Apart from grade school attempts, the above sketch is my very first try at watercolor. Which is a bit weird given how many art classes I took in high school. My teacher, a sweet Japanese lady named Annie Lowry, taught in a self-driven style, heavy on abstract art (which I’ve never liked). This style seems to work wonderfully for those knowing what direction they wished to explore — I was totally lost, being afraid to try anything and not knowing what types of art-making were available out there. I remember doing tons of contour and blind-contour sketches!
Then in 2005, I was invited to join an informal group meeting together in a Wichita church to play with watercolor. Usually some type of subject was selected and everyone would paint it, then share each other’s work. It was fun to see our different styles! This metal bowl of fruit was the subject for my first visit; I borrowed paints from the leader, John Lokke, and worked so slow that I never actually got to the metal bowl which was the main challenge of the evening. But I became instantly fascinated with watercolor and continued to attend this group (we called ourselves the Riverside Watercolor Society) until it later disbanded as John began to teach classes for pay.
Another evening, John’s wife brought an aquarium filled with hatching butterflies for us to paint. Jill was a teacher for gifted grade school students and these were brought home from class.
How fun to see a glimpse of your watercolor journey. I too, take a while to complete my sketches.
ReplyDeleteOn our old sketch crawls, Kate would typically do three sketches to my one . . . and the time Liz Steel joined us, she left both of us in the dust! That girl can sketch FAST!
DeleteI think part of the difference as well, is the sketcher’s style which ranges from loose, realistic, and somewhere in between. I love Kate’s style as it seems to be realistic, loose, and peaceful all at once. Does that make sense? I am not sure I am expressing it correctly!
ReplyDeleteYou nailed it! Kate’s sketches are realistic, loose, and peaceful — as is she when dong them! I’ve learned so much from her by sneaking an observation here and there while working on my own sketch, yet it still seemed like magic how her work seemed to come together.
DeleteI would love to ba able to meet her in person one day. I have many of her books!
ReplyDelete