I got Jean Haines’ World of Watercolour out of the library, so I’m taking a moment to write up my thoughts. Overall, this is a style of painting that is way outside of my current ability and understanding.
I was really drawn to the colours, and reminded a little of Eudes Coreia with the combination of loose washes and picked out detail. It’s just not a thing I know how to do yet! I still feel so careful with my colours, and I think I underuse water. This book has a series of exercises that the author uses to try to loosen up and learn about watercolour, some of which might be interesting to pick up.
In my world imperfections are gorgeous, so I am over the moon when they occur in my paintings. Over the years I have come to love them so much that I studied how to make mistakes deliberately!
pg 75
I think I’m too scared of ‘wasting’ my equipment, so I don’t risk trying things. I use too little water because I’m scared of making a mess. But the watercolour artists I’m drawn to use the ability to layer to pull detail out of the looser colour washes.
That’s the main lesson I’ll be drawing from this book, I think. I need to improve my understanding of the way the colours mix, and how watercolour works with water. To do that I’ll need to stop working on my lap! I’m not sure this style will ever be mine, but building a better understanding of the materials can only be a good thing. Maybe thinking of it like that will stop me worrying about getting things wrong.
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