Research point

Paul Nash and Andrew Wyeth

My search started at my local gallery, ‘ Wensleydale Gallery’ but unfortunately I did not have good luck with finding anything there, most of the work portrayed sheep, sheep in winter, sheep on white paper or sheep heads and other worked included wet-on-wet clouds and  foggy watercolours. From a technical point of view they were all good watercolours but the problem with these sorts of prints is we can see them when we got to the dentist or doctor or pretty much anywhere else with a space on the wall. So i came back home and started to do research on the computer while waiting for a book I ordered and when I typed in watercolour paintings into google search it came up with similar painting so I tried to find some watercolours by named artists. In the folder i found the artist Paul Nash and immediately remembered that I had watched a programme about him on TV ‘British art at war’ which  I really enjoyed and therefore I started to look at his work on the internet. For me he wasn’t only a war artist but also just a general painter, his work interested me because they are borderline traditional painting and watercolour and you can really see the expression in his work for example anger, melancholy and nostalgia. The key to his work is the composition of his paintings they are rhythmic, dynamic, contrasting and one dark toned colours, from first view we can not immediately see t is watercolour as there are other materials mixed in which really influenced me as I am on the borderline strange as I have just started watercolours and can really use his work to show me how to get into professional watercolour painting. Another interesting thing about his work is that we do not see any people in his work, as his main objects in the paintings he uses trees, fences, barbed wire and makes a landscape as if it is from another planet using these objects like characters from these worlds.

I also found Andrew Wyeth from your recomendation, whose art is out of my imagination. He uses egg tempera, watercolour and sometimes oil paints but when you look at his work in my opinion you can not tell which painting was painted by which paint because his work is so similar that it is hard to tell or differentiate between them. His work at my level I can only admire and treat them as a guide but I can’t try to do something similar as they are out of my skill range but from his work you can see how to show space using light or that you can create a good picture using a small but specific monochromatic palette. I hope that someday in the future I can use his style to show my ideas.His work is absolutely outstanding.

 

Part 1: Making a start

Exercise: LOADING THE BRUSH, FADING TONES

For all the exercises I used A3 format 140Ibs Grain Fin Cold Pressed NOT paper.

I started painting from the top with the brush loaded with paint, and then progressing downwards, I added more and more water until the middle of the page, after that I started adding more paint. In the second painting I started with adding a lot of paint on the brush, and without adding water I painted the stripes, drying out the brush. On the third painting, I painted using both methods; only I changed the brush for a different shape.

Exercise : RANDOM MARKS

I tried tonal mixing, and I tried to vary the uses of the paintbrush, and how the paintbrush behaved on the paper.

Exercise: FISH AND LEAVES

In my first attempt, over half an hour, I tried making the shape of the fish and leaves without any marks from the brush and with different size and type of brush. It was very exciting. In the second part when I washed it down with the water, all the brush marks disappeared and it also changed colour, from dark to pale. I think this will be useful in the future.

In conclusion, after all the exercises were finished, I started to understand how difficult the watercolour technique is. I realised how much practice I need to paint correctly. I did not use watercolour since my childhood and now I understand how hard it is to paint with transparent colour on the paper, and how much I need to plan before I start painting because any mistake will not be able to be fixed. It will be very hard for me to fit a standard after years of painting opaque. I need to think things through of how to start painting watercolour or how to fit my habits to this. Whenever there was good weather, I went outside to start trying paint something. It was exciting.

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PROJECT 2 LAYING WASHES

Exercise: PLAIN WASHES

On the first try, I used a thick brush but the paintbrush left marks on the paper therefore I need to use a softer and wider brush.

When it was dry, I painted a tree in a dark colour.

In the second try, I used the same brush and it had the same effect as the first one, but only after I decided to paint a boat. All paint brush mark was useful for the water effect. Therefore the work was not a waste.

On the third attempt I used a sponge and it had a very good result. After I painted some feathers.

Exercise: TONALLY GRADED WASHES

In the first try, I started by using a paintbrush then went over it in sponge. In the second try I only did it with a sponge because I found it easier to do with it. Overall I am not so happy with the effect.

Exercise: MIXED-COLOUR WASHES

In the first two pieces, I used a soft paintbrush. And I found it easy to put on light washes on the paper and it did not leave any marks.

Project 3 RESIST TECHNIQUES

WAX Exercise: RESERVED SHAPES FROM RESISTS

Plain area with wax

I followed all the instructions, but it is hard to draw with white wax on white paper. I tried to do some recognisable shapes. I did the same with the pattern with wax. On the third try, I did it with three colours, but you cannot see that well on the picture because of the wax reflecting the light.

Exercise: LINE WITH WAX

I carried on with lines with wax exercise. When I had a couple more goes, I came to the conclusion that it may be helpful in later tasks.

MASKING FLUID

For the exercise with the masking fluids, I did a couple attempts; the first one with trees. When I removed the masking fluid I noticed that the white shade is too sharp so I decided to put everything under the tap and remove some paint using a wide brush and then I removed some around the moon so I am quite happy with the effect. I didn’t add any colour after because I decided to leave it like this.

In the second try, I used my still life for drawing assignment and I made a quick sketch. After removing the masking fluid, I am not happy because it looked better before removing the masking fluid. I am going to leave it like this for now because I need to think about what to do next.

Project 4 MAKING MARKS IN DIFFERENT WAYS

Exercise: UNUSUAL BRUSH MARKS

I painted two simple landscapes from the memory and I used various types of brush and the sponge for the clouds and I tried different techniques to receive a dramatic effect; I used sponge to wipe the painting, putting the painting under the tap and I removed some paint using the kitchen towel. Overall the experience wasn’t bad except I need to figure out how to keep that work clean because I left dirty marks; I cannot say that dirty effect was done purposefully. There are a couple of good things but there are too many accidents. It is not easy to control.

Exercise:  USING VARIOUS BRUSHES

I did a few tries on normal paper using different brushes. The effect is similar to the pictures in the folder but while painting I always have a piese of papaer with me on which i can try different techniques before using them in the painting itself and at the end the result is very abstract.

Exercise:  OTHER TOOLS FOR WATERCOLOUR

I used many of these techniques in my assessment project and you can see these in the final assessment.