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Playing with Paint

• What does "playing with the paint" mean to you? How would you go about assigning that to a student beyond the information contained in the watercolor cheat sheet provided earlier? 

             Sidney Oliver

I consider that I am “playing with the paint” every single time I step in front of the easel. It’s easier to say that regarding oils as opposed to watercolors, but I am learning, gaining experience, and having fun every time I work.

With watercolors as I mentioned in the post Tips for Watercolor, it might not be considered playing, but methodically taking each color on one’s palette and mixing it with every other color on one’s palette would be beneficial. For example, mix equal parts of Burnt Sienna and French Ultramarine Blue. Now, vary it with more blue. Now, vary it with more Burnt Sienna. Add more water. Add the least amount of water you can get away with. Look at the range of colors you can achieve with just those two colors. Make a chart of what you are doing and do the exact same thing with every single color. Keep the charts and refer to the chart as needed. This might be termed playing with a purpose. Tedious, but beneficial and if done correctly, perhaps even fun or more fun for the painter than singing scales. 

Above is an experiment I have in my sketchbook testing the combination of gouache with transparent watercolors. Gouache is a type of watercolor that is opaque. Even though it is interesting that one can almost block out what was painted earlier, one can rely too much on gouache as, if you aren't careful, it can produce a chalky effect.

I did charts similar to this in the seventies when I began using a limited palette and I kept those charts for a long, long time. Not only are you getting a sense of the color combinations, but you are also getting a sense of how much or how little water you will need.

As for playing with oils, that’s fun because it’s not permanent unless you want it to be, thus you can really experiment. You can wipe or scrape off any stroke you deem misguided. Serendipity occurs just as many times as disaster, temporary though it may be.

The gist is to mess about and get a feel for what you are doing. You will learn nothing unless you are actually present with those paints on that watercolor sheet or with those oils and panel or canvas on that easel. Reading will get you only so far. What no one mentions when discussing painting is the feel or the sensation of those paints. Is there a tiny, minuscule drop too much of water on that brush? If so, take the time to get rid of it. Do you sense the paint is too thick? Too thin? Loaded too heavily on your brush? Mixed the exact, proper color you had in mind? If not, correct it before you put your brush to the canvas or to the paper. Get those hands and fingers in the paint. 

Without practice, we shouldn't expect much. I am reminded of a story of two high school boys who had a yearly golf match with two excellent women amateur golfers. One year one of the boys was angry with himself and threw one of his clubs. One of the women walked up to him, grabbed him by the collar, put her face in his face, and said, "Listen here you little squirt. You aren't good enough to get angry." The "little squirt" told me the story. Most of us shouldn't expect much unless we practice and work at it. 

I think we are too oriented toward getting results. Put that thought out of your mind. The real results will come from practice. No one, including a professional, should expect a satisfactory painting, let alone an inspired one, every single time one puts brush to canvas. We can always hope, but we shouldn't be demoralized when that lofty goal is rarely achieved and that is why we should

Enjoy the process!

   Ruthie Windsor-Mann

This post is part of a series of Q & As between Ruthie Windsor-Mann and Sidney Oliver. 

We invite the reader to join in with other questions in the comments section. This needs to be interactive in order to work.

All photographs are by Ruthie Windsor-Mann unless otherwise credited.

Copyright 2019 Ruthie Windsor-Mann All Rights Reserved