'Evaluation'
Usually we end our aquarelle session around 4.30pm, then we line up the work of the afternoon and we talk about it. If the group is big, this may take some time and last week the participants were saved by the Hangar Board meeting that started 4.30! I promised everyone that I would say my piece in this blog - so here it is:
"One of today's leading themes was 'Colourful & Vitamin-rich'! Anna-Karin Fast, who was working in her usual loose, 'one big brush'- style, has added a bit more contrast lately, well visible here in this still life with apples and pears. It was still wet when I took this picture (see top right) that's the hurry we were in! But luckily it didn't drip. Great, interesting work in beautiful technique that does the spontaneous character of our fav medium justice!!"
"Another excellent, still wet and no way finished example of a Vitamin-rich still life by Brigitte Jansen. She used autumn fruit and red leaves - is already very nice-looking right now and can only get better with the contrasting dark background that is planned!"
"Anna-Karin's pinguin, that was already gorgeous last week is now even better - stronger, better grounded and more character... Just by adding a little bit of colour in the eyes and under the feet... What a excellent picture this is. Love it"
"Normally I wouldn't show work in this stage but on the other hand it is explanatory - and of course very well done, what else would you expect from Cathie van der Stel! As you can see, the drawing is simple, just a few lines, but each little berry (blue-, black-, rasp-, and straw-) that has colour, is so very well done and the light reflects exactly right on all those different types of surface (velvety in the blueberries, shiny in the blackberries etc)... A bit of an experiment going on with masking fluid on the strawberries...can't wait to see it finished!"
Agnès McLaughlin as always worked spontaneously and experimental - although this time there is no funny caption. I especially like the blackberries, I think they work very well here. The more I look at it the more I see a hard wind and a big fire in the background. Very serious actually. Agnès also brought two versions of 'the guy with the cigar'. I'll post about them and other versions later..."
"Edith Alborni worked on her dancing girl. She added a dark background, in Payne's Grey, with drops of crimson and cerulean and a lot of salt. It is very expressive, especially the top part, and the light is amazing too! Well done you!"
"Wendy Boyer is a brand new aquarellista, with experience in other painting techniques but none in watercolours, but she is enthousiastic and picks it up amazingly fast! She did the 'washing' part of this exercise with energy and curiosity and as you can see already understands about 'creating volume! There is plenty 3D in this pinting - and more to come!!"
"Another fruity still life, this time from Liz Douglas - and you can almost taste the vitamins, that's how bright they are! Liz used grey masking fluid to protect the white spaces, and they shine because of the flash... but that actually gives a good impression of what it will look like when it is finished: then everything else will be darker than the white of the paper and that white will be very bright!
"And last but not least the third painting by Anna-Karin! Is she on a roll or what? This is a new one of the 'Ikea Bowl' series where she places different objects in the same bowl, this time 'apples'. The picture's come out a bit brighter than the real painting, which is actually a bit better balanced, but you get the overall impression, with yet again good contrast and especially in this one, good transparency. Chapeau Anna-Karin!"
Apart from the above there were a couple of 'Guy with Cigar' pictures, which I will write about next week in the Aquarellista blog...
