Larger than life this time

They say you can't fix mistakes in watercolor, but this is not quite true. In addition to various means of making minor corrections, such as scrubbing, blotting, and scratching off color, you can also make more drastic changes using a little technique I like to call "starting over."

Okay, this doesn't always get a laugh among non-artists, but thanks anyway. In the case of today's painting, I started over in order to make it larger, and to change the subject's body pose downward to a (hopefully) more dramatic angle, accentuating the weight of the key.

I'm almost finished...

Look for my watercolor at Incognito 2011

This new untitled watercolor study is just off the drawing board.
Size: 8 x 6 in.

I'm sorry I will be unable to attend Incognito in person -- that is, the annual fundraiser art sale for the Santa Monica Museum of Art. Each year all the "can't miss" events seem to want to pile up on the same handful of weekends, and April 30, the date of Incognito this year, is shaping up to be a third-degree conflict magnet. I won't test your patience by ticking off the other events piled onto that day on my calendar. I'm just sorry because this is a fun free-for-all, in which people scramble to buy work by hundreds of artists, some famous, some emerging, and all the same size and bargain priced to move. The catch is the work is displayed anonymously, so you must trust your lust, as they say. You get to find out who created the artwork you just bought only after you pick it up. If you are considering going, I suggest buying a ticket at one of the higher levels (for example, "Patron"). It's more expensive, but the higher price includes a voucher for an artwork, and the remainder of the ticket price is tax deductable. More critically, the fancy ticket gets you priority entrance to the event, which is critical because most of the best work sells in the first few minutes. Get there early in any case. And look for my little watercolor on the wall somewhere... Am I cheating by posting an image here? Perhaps, but those who know my work will recognize it anyway, and those who don't are probably not reading this.

Thanks for your support!

re:FORM at Honor Fraser Gallery

Hi. This is a brand new new watercolor named "Blacky." Someone may be supporting a good cause by taking this painting home and hanging it on their wall later this week...

It will appear in re:FORM, an auction event happening on Feb 10 at Honor Fraser Gallery in Culver City to benefit the Drug Policy Alliance. If you are interested in attending this auction, offering works by such artists as Ed Ruscha, Frank Gehry, Jane Callister, Seonna Hong, Ed Moses, Lawrence Weiner and many others, you can learn more at www.reformartauction.org.

New watercolor

This watercolor is just off the drawing board...

Shot, 2010, watercolor, 20 x 15 in.

Some detail views...
The closer you get, the more watercolory it becomes.

Painting Proof

Here are some more in-process images from the studio, this time for "Proof." This watercolor, along with twenty other recent paintings, are in my solo show at Left Coast Galleries in Studio City through May 25, 2010.


I started by masking off the foreground areas, using cut out drawing paper sealed around the edges with drafting tape, plus a little liquid frisket for the antennae and various irregular edges. Then painted the background wet-in-wet, and scrubbed out those circular shapes with a damp bristle brush after the whole thing was dry.


Next, lightly washed in the foreground hues. The citrus wedge is already too dark, but I'm hoping to scrub some of that off. Watercolor has a reputation for being unforgiving, but you can make adjustments as you go. You just can't go back to square one. Every mark is a commitment.


I gradually darkened the butterfly and glass shadows, and lightened the citrus wedge by rewetting and lifting off color. Slightly darkened some of the light areas of the table to make that refracted highlight look whiter than white.


Then layered washes on the butterfly wing, and darkened the abdomen...


Added some pale blue in the blur zone at the edge of the table, corrected the curve of the glass lip, lightened some of the cast shadows and added some diffraction rainbow effects. Okay, wow, am I really painting butterflies and rainbows now? It's like some 14-year-old girl is telling me what to do...

Anyway, that's it! Thanks for dropping by...

Images from the studio

People often ask me for details about the watercolor process. Here are some pictures from the studio...


"Embrace" on the drawing table with all my tools.
Nearly finished.


Just getting started on "Pointed"


First the barbed wire, very lightly.


Taped off some of these criss-crossing wires with drafting tape while painting the background, which got too dark, so I had to lighten it with a damp toothbrush.



Taped off the birds and wire using drafting tape and then painted the sky using a subdued wet in wet technique.



Now the feathers, one at a time. But I had to use a small bristle brush to restore the convexity of this dove's back before continuing. This is another way of making minor corrections.



Starting on the top dove.



Top dove is still looking kind of watery at this stage. With staining pigments such as quinacridones and phthalocyanines, you can go over and over without the colors muddying much... You just have to be careful not to go too far. It's hard to make dark colors lighter with these pigments.


Darkening the wires...


Almost finished.


Scratched off some highlights with a dull x-acto knife, which I also used to clean up some of the edges for a crisp, sharp-focus effect


Done! I had this one on the drawing board longer than usual... about five weeks. If you haven't seen the show yet, it will at Left Coast Galleries in Studio City until May 25. Thanks for looking!

Solo show continues through May 25, 2010

Tilt, 2010, watercolor, 25 x 18 in.

Thanks everyone who came out last night and helped make the opening for "Enigmas and Elegies" such a success. Featuring over twenty of my recent paintings, this show explores the transparency and delicacy of watercolor applied to a number of delicate subjects. If you missed the opening, worry not! The show continues through May 25, 2010. Gallery hours are Tuesday - Saturday 11 am - 6 pm, and Sundays 12 - 5 pm.