Latest Paintings

The Avon Valley Artists autumn/winter programme is in full swing and the following paintings have - mostly - been painted during these sessions. I was in two minds as to post several because they are not, on the whole, anything special. I'm beginning to think I'm regressing with increasing age and painting less than previously. I read somewhere that you needed to paint at least three times a week to stand still and recently I'm down to two. 

'World Wide Culture" 16" x 12" Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140lb not

This was another painting from the Green man festival. An old Pagan ritual at Hastings.The first one I did is much better.

"Fruit and Fungi" 16" x 12" Waterford High White  140lb not

Here I combined fruit and fungi in a sort of collage. I quite like this for the colour,

"Indian Maiden" 16" x 12" Waterford High White 140 not

This was my own subject mainly painted at home. This one I rather like.

 " Movement" 18" x 12" Artistico Extra White 140lb

The guide photo used the photo  technique whose name eludes me at the movement. It is the same bird obviously.

'North West Coast Amerindian male' 16" x 12" Waterford High White not

The American North West Coast spreading - at the top end - into Canada, originally contained over 150 tribes, many less than 1000 people. The majority are on the Canadian side where they have survived rather better than the American tribes. Some have disappeared forever but the remainder  seem to be thriving and have adapted to 'the white mans ways' while still retaining their identity and culture. I saw two TV programmes about them recently and subsequently bought a book called 'A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest ' by Ruby and Brown.

'Perico' The last hostile Apache band. 30" x 40cm" Cornwall 210lb not

Perico was a relative of Geronimo and part of his band, the last hostile Apaches to surrender in 1881 thereby bringing an end to the Apache wars and indeed, apart from as few other incidents elsewhere, the Indian wars. There was trouble of sorts for some years, indeed decades afterwards, but on a smaller scale. 

Limited Palette (Two colours only) 16" x 12" Waterford High White 140lb not

We were only allowed two colours for this one and I chose Turquoise (Lukas PB16) and Schmincke Translucent Brown (PBr41). For my inspiration I looked at  Agnes-Cecilles's work.

'Experimental' Black and White with one other colour painting on newsprint approx. 16" x 12"

The subject here was to cover the paper with newsprint, either pieces or larger bits. I did the latter and we were to use black, white and one other colour. I chose Cadmium Red Light and attempted a sort of 'pop art' result. It took 20 minutes.

' The Hat' 16" x 12" Arches Hot press

This was not a subject just me. The hat and eyes are not quite aligned, with the eyes too far apart. Careless!!!

'Sioux Brave' 30" x 40" cm Cornwall 210lb matt

Another Indian brave in my continuing attempts to portray them. A bit muddy and the cheek on the right hand side is not right.

Rembrant (Royal Talens) Watercolours

Rembrandt ( Royal Talens) the Dutch company, now owned by Sakura Color Products of Japan, was started in 1899 by Martin Talens as the 'Dutch Factory for Paints, Lacquers and inks', located in the  city of Apeldoon. In 1949 the 'Royal' designation was awarded, In 1963 Van Gogh (40 paints in pans and 10ml tubes) were introduced and Amsterdam in 1976.

 Just to explain Rembrandt are the artists quality range, Van Gogh a middle range and Amsterdam the student quality. Van Gogh is therefore in between and an excellent choice for those who don't want or cannot afford the dearest artist quality.   From amongst the 40 colours a very acceptable palette can be put together which would suit many people.

In 1963 the Sikkem Group NV took over and a further change occurred in 1991 when the Sakura Color Products Corporation became the new owners

The Rembrandt range comprises 80 paints of which 53% are single pigment.  All the colours are there and good pigments feature.   Apart from two fugitive paints using PR83, Madder Lake Deep and Alazarin Crimson, which are identified as fugitive, all others are said to be excellent in this respect. PY184 -Permanent  Lemon Yellow - however is rated by Handprint as fugitive, but then he has questioned the ratings of several paints in other leading makes. What does Handprint say about them?

"Rembrandt paints are relatively inexpensive and of very good consistent quality". His criticisms are.... 5 pigments are involved in 37 different colours... too many mixed hues... an economy brand`'.

Other reviews I've seen have been favourable giving them top marks and they are certainly superior overall to student quality ranges - so too is Van Gogh. I have said before however that there are many decent paints to be selected from amongst Cotman, Venezia as well as Van Gogh and the own brand makes are also worth investigation. The artist Trevor Chamberlain commented in his book, 'Trevor Chamberlain - A Personal View',  that he had found a really good Viridian, after trying many others, made by Talens. I actually bought some after reading this but wasn't especially enthused, but who am I to disagree with such an accomplished artist. 80 is a goodly number and nothing is really missing. See for yourself in the colour chart above.

Whatever Handprint says they are used by many artists in Europe and available from most USA online companies.  Gerard Hendriks, the Dutch master, uses them and look how colourful his paintings are. Indeed they are marketed as 'Professional Quality', which has to be taken with a grain of salt in regard to some makes, but I am sure is reasonable in this instance.

The Van Gogh range - 40 colours in half pans and 10ml tubes. 

Rembrandt are available in both pans and tubes plus box sets. Tubes are 5ml with 40 colours  in 20ml. Not everyone stocks the 20ml and indeed Jacksons are selling them off 'while stocks last'. The only one that seems to sell the full range of sizes is the SAA  (Society of All Artists ) and you have to be a member to get the best prices. Jacksons seem to be dropping the 20ml size which is a shame. In the 5ml size the Cadmiums, which Handprint praises, only cost around £3.20 so are excellent buys if you only use them sparingly.  In fact this applies to many colours apart from the staples. The 5ml prices are very good. I certainly regard them, in terms of quality and price - which are the criteria I use - in the larger 20ml size as a 'best buy'.

In conclusion I think Rembrandt are well worth consideration apart from the tube sizes which are out of line with most others. It would be better if they offered  either a 15ml tube size or a larger range of 20ml. Based on the current 20ml prices from the SAA, ranging from  £6.55 to £9.75, they are a top buy. My main gripe is the poor availability in the UK of the 20ml size. Even Great Art  only do the 5 ml size. This doesn't appear to be a problem in the USA.

SEE UPDATED INDEX - JULY 2014

Watercolour Paintings (24)

Here is the latest batch of downloaded paintings for this month. Actually more than usual - a bumper lot! Naturally not all will appeal but there should be something for everybody. Many of the artists are unknown to me but if you wish enquiries via Google should bring more information on the majority. 

Slawa Prischedko - need I say more!

Alex Bertaina

Bev Jozwiak - as brilliant as ever!

Genevieve Buchanan -a fellow student on two Charles Reid workshops. Genevieve is incredibly loose these days Very brave stuff.

Chien Chung Wei  - this is a demo painting on his EPC workshop in Catalonia recently.

Josef Wisniewski

Dianne Benoit - my kind of Artist.

Gerard Hendriks - even more my kind of Artist and a marvellous man.

Edo Hannema - This may not be the final version but I like it as it is.

Milind Mulick - brilliant as ever.

Bijay Biswael - Stunning

A very recent Charles Reid demo at one of his American workshops.

Abe Toshijnks (spelling ?)

Another recent Charles Reid demo.

A closer look at the above.

Sergei Kurbatov

Jansen Chow

Galina Gomzina - not sure if I've got this right?

Angela Barbi - Angela a delightful lady who I had the pleasure of meeting when I attended her EPC workshop with Charles Reid a few years ago. A memorable experience which both I and my wife, as a non-painting partner, will treasure in our memories.

That's it folks. Once again I marvel at the wonderful artists out there who paint in watercolour.

New Products

I've recently bought two new items, basically to solve the same problem. This is my propensity to get masking fluid and acrylic white paint on my clothes. The problem is once it's on you can't get either off. This is due to my  clumsiness which seems to be increasing with age! The pleasures of growing old!

Jacksons Adjustable Artist Apron £23.50p

Getting acrylic white (Vallejo) on my trousers two weeks ago was the last straw. I had to do something about it. Two of the ladies in my group. Pat and Pauline, already wear them but they are a different shape to me and their aprons are on the short side. I wanted something to cover most of my trousers. Pat actually offered to make me one but as I didn't want to put her to the trouble I declined with thanks. Looking at what's available from our usual sources I saw that Ken Bromley had at least two different sorts and so had Jacksons. In the end I decided on the Jacksons because although the most expensive it seemed the most adaptable. It is designed to be unisex and  also adjustable. If you are interested Jacksons illustrates both front and back views. Most others seem a little shorter. It was a little fiddly at first (I'm clumsy) but you soon get the hang of putting the two straps over your shoulders and putting them through the large metal eyelets at the back, which then allows you to tie the straps as loosely or tight as you wish. My initial verdict is favourable although I've only worn it once so far.

Zest-it Masking Fluid Remover. 50ml £4.30p

Jacksons catalogue actually says clothes as well as brushes can be cleaned in claiming this stuff will remove masking fluid. As everyone know masking fluid is lethal in the wrong place and that includes your clothes. I would have thought acrylic paint would be no harder to remove but as far as I can see it just didn't work. In additon the small print on the bottle seems to indicate this stuff misused is dangerous as there are dire warnings about using it very carefully.   Nothing about cleaning clothes though. Hmmm!

Watercolor. Made in China.

The above is the name of a page/site I saw referred to on Facebook so investigated. It is a celebration of Chinese watercolour painting, and while I only looked at part of the photographic albums there are a considerable number to peruse and enjoy. The number of Chinese watercolour artists continues to amaze me. Yes, it is a very large country with a huge population but not much is known of these artists in the West, and they are so good. Many it appears are proteges of  the famous Guan Wexing who is better known outside China. Enjoy!  

Liu Shouxiang (b.1958)

Lin Shaoling (b.1957)

Liu Yaping (b.1954)

Wang Hsin (b.1925)

Ou Huanli

Hon Yue (b.1972)

Liu Yi (b.1958)

Lu  Zaikai (b.1957)

Jiang Yue (b.1958)

Tu Weineng

Gao Yaoming

Li Qing (b.1982)

I shall be further exploring this Facebook site and may well post more paintings in future.

Primary Colours?

This post has been prompted by reading the Winsor & Newton Literature for their artist watercolours when I did the recent piece on them. This is an excellent leaflet that folds out and has much of interest, not just solely to do with the brand.   

Before getting into things let me point out that the Handprint site demolishes much of the perceived wisdom promulgated by some- and others - of todays artists, those who write books and articles. It tends to be quite simplistic. Look up Color Theory on Handprint however. You may well find it impossible to take it in it's entirety and  much of it indigestible, but it's all there with the forensic approach that typifies Bruce McEvoys work. While he no longer updates the site this information remains current. Obviously there will be those who disagree  but I'm not one to argue. Essentially he says that much of current colour theory is a misconception and explains in great detail why. I'll leave it at that.

I thought I read somewhere on Handprint that 'originally' there were four primaries which included green but I haven't been able to find the relevant quote

What I thought I would do is cover what some of the leading makers say in relation to their own ranges. We know  as a starting point that the three primary colours are said to be red, yellow and blue
but as McEvoy says which ones, as there are many to choose from. What are usually described as primary colours are actually the so-called printers colours Yellow, Cyan and Magenta. McEvoy claims that the technically ideal primary set would actually be Cobalt Violet (PV49), Cobalt Teal Blue (PG50) and Bismuth Yellow(PY184). Why are they not used? McEvoy says because of the nature of these particular pigments they would clog up the printers - and he gives other reasons - so they are not used. In other words the whole thing is a compromise as so often happens.

Winsor & Newton recommend Winsor Lemon (PY175), Winsor Blue (Red Shade PB15) and Permanent Rose (PV19). To add to this and create the `split' 'palette recommended by Handprint are added Winsor Yellow (PY154), French Ultramarine (PB29) while  Winsor Blue (Green Shade PB15:3) replaces the Red shade and finally Scarlet Lake (PR188). This last is interesting as most makers don't offer this pigment.  This gives you both warm and cool versions of each colour. I must confess when I'm painting I don't suddenly exclaim ' oh dear I've put a warm colour down when it should be cool or vice versa' but maybe I do it automatically - I wish!

Next we'll look at Schminke. The reason is that their literature is also very good - possible the best overall so the information can be gleaned from it. The suggested paints are Lemon Yellow (PY3), Cadmium Red Light (PO20), and Ultramarine Finest (PB29). Quite different to W & N. Added to this to give warm and cool versions are Cadmium Yellow Light (PY35), Permanent Carmine (PV19) and Prussian Blue (PB27). However if you look at the list of paints they also say Magenta (PV42) is the basic colour magenta in colour theory and also Hello Cerulean (PB15:3). in regard to Cyan. They do say in each instance 'close to' the basic colour tone. I might add the initial information comes from that given for their standard 12 colour paints box so it might be a little misleading.

Maimeri.  They list Primary Yellow (PY97), Magenta (PV19) and finally Cyan (PB15:3) as the initial three. I'm not sure about the next three but possibley Ultramarine Blue (PB29), Cadmium Yellow Light (PY35) and Cadmium Red Light (PR108). If you won't use Cadmiums then there is a problem. I might e-mail Maimeri and ask them what they recommend. I've actually done this so await a reply. My e-mail was bounced back saying it had been identified as 'spam'. That's one way of avoiding the question.

Dale Rowney. The choices seem to  be either Lemon Yellow (PY3) or Bismuth Yellow (PY184),  Phthalo Blue (Red Shade PB15) and Permanent Rose (PV19). To make six add Cadmium Yellow Light (PY35), Quinacridone Magenta (PR122) and Ultramarine Blue (PB29) or replace the Red shade of PB15 with the Green shade.

Holbein. Most of their yellows are mixtures so I can't determine which one would be the primary. They do several Cadmiums including 'yellow pale' and 'yellow light' but their Lemon Yellow includes white. Red is equally difficult perhaps Permanent Alazarin Crimson? Blue isn't a lot clearer Manganese Blue Nova (PB15) or Ultramarine Blue (PB29) our even Marine Blue (PB16).

Graham. Yellow would be either Hansa Yellow (PY3) or Bismuth Yellow (PY184). Red Quinacridone Rose or Violet (PV19) and blue Phthalocyanine Blue Red Shade (PB15:0). Additional colours could be Cadmium Yellow Light (PY35), Permanent Alazarin Crimson (PR264) and Ultramarine Blue (PB29) with Phthalocyanine Blue green shade (PB15:3) replacing the red shade. Prussian Blue (PB27) would be an alternative.

Lukas, Lemon Yellow (PY3), Magenta (PR122) or Genuine Rose (PV19). and Cyan (PB15:3). To make six Cadmium Yellow Light (PY35), Alazarin Crimson (PR176) and either Ultramarine Blue Light or Deep, Prussian Blue (PB27) or even Turquoise (PB16).

Sennelier. Lemon Yellow (PY3), Carmine (PV19) and Phthalocyanine Blue (PB15:3). Add PrimaryYellow (PY74) or Cadmium Yellow Light (PY35), Scarlet Laquer (PR188) and either Ultramarine Blue Light (PB29) or Prussian Blue(PB27).

Blockx. Primary Yellow (PY154) or Blockx Yellow (PY3), Magenta (PV19), Primary Blue (PB15:3). The next three might be Cadmium Yellow Pale (PY35), Quinacridone Magenta (PR122) or Crimson Lake (PR264) and either Ultramarine Blue Light or Deep PB29) or Prussian Blue (PB27)'

That will have to do. I was intending to include Daniel Smith but with no clear guidance on the literature and with such a huge range I've decided not to risk it.

Another complication is that there are different colours within a single pigment number, examples being PV19 that has rose, red, and violet shades. Ultramarine blue has also many variations as a recent post based on  research  from Zvonimir illustrated.

This has proved more difficult than I anticipated because no-one other than Winsor & Newton give really clear guidance. Some of my assumptions may be incorrect so are open to correction. Please feel free to comment. These 6 colours are just the start as most artists will have at least 12 and often far more. What other colours to add? In a restricted number I imagine two or three or more  earth colours are a must plus a green. It's all a matter of personal preference as there are so many fantastic colours out there. If you favour a particular subject like flowers then you have to expand the number further. You could do worse than consult Handprint on 'palettes'. This has all (and more) information on how to put together your palette of paints and what to choose and why.

Watercolour Paintings (23)

To start October - now we are into Autumn in the UK - are the latest batch of paintings. I hope there is something for everybody, and they are picked in part to show the diversity of the medium and the different styles and techniques that exist. There are a number of new artists not previously featured. I hope you like them.

Slawa Prischedko - husband of Viktoria

I absolutely love this - fabulous. How I wish I could emulate his work.

Genevieve Buchanan

A lovely lady who I met on a couple of Charles Reid workshops. She has developed an ultra loose style somewhat to the left of Charles!

Orhan Gurel

Another superb artist from Turkey I think.

Charles Reid

The above model is Joseph Wolfskill, a favourite subject, who has been painted by Charles on numerous occasions and features in some of his books - two of them are in `Watercolour Solutions'. He has changed over the years!

Another from Slawa Prischedko

Ewa Ludwiczak

Ewa- a fine artist - is almost a clone of Charles Reid and emulates his style better than anyone else I've come across. Perhaps she should put more of her own stamp and individuality on her paintings.

John Yardley

The doyen of English watercolour artists - although he also paints in oils - this was painted in Brugge some years ago and features in his book 'John Yardley A Personal View'.

Françoise Dupasquier

Another new one.

Bev Jozwiak

The fabulous American artist. Bev paints in various mediums but I think this one is watercolour.

Pasqualino Fracasso

New to me. I like his depiction of light.

Roberto Zangarelli

Another new to me. The red umbrella is the attraction.

Guan Wiexing

The doyen of Chinese watercolour artists and teacher of many of the fabulous younger generation. I read somewhere that he uses Cotman paints and Bockingford paper. So much for the `very best materials'.

Dusan Djukaric

Dusan is a regular on Facebook and most of his work appears on there.

Michal Jasiewicz

Another I know little about. Possibly Polish. Look at how blue features in the above painting. Several shades though with coolness on the right hand side and warmer colours towards the left showing the light.

Michal Jasiewicz

 A second painting from Michal.

That's it then. Food for thought`?