In The Third Part Of Her Series, Kate Osborne Encourages You To Try Gouache And Other Materials In Your Paintings To Develop Your Own Vocabulary Of Marks
My students often approach the start of their painting life with a degree of trepidation thinking that there is a right and wrong way to ‘do’ art. I suspect that it is the unfortunate fall out from an old-fashioned art education that encourages this idea and makes students nervous about getting stuck in and allowing mistakes to happen.
It’s an old saw that you only learn from your mistakes but, with watercolour, some of those errors can become happy accidents, which go on to give you the confidence to continue taking risks. Fear of failure is the enemy and taking some risks always, in the end, works to your creative advantage.
There are many talented watercolourists who paint in the pure medium and in a traditional style, but the medium does lend itself happily to mixed-media painting and drawing. However much you admire an individual’s style, finding your own voice within your painting practice is far more worthwhile and satisfying than emulating someone else’s. I am not knocking the idea of copying as a means of getting to grips with your medium – it is a great way to learn, just don’t get stuck with a bunch of rules that you are too nervous to break. Always be prepared to swim into slightly deeper water.
FEELING GOUACHE
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Denne historien er fra Summer 2017-utgaven av Artists & Illustrators.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Still life IN 3 HOURS
Former BP Portrait Award runner-up FELICIA FORTE guides you through a simple, structured approach to painting alla prima that tackles dark, average and light colours in turn
Movement in composition
Through an analysis of three masterworks, landscape painter and noted author MITCHELL ALBALA shows how you can animate landscape composition with movement
Shane Berkery
The Irish-Japanese artist talks to REBECCA BRADBURY about the innovative concepts and original colour combinations he brings to his figurative oil paintings from his Dublin garden studio
The Working Artist
Something old, something new... Our columnist LAURA BOSWELL has expert advice for balancing fresh ideas with completing half-finished work
Washes AND GLAZES
Art Academy’s ROB PEPPER introduces an in-depth guide to incorporating various techniques into your next masterpiece. Artwork by STAN MILLER, CHRIS ROBINSON and MICHELE ILLING
Hands
LAURA SMITH continues her new four-part series, which encourages you to draw elements of old master paintings, and this month’s focus is on capturing hands
Vincent van Gogh
To celebrate The Courtauld’s forthcoming landmark display of the troubled Dutch master’s self-portraits, STEVE PILL looks at the stories behind 10 of the most dramatic works on display
BRING THE drama
Join international watercolour maestro ALVARO CASTAGNET in London’s West End to paint a dramatic street scene
Serena Rowe
The Scottish painter tells STEVE PILL why time is precious, why emotional responses to colour are useful, and how she finds focus every day with the help of her studio wall
Bill Jacklin
Chatting over Zoom as he recovers from appendicitis, the Royal Academician tells STEVE PILL about classic scrapes in New York and his recent experiments with illustration
