CATEDRAL DE SAN MARCOS, Chile, watercolor

CATEDRAL DE SAN MARCOS, CHILE, watercolor on Arches paper, 9x12 in. painted on location during a cruise from Los Angeles, California, down South on  the Pacific Ocean to Chile and Argentina, in 2013.

Chasing the light. That's the key to watercolor: 1, Make a preliminary value sketch. 2, Adjust the composition to accommodate light and darks. 3, allow each layer to dry in between.

FRUTO DI AMORE, watercolor

Fruto di Amore, 9x6 in, watercolor. Painted in Assisi, Italy, after beautiful Aria, who delighted us with delicious breakfasts every morning, during my residency at Arte Studio Ginestrelle this past July and August.

The Elements of Design are LSD + CVS + T , which stand for Line, Size, Direction, + Color, Value, Shape, + Texture. Ken Goldman said  that these elements are like the ingredients. Like when you are making cookies, and you need MSF , for example, Milk, Sugar, Flour, etc. The elements alone, by themselves, don't do anything, cannot produce a painting. But without them, we don't have a painting either! Stay tuned...tomorrow the solution!

Sharing the Knowledge

Sharing the Knowledge, watercolor, 12x15 in. available at the San Diego Watercolor Society Holiday Bazaar sale on December 7 and 8, matted unframed.

Painting with light: For shadows, always go to the light source, but reflections are always vertical. They follow different set of rules. Don't ever forget that we paint the ILLUSION of realism. We strengthen this illusion by the way we handle value, the way we create contrast. "You can see a lot by observing" said Yogi Bear.

Sunset on the Danube IV, inkwash

Sunset on the Danube IV, inkwash, 14x18cm. available. Just sitting there in this park along  the Danube in Budapest, as the sun was setting, they closed the umbrellas at the bar...the sky was so beautiful, the colors were amazing! That day I had left the residence with an ink pen, a little brush, and a very small bottle of water. I do like to vary my quick sketches, in different media. And working on VALUE only is a great exercise. I strongly recommend it. It's much easier to use color!

The Cove, landscape/seascape

The Cove, watercolor, 14x20" (35x50cm.) Available. I painted this watercolor plein-air, standing near La Mano Masks in La Jolla, California, a few days ago. La Jolla Cove is a beautiful place in Southern California, near San Diego.
According to Ian Roberts, it's important to engage both horizontal and vertical lines of force. Our goal--he says--is "to orchestrate engagement, and have: strong value masses, subtle color intensities and harmonies, edge quality, and great drawing." Have I done all that in this painting? I'm not sure. You be the judge.

Estampida

Estampida, 20x25" (50x67cm.), watercolor on Yupo. Available at the Pool Art Fair, South Beach, Miami.
I was chatting about VALUE with an artist friend today, and decided to share with you: Value is the most important element in a painting. Value holds it together....or not. Value decides if the composition works.....or if it doesn't. Every year I do a notebook of value studies alone. No color. It's amazing how much I learn just by doing that. So now....go do value studies!

Parc Gouvieux

Parc Gouvieux, watercolor, 13x17cm. Lovely park near Chantilly, France.
The four qualities of color are: Intensity, Temperature, Value and Hue. Regarding intensity, for better use of your money: buy bright colors that you can dull if needed. It's much harder to brighten up a dull color.

Parc Couvieux, acuarela. Hermoso parque cerca de Chantilly, Francia.

Las cuatro cualidades del color son: Intensidad, Temperatura, Valor y Color. Con respecto a la intensidad, es mejor uso de tu dinero comprar colores brillantes, que siempre se pueden apagar si es necesario. Es mucho mas dificil hacer mas brillante un color apagado.