April 25th Zoom Watercolor Demo- video and support docs

Howdy! This is the finished product from last week’s demo- “Spring Snow”. I’m going to have another live demo next week (info on that below). Down lower in the post are all the support docs and conversation about the demo. Happy reading! :)

If you have subjects or concerns you’d like to have me cover in the next demo, please share them in the comments. I’m happy to receive your input and will take it into consideration.

Next Zoom Meeting-

I’ll be doing another live demo on next Saturday, May 9th, from 100-300, Pacific Standard Time. I’m in California, for reference. Here’s the details for logging in to the meeting-

Topic: Watercolor Demo
Time: May 9, 2020 01:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81112353099?pwd=K2o5R2NTRFNlM3Bpb2FyVjMrQ2krUT09

Meeting ID: 811 1235 3099
Password: 369262

Last Weeks Video and Supporting Docs-

Here’s my reference pic and the final version I used for the demo, where I altered it slightly to push the contrast and chroma. Note how, right from the get go, I’m getting the photo to communicate the memory to me the way I remember it— not the other way around! I don’t want the photo to dictate things to me.

Next up is my notan. I prepped this before the demo. Look how, at first, I complicated the background, and held true to the sophisticated transition of values, where different trees stand out against the others. However, before I started things I looked it over and felt it was competing too much with the real subject— the bank of aspens in the midground with the dark understory. Thus, I simplified things in the notan, and let that approach lead me during the demo.

It’s also worth noting how I went back in with white gouache, expanding some shapes, making some areas more complex (where the grove of trees meets the ground plane), etc. The notan, at its least elegant but most functional, is a push and pull between black and white. It’s a thinking process that happens as marks are made, because marks are made.

Below is the video of the actual demo. It’s long, at about 2 hours, but it’s the straight live cut from the demo, including the Q and A as we went along. Yes, there are definitely a variety of ways to streamline the process and make it a better viewing experience. We are learning as we go! :)

I must say, I thought I was going to lose that one part through. LOL! That last wash to push the background foreward a bit, and then the splatters, made a big difference for me. I escaped!! :P It was hard to see the splatters in the video, so I’ve included the finished painting here again. Note how the snowflakes, although basically a pale grey, move from a dark against the light up top, to a light against the dark in the lower half.