"American Watercolor, In the Age of Homer and Sargent"  Kathleen A. Foster

 This LARGE book(@ 500 pages)...chock full of amazing watercolor works...is an impressive compilation of 

paintings and studies that is far too enormous for a tiny little blog. Therefore, I will revisit this treasure trove again...and again.  The history and the pieces done by artists known primarily for their oils, as well of photos of these artists are an eye-opening part of this wonderful book.

For now, I have cherry picked some of the pieces that have influenced my understanding of watercolor. 

"Off Long Point, Cape Cod"  2014 eftstudios

Watercolor painting, for many, begins in childhood.  A relatively innocuous way for children to express themselves without too much 

fuss or muss, the attraction grows and continues into adulthood for some of us.  I was fortunate to take a class lead by 

Irving Shapiro at the American Academy of Art in the 1980's.  He was a fascinating character and I loved how wet he painted.  Fearless in the face of a blank page (so many people say that is an issue for them...me...I go trudging in and ruin the paper as soon as I can!), and if 

you sat near his demonstration table, you were sure to get splashed!  His personal supply cabinet in his classroom belied his teaching methods. He reinforced the need for cleanliness of your tools as well as your work area...but in his cupboard...were stacks upon stacks of slant trays FULL of dried and dirty lumps of watercolor paint. I found that delightfully telling. He, himself, was always neat and nattily dressed...shirt, tie, etc...but there in his private artistic persona...was a rebel! One who splashed and sloshed and delighted in loads of pigment. 

I have always been too timid when it comes to painting, something I am working to remedy.  This watercolor book has many examples of styles and approaches to painting in this frustrating medium, inviting the reader to wonder and wow at how they got that done! 

Here are a few pieces that have kept me enthralled since the 80's when my quest for painting in watercolor began in earnest:

Charles Demuth:

"Still Life: Apples and Green Glass" Charles Demuth, 1925 

Charles Demuth was one of my early heroes of the medium. I saw a painting (probably in a book) of 

eggplants and plums and it still looked wet! That painting is not in this book, but this one of apples is a great example of what drew me to him in the first place.  Demuth's watercolors always look fresh to me...as though the paint were still drying!  Demuth was known for many kinds of painting (especially "The Figure 5 in Gold") but his watercolors are always what I think of when he is referenced. 

"Fruit and Spoon" 1980's eftstudios

This is a little piece that was a demo for a long ago watercolor class I taught. I had no business 

teaching about this medium, but this is indicative of thinking about Demuth while painting.  I tried to keep it WET. 

Then we move onto the sublime:  WINSLOW HOMER~

Top: "The Water Fan" 1898-99

Bottom: "After the Hurricane, Bahamas" 1899

Homer's paintings from the Caribbean are some of his most well known works.  The hot light and sharp shadows, the blues of the water, and the rich textures of the islands make for fascinating studies, especially for those of us in land locked states (Illinois my whole life...ugh).

Having the amazing good fortune to take a trip to Puerto Rico on a shoe string budget (with a friend), it was as though Homer was THERE! '

Everywhere I looked, the light, the water, the textures...were right out of one of his paintings. That, to me, is where art is successful...it gets inside you and influences how you see and experience things.  

My attempts (below) were one of the highlights of my artistic career thus far. Standing in the surf, or sitting on the hot sand, burning my pale, almost reflective skin...the pounding of the surf and the wind blowing hard off the ocean, searching for the colors to explain the vivid change in my surroundings.  Just a few short hours before, I was in COLD Chicago, and then there I was...on a beach....in Puerto Rico...struggling to find the right pigments to say what had already been said so perfectly more than a century before by Homer.  

A fabulous problem to have! 

Small watercolor studies using sea water. Salt is evident on the surface and in the washes~!

I had NEVER experienced warmth and sun like that before. Not even in Florida! March, 2014

Maurice Prendergast:

"The Stony Pasture" 1896-97

I have long loved Maurice Prendergast's watercolors. Not so much his oils...the approach he had with watercolor didn't translate into oils in my opinion.  

Having learned to use large washes to cover a paper, setting the tone for washes going over that initial start, became a crutch and a stifling concept.  I realized one day, as I looked at a scene, that the large wash approach was not the only way to paint~! Prendergast painted in small washes laid next to one another. Almost like a child filling in a coloring book. 

"Splash of Sunshine and Rain (Piazza San Marco, Venice)"  1899

I also thought I would try to free things up even more for myself, by NOT doing a tight line drawing, but painting directly and drawing with the brush and washes as it were. I got a chance to try that in Provincetown, Cape Cod later that same year (August, 2014) much more deliberately. 

Traveling as light as I could around town, and balancing on the edge of a road above the rooftops of year round residents there, I painted quickly and in a way that felt the freest yet. Not looking to be inspired by any particular artist this time around, I finally felt that I was touching on MY way of painting. This was just a beginning and it felt amazing!

"Provincetown Rooftops" eftstudios 2014

John La Farge:

Top: "Waimea, Hawaii. Sept. 22, 2 pm, 1890"  

Bottom: "Sunrise in Fog Over Kyoto" 1886

Another piece in this book that reminds me to not take myself too seriously when out painting, are these studies by LaFarge. 

The top piece, replete with notes on a simple sketch to remind himself of the light and atmosphere of a scene. The bottom piece, done in a similar vein, was recreated with words and translated into a magazine illustration. It also became part of his memoirs, "An Artist's Letters From Japan". 

Such is the beauty and simplicity of watercolor. It travels well, dries easily (mostly), and can be extremely portable. It is wonderful for 

spontaneous notes on a scene, or as a finished impression of a place or subject. 

Whistler:

"Variations in Violet and Grey --- Market Place, Dieppe" 1885

James McNeill Whistler is my all time favorite all-around artist. He could draw, paint, print, design, and piss people off with a wink of his eye.  Seriously, however, his etchings and watercolors showcase his ability to draw and capture the gesture of the subject. Watercolor for him, seemed like an easy shorthand. Getting the essence of a place and it's inhabitants quickly was his metier and was a language he spoke fluently.  

"Green and Silver--- The Three Clouds" 1888

Similar to Turner's sketchbook studies (soon to be a subject of a blog here), Whistler was adept at capturing the motion of clouds and waves with such a simplistic elegance, that he found collectors eager to have a watercolor sketch. 

Winslow Homer:

"Bermuda" 1900  

To finish out this beginning discussion of this phenomenal book, a Homer that shows his versatility with the medium. 

From his early, tight, more illustrative works, to this vibrant almost raw landscape in the Caribbean... and beyond, Homer 

made the paint and brush work for him.  One of his travel sets of paints (below) doesn't give away any of  his secrets. I can imagine "Bermuda" being born out of this box. I can only hope such amazing work can be born out of my equally stained travel set one day.