WATER COLOUR NEWSLETTER 2023-04 April

Our annual general meeting is now a month away.  May 6^th we return to The Arts & Letters Club of Toronto for a live AGM.  This event is for our Elected Members to hear about the directions their Society has been taking, to vote on our new executives, new board members and to connect with one another. 

We’ll be ushering in 15 newly elected members and displaying their artwork that has been accepted into our Diploma Collection.  Associates are also welcome to attend the full day’s events, and guests can attend the afternoon session. 

Ron Hazell’s presentation, Following the Light: Morphing from an Engineer to a Visual Artist, will offer much insight into our Society as Ron has been a member of CSPWC for over 25 years.

To RSVP and register for this event please use this link:  CSPWC AGM- May 6, Arts & Letters Club, Toronto

(If you are in town for the weekend, the Art Gallery of Ontario is a 15 min. walk from our venue and there are many other galleries in the area as well. Not to mention Hockey Hall of Fame and the Ripley’s Aquarium)

We’re 65% sold!  Are you joining us? Register now as classes are filling up.

Remember to register for the dinner on Wednesday Evening for $35 as there is a lot going on that evening! Also remember with your ticket for the dinner and ticket for the Symposium workshops you have free access to other evening events in the week.  

Your Wednesday dinner ticket includes these evening events:

Monday evening – a presentation on urban sketchers by Shari Blaukopf. 

Tuesday’s evening – a presentation by Sam Boehner and Marlene Madole on history and services of CSPWC. 

Thursday evening – a presentation by Blackdog paints on their watercolour paints produced in Regina.  Don’t miss these events.

The event details are on our website and to purchase tickets, look for the ‘Sign Up’ tab on our website’s Symposium page. HERE

Our 98^th Annual Open Water Exhibition is fast approaching.  This is a juried exhibition of water-based media and transparent artwork.  Submissions open May 1^stand close July 7^that 12 Noon EST. 

This year we are running a live event to be held at the Neilson Park Creative Center.  Selections will be made in early August and the juried-in work will need to be delivered at the end of August.  Our show will run from September 5^th to 24^th.  Watch our website for the Call for Entry information, available May 1^st.

Abstracted Architecture in Watercolour – A live ONLINE demonstration with Sterling Edwards, CSPWC

Sterling Edwards, CSPWC, TWSA, WPA, NWS performs his demo with us on Thursday, May 4^th at 7pm EST. 

Let this demonstration help you get into the flow of expressive watercolour painting and put some pizzazz in your work.  Sterling will share his unique and expressive style of painting. Learn how he designs his paintings with expressive colours and strong shifts of value to create a sense of movement. Watch him overlap positive and negative shapes to suggest depth, dimension and drama.

Register now or learn more here: https://cspwc.ca/education-abstracted-architecture-in-watercolour/

Coming up on June 1, 2023, 7 pm ET: Painting Horses in Watercolour with William Rogers, CSPWC.  Stay tuned for registration announcement.

I started painting in transparent watercolour in my teens, along with pencil and coloured inks I found a fascination with the possibilities, (mostly accidental).  Early books on watercolour by artists Herb Olsen, Ted Kautzky and others helped me to focus on the medium of transparent watercolour, leaving out the other experimental mediums.

This was my introduction to preparing a pencil value sketch that isolated the highest contrast and helped with establishing a focal point.  This sketch prep made watercolour much easier, taking out the guess work of lights and darks with a pencil instead of a brush.

During this time I found a special interest in establishing subtle tonal contrasts using close toned colours, and yet achieving a usable contrast.  How choosing two different blues’ close in tone can create contrast – accepting that watercolour paper was the reflective component,  I started experimenting with colours that would allow varying degrees of light – through themselves to the white paper, and back to my eye.

I found in the Winsor & Newton palette I was using, that there were three recurring conditions: Transparent – Sedimentary – Opaque.

By placing cerulean blue, beside Winsor blue, I could achieve a similar colour, but a very different light, or tone interaction between the two.  I was creating a subtle tonal condition through pigment choice.  Another I remember was placing a circle of yellow ochre, or cadmium orange, letting the edge dry, then filling in the space with Rose Madder Genuine, the effect was amazing.

There were other conclusions to draw from this knowledge.  The different pigment groups, Transparent, Sedimentary, and Opaque, travelled at different speeds, in equal amounts of water on the same paper.  The heavier weighted pigments, Opaque – moved slower, because of its density of sediment.  The transparent pigments moved the fastest because of their lack of density of sediment.  Finally, the sedimentary group could be manipulated in its movement by either increasing water (faster acting, like transparent) or decreasing water (slower, more like opaque).

This knowledge was especially useful in creating a greater degree of control in wet into wet techniques.

My Watercolour Pallet in 1985 – Winsor & Newton:

This experimentation, and ensuing knowledge moved my watercolour painting to places, where I could barely recognize the medium, extremely vibrant watercolours. Which lead a California art dealer, who wanted to do lithographs of my watercolours, to refer to my work as “Winslow Homer on acid!”

The four images of Watercolour paintings, included here, use this “Density of Sediment” knowledge to achieve a specific Watercolour effect.

The most dramatic effect would be found in “ Night Mangoes”.  (See image below.) In this painting, I included two other pigments that were not usually found in my Watercolour palette – Lukas, Geranium Lake Bluish and Grumbacher Thalo Yellow Green.

Mixed together, these two pigments can achieve strong warm or cool neutrals, as well by themselves, searing chromatic.

I now include many non- traditional mediums ( gesso, acrylic, ink, photos etc.) to the point where it ceases to be transparent watercolour but work from those early years greatly influences my current mixed media work.

In my studio I am using Watercolour as collage material in the Series“ Italian Glass”.

These paintings can be seen with the Harbour Gallery link HERE.

Len Hughes is pleased to announce that his painting “Chance Encounter” was accepted into the Central Ontario Art Association’s Juried show – “Perceptions” at the Dundas Museum and Archives in Hamilton. He also received a Juror’s Award for this work.

Etobicoke Civic Centre Art Gallery – Call for Applications.

Apply Now! Art organizations, groups or collectives with 4+ artists are welcome to submit art exhibition applications to show and sell works in 2024. Artists with diverse backgrounds who have not exhibited previously at the gallery are encouraged to apply.

The Etobicoke Civic Centre Art Gallery (ECCAG) is now accepting applications for 2024. The ECCAG is looking for dynamic diverse artists to show next year and we hope you can help by connecting with your artists or anyone who may be interested.
To Note: there is no submissions fee and no commissions are taken.

More information: toronto.ca/ECCArtGallery or call Hyesoo Kim at 416-394-8628