Back to where I started..opacity:transparency...Adam Connected...a figurative work

"Adam Connected" is the result of a live model situation at our last watercolor class.  Adam is a high school art student who will be off to college next year.  And, of course, he came along with his phone, the constant companion that he caressed during the pose and more actively interacted with during the breaks.  The face and hands are painted transparently.  The clothing becomes 2-dimensional as a result of underplaying all of the wrinkles, patterns and shadows that, for me, become just too complex visually.  I guess these days I am delving further and further into simplification, which allows for more creativity throughout.  The background shapes and values simply happened, in my own consideration and re-consideration of the picture plane.  I have no need to paint all of the minutia involved in the reality of the scene.  The background is painted opaquely with the addition of gouache, which allows for almost endless reinterpretation.  So here I am again.  Fiddling with the polar notions of opacity and transparency.  It seems right to me.  Back to where I started....but, of course, with more experience and, I believe, more confidence.

We Are So Fragile...

We Are So Fragile   watercolor/mixed   12.5 x 20

My own response to the big bug assignment is a zebra butterfly seen in the Florida Everglades.  Dangerously, I had a preconceived notion as to the outcome of the work and could actually see it in my brain.  Vibrant silky blue.  And I followed suite, only to realize that from a distance, the work did not read at all.  I know so many butterflies....fragile people on whom the workings of the world are very very hard.  Sensitive feelings.  Thin skin.  And so I proceeded with this idea in mind, first by painting a "hole" in the wing and by printing a leafy band.  The artists in my class evaluated the work at that point and offered various suggestions.  Most liked the feel of the work but validated the readability problem.  My solution became the opacity of the printing medium done on top of the vibrant silky blue.  I like the way that this application implies foliage which was Marian's solution.  It added a bit of decoration on the right side to balance the leafy band which was Mo's solution.  Carl noticed the "face" on the top of the butterfly head....as nature intended in order to ward off predators.  Push and pull.  Transparency and opacity once again.  Fragility.

A Slight Curve

A Slight Curve   watercolor/gouache   13 x 10

Many years back, I was granted permission to watch a rehearsal of The Akron Symphony Orchestra. My goal was to come back with sketches and photos to work from. "A Slight Curve" was done with watercolor over gouache. I first coated the paper with a layer of permanent white gouache that had been thinned to the consistency of cream. Then I painted in watercolor. The gouache creates a surface that is finitely changeable and malleable, which is something that is difficult when working transparently. White gouache is a body color.....it adds opacity to the paint. All colors become tints. It really is a totally different way of working with the medium. I like this small painting and felt the curves of the instrument and likened them to the curves of the human body. This musician is caressing his instrument. That is the mark of a true musician. Just the way we caress watercolor paper with our brushes. Soft touch.