tarantella 1

8/3/2019 Tarantella 1

1/7

Tarantellapart1NicholasSimmonswww.nicholassimmons.com

In

the

article

"PaintingLarge

in

Watercolor:

Faded

Glory",

I

covered

techniques

and

concernsfacedbywatercoloriststryingtopaintbiggerpictures.However,therewere

aspectsof the subject Ididnotget into,manyofwhichwereaddressed inanother

WatercolorGalleryWIP,"Tarantella."AswithFadedGlory, Ihaveedited theoriginal

WIP into an article, maintaining the WIP point of view. Relevant questions and

comments that arose in the thread have been integrated into the text. Several

membersremarkedthatthisWIPwasmoreinstructivethanFadedGlory;Idon'tknow

aboutthat,but Idohope thateachpersonreading itmightgainsomething thatwill

improvehisorherpainting.

IdiscussedinsomedetailthematerialsIuseintheotherarticle.Awordaboutpaper:

picturedis

aroll

of

watercolor

paper

Arches

156

lb,

which

is

52"

wide,

by

10

yards

long. It is shownherenext to a60"mat cutter. I alsohave a selectionof standard

22x30watercolorsheets, inArches,Fabriano,andYupo.Ikeepastockof40x608ply

museummatboard,40x60acid free foamcoreboard,and40x601/8"plexiglasson

handforframing.


2/7

Thisiswheremostofmypicturesstart,andofcourseit'sthemostcrucialstepinthe

process:decidingwhattodo.Ihavetonsofideasforpaintingsbouncingaroundinmy

head,butonlybystaringatablankpieceofpaperdoIstartfeelingwhichwaytogo;

theshapeandproportionareenoughtosuggestsubjectmatter.Forthispainting,the

tallverticalpanelshapewonout,andsince Ivebeendoingsomeof thesedancers*

anyway,Isettledonasingledancer,anda"cross"composition.

Somethoughtsaboutlargepaintings:

OnereasonIdolargepaintingsisbecausemanyofthespacestheyendupinputsome

distancebetweentheworkandtheviewer.Consideringthedistanceaworkislikelyto

beviewedfromisveryimportant.Smallpaintingscanlookridiculousoreveninvisible

fromfaraway,and largeonescanbedisorientingupclose.Thescaleofa largework

canalsorenderitsdetailunfavorablyatcloserange;Imremindedofonegreatpainter

whoseworkastoundsfromfiftyfeetaway,butthecrudityoftheworkatthreefeetis

almostshocking.Itrymyhardesttomakeminelookpowerfulanddramaticfromafar,

butwithenoughdetailandnuancetomaketheminterestinguponcloseinspection.

Anotherreason

is

that

people

generally

don't

expect

to

see

large

works

executed

in

watercolor;traditionally, ithadthereputationasaprecursorto"real"paintings.Asa


3/7

result,watercolorhasbeen relegated toacornerof theartworld that issimplynot

takenasseriouslyasoil.Someofthis isalsoduetothefactthatmanywatercolorists

select subject matter that highlights the qualities of the medium, but lacks the

substancetobeconsidered"serious"art.

Biggeris

not

always

better,

but

when

comparing

works

of

comparable

quality,

the

poweranddramaoflargerworkisundeniable.

Amajor problem maybe themain problem forwatercolorists attempting larger

paintings is thatmanywatercoloreffects that lookwonderfulona small scale, look

punyand insignificantona largescale.Forexample, it'sverydifficultto loadabrush

fully enough tomake large strokes across a huge piece of paper, and have them

maintaintheamountofpigmentandintensityasoil;watercolorsimplyrunsoutofgas.

Youcangobackinto it,butthenyoubegintoalterandpossiblydestroythequalities

thatoccurred in the initialstrokeorwash theveryqualities thatare formany, the

essenceof

watercolor

painting.

It's

not

easy

to

paint

large

scale

with

the

conventional

techniquesthatdominatethemedium.ThiswasagreatdisappointmenttomewhenI

firsttriedtomakethatjumpbeyondthe30x40format.Thingsthatlookedamazingina

smallercontextdidnteven registeron theArtoMeterat those largersizes.Had to

change theapproach,anddiscard someof the traditionalwatercolor thinking. (Why

dont Iswitch tooil? I love the transparencyofwatercolor, thenaturalandat times

unpredictable properties ofwater, and the fact that lots ofwatercolor effects are

virtuallyimpossibletoreplicateinoil.)

Lastly,anotherpointworthconsideringregarding

sizeis

this:

asmall

mistake

can

ruin

asmall

painting,butyou'vegot tomakebigmistakes to

ruinabigpainting!I'veneverheardanybodyelse

saythis,butthereisalotoftruthinit.

Onward...

The tarantella is originally an Italian dance,

popularlyadoptedbySpanishflamencomusicians

anddancers.

Ididntphotograph thedrawing,becauseat this

size, you cant see it the white of the paper

overpowers the camera. I worked from a

photograph, but tried to reduce it to its barest

essentials. Iattempted toplay smooth linesand

shapes against what somebody once nicely

characterized as nervous lines. There is a

freneticenergytoflamenco,butthegraceofthe


4/7

dancerslegatoizeswhatisaverypercussivestyleofmusic.

IfirstbrushedonathincoatofgessointhedirectionoftheactionIenvisionedinthe

painting.Gessohasaresistthatmakesinterestingthingshappenwiththepaint.Alittle

bit likeYupo,butnotnearlyas slippery. (Iexplainedat some lengthaboutgessoing

watercolorpaper

in

the

Faded

Glory

article.)

Ididnt

cover

all

of

the

paper,

and

Iwas

mindfulnottobetoocarefulwithit acasualapplicationlooksbesttome.

Asyoucansee inthephotograph, Ibeganwiththebackground. Itprobably looksas

though Istartedwithdarks,butasthisareawillendupmuchdarkerthanwhatyou

see,itsactuallyclosertothemidtones.

Its usually safest, I think, to startwithmidtones, because you can then adjust the

lightsanddarksaccordingly.Atanyrate,itassuresthatyoucangodarker,andlighter.

IvestartedsimilarpaintingswithwhatIthoughtwerethelightestvalues,onlytofindI

hadactually

gone

darker

than

Imeant

to,

and

was

in

deep

trouble

in

amatter

of

minutes.Ithinkthatisbecausereallylightvaluedcolorslooksoanemiconthepaper,

thereisatendency,formeatleast,tostartenrichingthem.

I have found thismethod especially helpful in large paintings,where its harder to

visualize the big picture (working up close to a small piece of paper, you have

constantawarenessofvaluesinrelationtotheproportionofthepainting).

Itrytopaintusingavarietyof"safetymeasures" thatis,paintinginawaysuchthat

thingscanbeprogressivelyaltered ifneedbe,withouthaving topaintopaquely,or

change

the

design.

A

good

reason,

also,

to

go

brighter

with

colors,

as

you

can

always

makethemduller,butyoucannevermakethembrighter(transparently).

Another thought about "safe painting": I ruined countless pictures bymaking rash,

abruptdecisions (though sometimes incredible thingshappenbydoing that). Ihave

found,particularlywithlargerwork,ifItakemytime,makegradualchanges,andmost

importantly,lookatthemforawhile(thoughnotsolongastoloseobjectivity),Ihave

abetterchanceofnotdoinganythingregrettableor irreversible. Iuse lotsofacrylic

watercolor alongwith regularwatercolor, and scraping or lifting after its dry isnt

possible.However, Inever liked those techniquesanyway,because theycanmakea

dry,dulllookIdontcarefor.


5/7

Thisphoto isagoodexampleofthekindofthingthatusedtodrivemecrazy.When

layingdown

initial

washes,

Iwas

for

along

time

annoyed

by

inconsistencies

in

the

value,amountofpigment,backwashes,crawlbacks,blooms(whateveryouwanttocall

them), etc.Manywas the painting I agonized over or destroyed for these "flaws.

TherearethingsIdontliketoseeinwashesandglazes,butthatsforanotherarticle.I

dontknowquitewhen itdawnedonme thatonce framed,andunderglass, itwas

theseverythingsthatIendeduplikingbest.Strange,becauseIalreadyadmiredthese

anomaliesinotherpeoplespaintings.(Another

good subject foranarticle) Ihad lotsofgreat

teachers,butIwishsomeonehadtaughtmeto

more readily embrace this aspect of

watercolor.Maybe

they

did,

and

Ididnt

listen.

Ormaybetheywerewiseenoughtoknowthat

Iwould have to learn this the hardway. (On

the other hand, a determination to create

perfect washes improves technique) Now,

whileapaintingisinthe"ugly"stage,Itakeon

a very detached attitude, andjust blow that

stuff off. It's not a bad thing to even

occasionallygetalittlesloppyandcareless,just

toprove toyourself it'sonlypaperandpaint.

Keeps

you

loose.

Idon't likemostcolorsstraightfromthetube,

at leastcommittedto largeareas.Thiswash is

Payne'sgrey,rawumber,alizarincrimson,and

ultramarineblue mixedmostlyon thepaper.

Nottooprecisely,asyoucansee.Thisisjustan

underpainting wash anyway, and Ive

discovered the uneven, disjointed look

enhancesthefinaleffect.


6/7

Thedress,inavarietyofreds,pinks,andoranges.Thereissomerawsiennainthere

onecolorIhavefoundmixestremendouslywithalmostanything.Ileavebitsofwhite

paper open, as another safetymeasure. If a painting begins to get too dense and

closed inwithcolor, itsnice tohave thosewhitesavailableasairholes,or tobe

filledinwithsomeothercolorthatwilladdtothesparkle.Youcanalwaysgobackand

makethem

the

surrounding

color,

too,

which

creates

textural

interest.

Alsostartedonthefan.Goingbrighterwiththecolor,asIexpecttotoneitdownlater.

Onthesubjectofcolor:I

haveasenseofwarmvs.

cool,butIamnocolor

theorist,andwouldn'tknow

acolorwheelfromawagon

wheel.EverythingIdois

purelyinstinctive,

and

hopingforthebest.Ifeellike

areallygoodartistanda

reallyhorribleartist,atthe

sametime.EverythingIlearn

opensupnewideas,mostly

aboutwhatIcan'tdo,or

haven'tfullyexploited.Ilike

theideaofbeingrightonthe

edge,learningeverysecond

that's

when

you

can

still

surpriseyourself.

I added littlebitsofblue to

thedress,andsomegreento

the fan. They keep the eye

moving, and add a dash of

Moorish and Oriental

costume flavor; they could

be sequins, or simply glints

ofreflectedlight.Iusedthewhitesmentionedinthepreviousstep,butdidntfillthem

all in. Icouldhavewaiteduntil latertodothis,since it isbasicallyanembellishment,but itsnicetohavesomefunwhilethemainwork isstill inprogress. Illfillmoreof

theminlater,andaddsomemetalliccolorsintheretoo.

Themain objective in this painting, besides the color and highlighting the abstract

qualities of the shapes, is to capture the twisting, whirling motion of the dress,

juxtaposedagainsttherigidprofileofthedancer.Thatsoftenthepostureofflamenco

dancers.Ispenta lotoftime inagrandoldSpanishrestaurantthathadanelaborate

floorshow,andwasveryattractedtothataspectoftheart.Ofcoursenopaintingwill

evercapturethatasvividlyandunforgettablyasSargent's"ElJaleo."


7/7

HereIvegonebacktothedarks,andtheredportionsofthedress.Istayedawayfrom

thefacebecause Imnotexactlysureyetwhat isgoingtohappenthere.Noteasyto

seeinasmallphoto,butthereareahundredvariationsofred.Idontrememberallof

thecolorsIused,butsomeweremixedwithrawsiennaandrawumber.I'mnothappy

withthelineofthedressontheleftedge,nexttothedark;I'llchangethat.

Articlepublishedonhttp://www.artgraphica.net

tarantella 1

Documents