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Headgear & Hobbies are
watercolor paintings showcasing still life paintings that I like to
think of
as pseudo-portraits. Like the painting 'Four for
Wisconsin Roads ' above, which is a self-portrait and portrait of my
two sons and husband when we moved back to Wisconsin after twenty years
in Michigan. Each hat or cap and pair of sunglasses is a
portrait of one of us. These paintings are fun for the sports
enthusiast and hobbyist as well as possibly having promotional
applications for various groups, teams or industries.
I enjoy capturing the personalities of my subjects whether animate or
inanimate. Caps, hats, cars, trucks or just about any
subject can be exciting. These still lifes are often more
challenging than just painting the
physical likeness of the subject. Imbuing each item with life
through color and the vitality of the medium takes the items out of the
ordinary. Since I can only paint what I can see,
quality photographs with ample detail are imperative and must reflect
the
personality, look or mood of the subject as well. Digital
photographs
work especially well, as I can enlarge and zoom in to capture details
that
might not be apparent in a smaller snapshot, though, these are often
usable,
especially if accompanied with the negative for enlargements.
I create my portrait and still life paintings with transparent
watercolor media
using high quality Schminke and Winsor & Newton
watercolors on
d'Arches watercolor papers. The challenge in rendering with
watercolors
is to capture the spontaneity of the medium and yet create a realistic
representation of the subject. This is even more challenging when you
consider
that most mistakes can not be changed, scrubbing the paper surface also
damages
it, creating a dead area, without luminosity. For transparent
watercolors
to read well, the paint lays over the white of the paper allowing light
to
reflect through the paint to the white paper and back, if you damage
the paper
and the paint is absorbed into the paper, this no longer happens and
the
scrubbed area will not blend with the rest of the painting.
So mistakes
in watercolor are opportunities to learn and start over. The
transparency
and luminosity of watercolor is unique and this immediacy sets
it apart
from other painting and drawing mediums.
Most of my watercolor portrait and still life compositions are very
simple because
a realistic representation of the subject is my main concern,
particularly in
the people portraits and the pet portraits as well as the old cars and
trucks
and other still life subjects. I try to create compelling and
interesting
compositions that
accentuate and enhance the subject though not particularly complex. |
