Book Review - Experimental Landscapes in Watercolour' by Ann Blockley

Ann Blockley, previously better known for her flower paintings, has in recent years changed direction somewhat and this book is the latest manifestation. Her flower paintings were never botanical, being more of flowers in the garden or landscape, but they were never abstract. My sister, who lives in the Cotswolds not very far from Ann Blockley, has two of her earlier paintings, one of snowdrops the other Hollyhocks so I have been able to study them in the flesh. (This review is by courtesy of Yvonne Harry who loaned me the book.)

Ann Blockley at work

 Ann's father was the famous John Blockley, one of the leading artists, a contemporary of Wesson  in landscape painting in watercolour, although many of his paintings were of fairly bleak scenes, including coal mines in Wales, hill cottages and farms. Colours tended to be muted. Late in his career he changed style completely and his later paintings bore little resemblance with brilliant colours and an almost abstract approach. As well as watercolour he also painted with pastels and was President of the Pastel Society. I have two of his books, `Watercolour Practice & Progress' and  `Country Landscapes in Watercolour'.

John Blockley

Ann has written several books and I have `Watercolour Textures', published in 2007. This latest book goes well beyond that.

Approx.10 x 9 inches, 128 pages, Batsford 2014 UK £18.99 USA $27.95

The book is divided into 6 sections, with the largest one on `Methods and Medium'. This involves the use of Acrylic ink, gouache, scraping, scratching and cutting, salt techniques, granulation textures, cling film, cellophane, fabrics and much else. There is a chapter on the use of Gesso and collage. The book is profusely illustrated showing and describing the use of these various techniques. There are some paintings I like but many that are too abstract for my taste. Nearly all are very colourful.

I am certainly not averse to using different techniques in watercolour and if you are into this then this book could be very useful. I am somewhat lukewarm about it and it is a step too far for me. On the other hand several of the ladies at my Artists group are big fans of hers and intend to visit - or have visited - her latest exhibition which is tied in with the book launch. The book has been printed in China and the initial tranche supplied to the UK soon sold out. Ann was trying to get more for the exhibition. Added 05/06/14: Jan Weeks visited the exhibition, which is on this week, and said the paintings were `fantastic'. 

Apparently some visitors expressed disappointment as there were no flower paintings on view. 

Added 10/06/14: Ann Blockley's exhibition finished last Saturday and according to her Facebook page she sold, quote,  `squillions' of paintings. Unfortunately she is still waiting for more books to arrive.

If you are into all the various techniques mentioned above you could look at the books by the American author Cathy Johnson which are available on Amazon at very good prices. These illustrate the various methods, materials and techniques individually. 

Texture and More

How does one create texture in a watercolour painting or should one wish to? There are various schools of thought about watercolours, one of which is  the `purity' one, beloved by traditionalists like the much-loved Edward Wesson. Wesson was against many of the modern trends, which have accelerated in the years since his death in 1983. To quote Ron Ranson in `The Art of Edward Wesson' (1993 David & Charles).

" He viewed with undisguised disdain those artists who threw water, grit or salt at their work, distancing himself from what he termed `Americanisms' - the use of masking fluid, body colour and scraping- out techniques"

Turner used scraping and scrubbing in many of his watercolours so....?

With many of today's artists using one or more of these techniques he would probably have had apoplexy.  Wesson is held up as the archetypal Englishman with his outspoken views and much quoted remarks, a high profile artist with a huge cult following. He is still promoted, especially by Steve Hall. I was once a Wesson enthusiast but less so nowadays as I feel possibly things have moved on. I may be wronging him, if so I apologize, but he seems  to belong to the era, common among some, who resist change in the name of `tradition'. Change for it's own sake is not all good but neither is tradition. On the other hand Americans, with a much younger history have a more questioning attitude and are more prepared to take chances and try different things. Any hackles raised yet? I hope not because I don't want to upset anyone, after all painting isn't about life or death.

I do not necessarily believe anything goes, as it is easy to have too much of a good thing and I personally believe - but there are artists whose work proves the exception - that watercolour benefits from simplicity, but even so to hold a rigid view of what should and shouldn't be done is equally wrong. It is all a matter of opinion and I take the view artists can do what they wish as long as they are prepared for the consequences. I am irritated by some artists who preach in a biblical manner, as though they are Joseph descending from the mount, and demand that everyone follow their edicts. Don't use black is one example - `The Prince of Colours' according to the old masters..

With that sermonising out of the way where do we go from here. This post is mainly about texture, of increasing interest to many modern day watercolour artists. The books I feature are not solely about this, as the titles suggest, but cover `techniques' and `tips' and `tricks'. This is straying onto dangerous ground as there are those who feel that tricks, especially, can be overused and `tricksy' paintings are to be avoided. It is true that many American artists have promoted such things for years in the American open-minded manner, so three of the books are American. I should add I'm not suggesting they are the most outstanding ones but are those I own. I'm sure there are others and several books, like the very good ones in the Search Press catalogue, include the use of texture amongst other techniques. I reviewed two recently, one by Robin Berry and the other by Diana Craig and Hazel Harrison.

81/2" x 11" Softback 158 pages North Light Books 1987 

This book shows `54 ways to create imaginative effects in your paintings'. It just about covers everything needed to create texture, various tools, liquids, natural bits and pieces and then some!  The only danger is overkill. Worth buying? Yes at the right price. A query on Abebooks, my favourite source of used books brought up many copies. Those from UK booksellers ranged from £13.48p to  £24.85p. But from the American booksellers prices starting at £5 including carriage. Amazon has `new' at £71.23p - can you believe this - and used at around £10 including carriage. 

Cathy Johnson has written several other books and a later one with a similar title, which increases the number of `ways' to 75.  Is this a better bet? Not having seen it I couldn't say but two reviews on Amazon were lukewarm.  Two is insufficient really to make any sort of decision. Check it out if you are interested.

8" x 11" Softback  128 pages North Light Books 1998 Edited by Rachel Rubin Wolf

This book is specifically about textures and takes the form of excerpts from previous North Light Books by 9 well-known artists like Claudia Nice and Zoltan Szabo. There is a lot of good stuff in the introductory part which covers many tecniques for texturing. Then  follows pieces from the individual artists, as stated taken from books previously published. It is pretty good and I'd certainly recommend it. Prices range from  £22.90p (UK only one) to £18.00 - £20+ (USA) on Abebooks. Amazon have it at around £15.98p for new with used £11.58p. A bit pricey perhaps at the higher figures.

8" x 11" softback 144 pages Watson-Guptill 1983 Edited by David Lewis

This is another good book but once again is a series of excerpts from previously published books, specifically by Charles Reid, John Blockley, Christopher Schink, Zoltan Zzabo, Richard Bolton, E.John Robinson and George Shook. It covers everything from materials and equipment, brushwork and handling colour. We then have five sections ranging from painting landscapes to seascapes with one specifically on textures. All top artists. The piece from Charles Reid is from his first flower painting book which was superseded by an entirely new (and far better) later book. Prices are incredibly cheap on Abebooks ranging from £3.39p ( only one UK bookseller inc carriage) to around £6 from the USA. At these prices a steal. From Amazon prices range from £19.55p new to  used (Amazon partners) £00.1 + £2.80p carriage (!!)

9' x 10' hardback 127 pages Collins 2007 

I have already reviewed this book so won't go into great detail. Although a contemporary of Wesson, Fletcher-Smith and others of that era, John Blockley used texturing in his landscapes and mountains/buildings. His daughter is following his lead and changing her style somewhat. A little bird told me that at least one of the galleries where she had previously shown was unhappy - quite disparaging actually - with her change of style but her new paintings had sold very well at her own recent exhibition in the Cotswolds. This is an excellent book and can be obtained new from Amazon at £11.51p (rpp £17.99p).

Two examples of Ann Blockley's latest work. The use of texturing is very obvious. I rather like these paintings - striking is one word that comes to mind. Note these are landscapes rather than flower paintings - reminiscent in some ways of her fathers original style. 

A point about the prices I've quoted. Abebooks www.abebooks.co.uk is primarily a used book site and in my experience is excellent. I have had many books from the USA, some from the UK and one from Australia. UK booksellers tend in most cases to be expensive and in the worst examples a rip off. American booksellers tend to have better stocks and prices are much better in most cases BUT carriage charges can vary from acceptable to ridiculous. Stock on Abebooks is constantly changing so may differ from that quoted. Amazon's service is first class but once again they occasionally quote ridiculous figures and prices can vary week to week.They do have many excellent offers so it's a question of selection. In my experience Amazon partners are quite good and as you pay Amazon you are protected if something goes wrong.

Ann Blockley

Ann Blockley is a well-known and highly rated British artist, daughter of the late John Blockley who was one of the top watercolourists of his day. Like her father she painted initially in watercolour, but following in his footsteps has moved into experimentation with other media. She is known for her flower paintings but in this latest phase of her career is creating more abstract works, involving flowers and other subjects.

Currently she has two books in print, `Watercolour Textures' in the Collins artists's studio range (2007) and `Experimental Flowers in Watercolor' (Batsford 2011).

23x 26mm- 127 pages - UK £18.99 US $27.95 (Batsford 2011)

I currently have this book on loan from the library. It is profusely illustrated with her paintings, including many that are experimental. I quote one short section that illustrates the direction she is taking.

."I used PVA glue to stick on collage that included torn and cut pieces of watercolour paper, tissue, and brown sand covered and sealed with gesso. I rubbed oil pastel over the raised lines created by the crumpled tissue paper"...

We also have sand ,twigs, splodges, doodles, granulation material, bubble wrap, cling film you name it! The book is divided into five sections. An introduction that includes paint experiments, watercolour and mixed media and surface textures. We then have sections on Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter and finally Flowers in the landscape. There is a lot of interesting stuff for flower painters if you like a loose to very loose approach. I like some of the paintings but there are many, where she veers very much into abstraction, that I don't find particularly attractive. I'm certainly not against an abstract approach but one can see Ann is feeling her way with this new direction, albeit boldly. Would I personally buy it?  No, as  I already have the texture book, which came as a requested Xmas present and I feel is broader based.

23 x 26mm 127 pages UK £17.99  (Collins 2007)

I much prefer this book which has a wider remit covering  flowers, animals, still life, buildings and landscapes. As it was published four years earlier she doesn't quite go to the same lengths in terms of experimentation, but the use of mixed media and other materials  is well covered. There are also guest artists, including her late father to whom the book is dedicated. I don't think he was ever a conventional watercolourist, in the vein of Wesson for example, but changed and developed his work throughout his life until his late stuff appears totally changed, different mediums and a more abstract approach prevalent. He wrote a number of well-regarded books that are now difficult to find and command very high prices as collectors items. Like father like daughter it seems.  

Shirley Trevena  is another guest artist, much admired, who has pushed the boundaries even further than Ann is currently doing. She has a new book (her third) out soon called `Breaking the Rules of Watercolour'. You can pre-order it on Amazon. What rules I say?

Two of my fellow Avon Valley Artists are studying with Ann this Spring. One is on a painting trip to Morocco and the other a day workshop at her studio or village hall at Todenham near Moreton - in - Marsh in the Cotswolds.I may do a piece on their experiences (if they allow me to do so!). www.annblockley.com/