I did, with my trusty Woolley’s Wonderbrush (although, any suitably stiff-bristled brush will, of course, do the job)..
After protecting the surrounding area with carboard, I scrubbed out the offending roof with the damp brush, dried it off, remixed the original colours, and rebuilt it. I finished it all off by darkening the trees behind the building in order to give it extra emphasis.
Did it work? I hope so. The result is as seamless as I could get it, and no-one need be any the wiser, providing I don’t tell anyone about it. Stick, Fix or Bale is something that every artist is faced with at some point. What would you do?…
Finally; I just want to give a quick shoutout to Jackman’s Watercolour paints…
In all the years that I’ve been painting, I’ve never been particularly loyal to any one brand. Originally, I started out with Winsor and Newton simply because that was the dominant brand in the shop that I bought from. When I started doing work for the SAA, I used, and still regularly use, their artist watercolours. I very occasionally flirted with Daniel Smith’s exotic colours, but found their pricing to be a little on the robust side and I always had a soft spot for the excellent value provided by White Nights.
Enter Jackman’s Watercolours. On the couple of occasions when I met the company’s founder, Marc Jackman, I was always impressed with his detailed knowledge of the pigments involved and the visible passion he has for his craft.
I’ve started using them myself, and am quite blown away by them, and will henceforth be recommending them wherever I go.
Check out their full range of art materials here. A 10% discount will be automatically applied via the link, or use the code PETERW10 at checkout.
