LolaJovan.com
  • Home
  • ART
  • BLOG
  • Exhibits
    • The Downside of Lycanthropy
    • A Song for the Hunted
    • The Wild God
    • NUDGE - SHOVE
  • BOOKS

The Weight of Water

3/28/2018

4 Comments

 
The paintings in this post are available to purchase.  Click on each image for more details.

I am finally recovered from a marathon workshop with the incredible (and hilarious) Pat Dews!  It will be a month before all of my "starts" are finished, but I did have time this weekend to ponder and complete one piece.  Which, in Pat Dews land, means I have a bunch of completed pieces. :)

One of the many lessons learned last week was the value of cropping.  Dews had us work on full sheets (22" x 30") all week long.  Even when space was limited and paint and elbows were flying, we worked LARGE.

The piece (which became pieces) I am showing you today consists of a dozen or more layers of watercolor, acrylic and gesso applied with a variety of tools and texture makers.  The final layer was a waterfall of watery gesso and ink over a pre-dried layer of gloss medium, then spritzed with alcohol.  
Picture
The Weight of Water
Picture
Shadow Puppets

Though I really loved the textures and colors in the large piece, the overall composition was rather stagnant and dull.  I was ready to start over, until Dews grabbed a set of "L's" (a 22" x 30" double sided mat cut into two L shapes) and began focusing on sections within the painting.  To my delight, there were five paintings within the larger piece, each needing a bit of finishing but otherwise delightful all by themselves.

​Many of Pat Dews' own complete paintings are cropped from large pieces, then finished with slight adjustments to make them sing.


​Another lesson (which resulted in an "aha" moment for me) was that abstract paintings generally work better with the weight on the top.  This is counter-intuitive, as realism places the darker colors on the bottom of the painting.  Time and again during critique time, Dews rotated paintings to place the darkest part on the top, and the entire class said "whoa!"


Picture
Topsy Turvy
Picture
Shadows of Civilization
Picture
Out of Line

The third lesson I took away was the importance of finishing and construction paper.  You might be going "huh?" at that last bit...

Using pieces of colored construction paper, Dews taped objects to each painting she reviewed to demonstrate how the addition of one line, a half circle or a tiny square could "finish" a painting.  The construction paper allows you to audition ideas without changing the painting, until you identify the winner.  In the piece to the left, it was the yellow line at the bottom right.  Without it, the painting didn't work nearly as well.

I will be working on the remaining starts over the next month, and can hardly wait to see what's hiding in all of these glorious full sheets of texture and color!

4 Comments
Dotty Seiter link
3/28/2018 08:25:01 am

Jen, wow, wow, whoa!

LOVE the spritzy milky passage in The Weight of Water, and the transparency and depth in the lower left, and the hot lava center left!

Thank you for sharing nuggets from your experience with Pat. I would love to connect with her.

Reply
jen
3/28/2018 08:34:35 am

Thank you, Dotty! I continue to mentally process all I learned from her. You can connect with Pat on Facebook...she is so funny!!!

Reply
Carol Edan
3/28/2018 05:27:47 pm

From just this post my head is spinning! I can well imagine after 3/4 days of painting, critiques, that it will take quite awhile to absorb it all. Wonder if it would be the same with canvas and oils? Will you be mounting them on boards. What kind of paper, weight? I just love the variations and textures. Also the more muted color palette, a change from your purple palette, not that I don't love those bright purples!

Reply
jen
3/29/2018 08:06:45 am

ha ha! Yes, I am still spinning, too! I don't think oils allow as much work as quickly, given drying time and the inability to combine mediums as easily. But who knows? Maybe there is such a workshop for oils! The paper these pieces are on is a heavy printmaker's paper. I won't mount them, as they will look best matted and framed.

The use of water with the inks and gesso with the paints mutes the colors in a gorgeous way. I'm really enjoying the softness as well.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Lola Jovan

    Picture

    Get Mail!

    * indicates required
    /* real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups */

    Intuit Mailchimp

    Categories

    All
    An Unexpected Life
    Bones
    Bossy Pants
    Mischief And Malarkey
    Rewilding
    The Art Of Seeing
    The Inner Landscape
    The Weight Of Words

contact lola
Picture
Here's the blue wild, where
tiny dreamers ride beasts, speak
​ birdsong, hold the moon.

(by poet Mary W. Cox)
​


​Art prints available on request
  • Home
  • ART
  • BLOG
  • Exhibits
    • The Downside of Lycanthropy
    • A Song for the Hunted
    • The Wild God
    • NUDGE - SHOVE
  • BOOKS