Make It A Hake!

My Hake Brush

Some painters, such as Ron Ranson, swear by them. Other painters have never heard of them.

Of what do I speak?

The hake brush--that paint brush with the unusual-sounding name.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, Wikipedia provides this quick description: an Asian style of brush with a large broad wooden handle and an extremely fine soft hair used in counterpoint to traditional Sumi brushes for covering large areas. Often made of goat hair.

Now Wikipedia didn't mention this, but the hake is, more often than not, associated with watercolor. Maybe you saw one, and didn't know what it was called, or maybe you had heard of it, but had never seen one, so you didn't know what you were looking at.

Whatever the case, when you finally figure it out, you may be asking why would I want to use one anyway?

As the above description says, it's used for covering large areas. That's very true because they come in widths up to 8 in. (20.3 cm.), and I have never seen one smaller than 1 in. (2.5 cm.). They usually have tapering wooden handles, like mine in today's image, but there are some where the handle is several short sticks of bamboo glued together

They are good for juicy washes and, in my opinion, painting all kinds of skies and clouds. I also think they are great for painting in the loose style (very loose) with little detail work--with such a broad, soft brush, how could you paint otherwise?

Anyway, they take a little getting used to, but for quick, painterly watercolors, I think they're just what JMW Turner would have ordered.

By the way, there doesn't seem to be one definitive way to pronounce "hake" either. It can be hay-kay, or it can be hock-ey, or it can be hey-k (rhymes with bake). It doesn't seem to care what you call it, but you should try one out.

Painting Eggs

As you can see, the title of today's blog is Painting Eggs.

 

What does painting eggs have to do with anything? Well, if you read my last blog, you may recall that I was trying to get my painting groove back after the holiday hiatus.

 

I wasn't having much luck either. But, as in life, simple things are usually the best. And that was true in this case.

 

In a weekly critique class we were given a quick assignment to reinforce and improve our painting skills. The assignment was to paint three eggs (watercolor) on a white surface with one light source in addition to the ambient light.

 

The skills we were trying to improve were: understanding light source and shading, and creating volume. Simple.

 

Seems to have worked. Above is my little effort, and I now feel more confident, if not inspired, to begin painting again with renewed vigor and anticipation.

 

If you've recently lost your painting groove, go out and find it, by all means.

Get Your Painting Groove Back

Let There Be Light
Photo Copyright 2006

Somewhere after the holiday and New Year celebrations I lost my painting groove, and I am attempting to get it back.

As I said in a December blog, maybe it's the light this time of year, or actually the lack of light. I'm not ready to put a light bulb behind my knees--just yet.

Maybe it's the natural ebb and flow of interest and enthusiasm (for painting) followed by disinterest and ennui. Maybe.

I have tried several things to jump-start the process, such as:

- going through my paints and culling out all the ones that I will never ever use on my palette, such as pthalo green (and Prussian blue)

- then re-arranging all my remaining paints into just two containers--one for cool colors and one for warm colors (someone said this is how you should paint)

- putting all my watercolor paper out in one pile on one table, including single full sheets down to 6-in. x 6-in. pads and everything in between, just so I could see exactly what I had and if painting smaller or larger would help (no)

- going through all my reference photos yet again to see if by chance I have overlooked one that jumps out as 'the next ONE' (not really)

- going to my local art supply store to see if I could gin up some interest (no, I did pick up a couple of Harmony Squirrel Quills though)

So you know, I am trying to get in the groove by actually painting, but so far, I have not been satisfied with any of my attempts.

So at this juncture, I am now blogging about the whole issue. Maybe that, and watching the NFL play-offs and the Australian Open, will help. We'll see.

Learn Art History Online

Many people, including artists and painters, use January as a time for improvement and renewal. Of course, for some people not so much, but for me this is a good time to learn something new. Why not go online and take a course or two on art history?

We're well into the 21st century, so embrace technology and use it to further your knowledge on art history. Online learning via your laptop, tablet, or smartphone is about as easy as it gets. You can take a course or learn something whenever and wherever it's most convenient for you.

There are all kinds of courses/lectures available--on art history, on art movements and eras, as well as on individual artists, painters, and even particular paintings.

They are available FREE and online at such sites as:

http://www.khanacademy.org

http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses

http://oyc.yale.edu/

Don't forget about the Art Babble site either, http://www.artbabble.org/ .

When you need to take a break from your actual painting, use that time to become better educated about your avocation and how it evolved.

Start the New Year with a Visit to Your Local Art Museum

A Walk in the Art Museum
Acrylic on Canvas
copyright 2011

What better way for artists and painters to start the new year than with a visit to their local art museums? None that I can think of.

It will help you re-charge your creative juices and, if nothing else, keep you warm and dry on a dreary winter's day (in the northern hemisphere).

January is a great time to get re-acquainted with your local art museum. Maybe you're already an active member and volunteer, but if you're like most, you only visit ocasionally when there's a big brand-name exhibit or worse, not at all.

However, your local curator probably wants you to enjoy all the exhibits your museum has to offer, I'm sure of that. If it's been a while since your last visit, you probably will be pleasantly surprised.

I'm a member of our local MFAH, and even though I receive updates and literature on current and upcoming exhibits and lectures ("Gallery Talks"), I don't go as often as I should to take full advantage of all there is to see, do, and learn.

So, one resolution for 2013--visit the art museum more often, especially in January...

December Always Makes Me Paint This Way

Pecos Snow
Acrylic on canvas, copyright 2008

Well, it's that time of the year again. Christmas is almost here.

I am glad about that, and I won't miss the crowds that have clogged the freeways and shopping centers all month long.

I will tell you that when I paint in December I feel I should be painting something that looks like December, you know, snow, fir trees, poinsettias, things like that.

But I rarely do. I painted today's image back in 2008, and I think that was the last time I painted snow. I suppose I would never make it as a Christmas card artist.

I actually paint less in December than I do in other months. Strange. Maybe it's the waning light as the winter solstice arrives in the northern hemisphere that makes it more difficult for me to keep painting. It's just too dark to paint by daylight after 4:00 p.m. Of course, I could just turn on the light, but I don't.

There also seems to be less time to paint--there's the planning and the shopping and the decorating, and everything else that's going on.

Whatever the reason, December always makes me paint this way.

Why Painters Paint

I was thinking about why painters paint. What motivates them? What is the mechanism that makes painters pick up a brush or other implement? Why do they do it?

This is not, of course, a researched topic, only my humble opinion. But I have given it some thought.

The short, pat answer is because they have to, they have no other choice. As I said, that's the pat answer, but I think there's more to it.

The over-arching reason painters paint is to escape.

Escape from what? To escape from time, to escape from reality, to escape from themselves.

You're probably a painter or you wouldn't be reading this, so think about it. You paint to escape the bounds of the clock, a set number of hours, or a set number of days. Throw out the clock and painting will take up any amount of time allowed it.

Painting is an escape from reality. Paint is a two-dimensional illusion on paper, canvas, or other, that allows you an exit or respite from the here and the now. It takes you away from the cares of the day and the dreadful news cycle to another place.

Painting lets you escape from yourself--your hopes, your fears, your prejudices--or it should if you're doing it right.

In summary, painting allows you to express whatever it is you are with paint.

7 Tips for Painting Wet-In-Wet

A Recent Wet-In-Wet Watercolor
of Mine

If you read my last blog, Painting Wet-In-Wet, you may have surmised that I think painting wet-in-wet is extraordinarily difficult. And you would be partially correct. I do.

But it's not impossible; that is, it's not impossible if you can learn how to control the water and the paint better.

Here are a few tips, or maybe I should call them lessons learned, I have stumbled upon that make the process somewhat easier for me. Note, I did not use the word easy.

One. Select a type of paper on which you have achieved some success  with the way you want your paintings to look and stick with it exclusively until you have learned its every reaction and nuance to water, especially how long it takes the water to start to dry. You probably will have to try out at least five or perhaps many more, but I assure you, one will rise to the top of your list, and you will become the master of it.

Two. I have had success with two types of brushes: a squirrel mop (aka a quill) and rounds. I use a no. 12 squirrel mop/quill, a no. 14 Kolinsky sable round, and a no. 8 round. The mop holds lots of paint and water, and the rounds work best with spring-y points that keeps their shapes. I paint rather loose and large, so other sizes may better suit you.

Three. One large, single palette for mixing, such as an enamel butcher's tray, works best for me rather than a palette with several (or many) pans or dividers. I'm not sure why except a larger mixing area allows me to better see all the different colors mixed and their strengths, and I can dip my brush in just the right spot.

Four. Keep a spritzer within reach at all times. When I say spritzer I mean a sprayer that sprays a fine mist onto your paper rather than any old spray nozzle that squirts out water in uncontrollable streams or drops--terrible. The spritzer lets you re-wet the paper whenever it or the paint need it.

Five. Study the bead of water that is generated as you pass your brush horizontally over the paper. That is about the only way you will learn how, where, and when to apply the wet-in-wet paint. I think when people say a watercolor paints itself, they're talking about the bead.

 Six. I find that keeping my paper tilted at an angle of at least 5 degrees but no more than about 15 degrees works best for me. This allows the bead of water to move relatively slowly down the paper. I use a table-top easel adjusted almost all the way down horizontally to achieve this.

Seven. I use all types of watercolor: transparent, granulating, and the more opaque, including gouache. It gives me freedom and choice or at least I think it does.

And that's all there is to it. Ha.

Painting Wet-In-Wet

My Wet-in-Wet at
a Recent Exhibit

One of the most difficult techniques for many, if not most, watercolor painters is painting wet-in-wet. It sure is for me.

Why is that? Well, it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway--all that water....

You probably already know of what I'm speaking, but just in case, wet-in-wet is that tricky technique in which you paint juicy paint onto an already moistened area of your paper.

If you've never tried it, you must. Then you'll know what all the hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing is about.

Of course, watercolor requires water. But, how much? That is the question and the secret.

Too much water on either your brush and/or the paper and your paint washes away in gushing rivulets that become blooms, cauliflowers, or whatever else you may call them. They are those ugly water stains that spoil your work and are a horror for most watercolorists.

Too little water is almost as bad because you tend to keep adding more and more, trying to gauge just the right amount, until you predictably get the above-mentioned blooms. Dang it.

There are several expert watercolorists who have mastered this technique--Joseph Zbukvic and Alvaro Castagnet, just to name two.

Here's the thing, there is no way of  teaching, telling, or showing anyone how to master this technique. Believe me.

You can attend workshops and you can watch DVDs, but you will only learn how to do it by doing it over and over and over again. Only you can learn how much water should be applied on the paper and on the brush for your particular application. You, all by yourself.

Now, what could be simpler? If nothing else, think of it as character-building.

An Article About Clyfford Still & His Work

Photo Copyright 2011

Here's an interesting article in The Wall Street Journal by Jonathan Lopez about one of mid-century America's great painters with whom you may not be all that familiar.

It's about Clyfford Still, and I did not know he was called one of the "irascibles" along with Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.

The article highlights his work on display in a museum in Denver, Colorado, USA that carries his name and in a new book by Skira Rizzoli.

What I found most interesting in the article, and other painters may, too, is Still's insistance that his work, which is known for large canvases of color slabs, contrasting color, and hatched color, be shown all by itself and away from other works of art.

So much so that he rarely exhibited or sold his paintings according to the article. Now that is unusual for any artist and especially painters. Don't you think?

Here's the link to the article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324469304578145360772899562.html?mod=googlenews_wsj