The good books
January 21, 2005
Dear Dilek,
Some days this studio computer pops regularly with question
emails. Yesterday was one of those days. Dorothy thought it
must have been the phase of the moon. A lot of the questions
were fairly basic--the sort of thing that might be looked up in
an art reference or a "how to" book. It always strikes me that
there are quite a few artists who worry about becoming wonky or
even being poisoned by some book "knowhow." While this is
understandable, I've always felt that some of our best friends
can be the good books. North Light Books (and I'm not working
for them) have some excellent titles that deserve to be
thoroughly thumbed and spotted.
A good example is "Painting with Your Artist's Brain," by Carl
Purcell. This well-illustrated book is of the "learn to paint
what you see--not what you think you see" variety. Carl, a
watercolourist who teaches art at the college level, says, "Push
aside your know-it-all intellectual brain to maximize the power
of seeing and unveil the secret of creating better art." He
shows a variety of techniques, how to see and use shapes and
silhouettes, the shapes of space and the value of value, how to
activate patterns and ensure focus and centers of interest. His
ideas and tips are all the more convincing because his own work
excels. I've asked Andrew to put up some examples of Carl
Purcell's paintings at the top of the current clickback.
In his book Carl shows his watercolour methodology in nine
demonstrations. He gives examples and exercises in how to find,
see and design better compositions. Sidebars help you to grasp
each concept. It's all such straightforward and valuable stuff.
A lot of effort these days goes into workshops and art classes.
Carl is in demand for these too. But a great deal of fine input
can be had at our own speed by exemplary illustrations and the
written word. Again today there were many emails of a workshop
nature with questions that might perhaps have been better
answered this way: "Get Carl's book and the materials he
recommends--plus 50 sheets of 140-lb.(300gsm) Arches. Rent a
cheap off-season motel in an unfamiliar mountain pass. Forget
the phone, TV, and email. A few days ought to be enough. Use
up all the Arches and don't worry if you get Carl's book covered
with spots."
Best regards,
Robert
PS: "Our interpretations of subjects are clouded by our
intellects. My teaching approach grew out of that discovery."
(Carl Purcell)
Esoterica: Questions like "How do you make a watercolour
gradation?" are difficult to answer by email. Carl shows how to
tilt, make an enriched one-time load, apply, re-wet and pull
down the bead. "Resist any urge to go back into the stroke," he
cautions. Ours is a hands-on job where theory needs to be
overtaken by practice. It's only a book. New stuff learned
from masters is there to be modified--and can certainly be
tossed when a better idea--your idea--comes along.
Current clickback: If you would like to see a selection of
responses to the last letter "Efficient strokes," as well as the
work of Carl Purcell, please go to:
http://www.painterskeys.com/clickbacks/efficient-strokes.asp
If you would like to comment or add your own opinions,
information or observations, please do so. Just click reply to
this letter or write
rgenn@...
If you think a friend or fellow artist may find value in this
material, please feel free to forward it. This does not mean
that they will automatically be subscribed to the Twice-Weekly
Letter. They have to do it voluntarily and can find out about
it by going to
http://www.painterskeys.com
The Twice-Weekly Letters are in Russian at
http://painterskeys.narod.ru/ and in French at
http://www.painterskeys.com/fr/
In compliance with the welcome legislation on spamming, our
mailing address is: Painter's Keys, 12711 Beckett Rd., Surrey,
B.C., Canada, V4A 2W9.
You are currently subscribed as:
passionsdrop@...
- Subscribe free;
http://painterskeys.com/subscribe/
- Unsubscribe free;
http://www.painterskeys.com/#subs
- Change my address free;
http://www.painterskeys.com/#ec
(c) Copyright 2005 Robert Genn. If you wish to copy this
material to other publications or mail lists, please ask for
permission by writing
rgenn@... Thanks for your
friendship.
Having problems with message search?
Fill out this form to ensure your group is one of the first to be migrated to the new message search system.
Offline 
Send Email