Day 21 : #30x30DirectWatercolor2018 : Little Big Painting
Day 21, and 23/30 paintings!
I have a size that I’m the most comfortable with. 1/4 sheet. (11×15″), or even a little smaller.
It’s the scale where I have an instinctive knowledge of how much paint to mix, how far wet will travel, and what my typical brushes will do. (#3/4 DaVinci Artissimo Mop and #7 or 8 Winsor and Newton Artist’s Watercolor Sable Pointed Round).
When trying for larger paintings, I have to inch up to them.
Painting a few 1/2 sheets to warm up, then failing a few times at full sheet. Until gradually I’m ‘tuned’ for the larger brushes and bigger paint puddles required. It’s kind of weird how you get used to things.
I suppose what a person should do is paint a full sheet every day for 30 days :) That might be something to do….in the future…sometime…much…later.
So anyway, I failed this one a few times at 1/ 2sheet size. Tore them up. Painted this little one at my familiar 1/4 sheet.
And I didn’t even use the whole sheet. I’m infected by instagram – looking at all these squares.
BTW, This one was painted from a photo, taken from the observation deck of a local college at the end of the USK symposium in Chicago last year.
Citizen Sketcher 
I am most attracted to your freely paint-formed painting that have touches of black defining areas.
I’m in Colorado on the river . . . White water rafting . . But I can’t wait to get off and grab my brushes . . You are mega-inspiring me . . Thank you for great posts and being such a stalwart teacher and friend. as always, Estelle
Thank you for breaking it down for us. I am really struggling with the plain air right now…gives me hope to hear you still struggle too.
On Thu, Jun 21, 2018 at 8:02 AM, Citizen Sketcher wrote:
> Marc Taro Holmes posted: ” Day 21, and 23/30 paintings! I have a size that > I’m the most comfortable with. 1/4 sheet. (11×15″), or even a little > smaller. It’s the scale where I have an instinctive knowledge of how much > paint to mix, how far wet will travel, and what my” >
Really like the Chicag watercolor!
Recognized the scene instantly from your wonderful sketch. From our wonderful morning in the fishbowl at the dorms.
As I was telling a friend of mine, I wouldn’t fret the size. While I’m sure full sheets are appreciated and loved by galleries and shows, quarter sheets are more practical for the average house or apartment. Once it is matted and framed, you’re looking at some significant wall space. The average person’s house can’t usually accommodate those full sheet matted and framed pieces but you can always find a place for a mounted quarter sheet. Then there’s the distance. For the large pieces you shouldn’t really be up close, but again, in an apartment or house, who wants to have to view your art from the end of the hallway or out on the balcony to get the proper distance.
I work a lot in 11×15 because that’s about the largest size of watercolor block I can manage to carry around. I’m either toting them back and forth to class or will, hopefully, be working more plein air. With all of my stuff 16 x 20 is the largest I’ve ever carried and it wasn’t much fun so I went back to the 12×16 block.
I’m currently doing my 30×30 in a Canson spiral mixed media journal that is 5.5 x 8.5 and find it is a bit too small, even for me. (But it has exactly 30 pages.) I’ll be stepping up a size for the Doodlewash Watercolor Month and moving back to Arches blocks.
Don’t tear them up! Wash them off in the kitchen sink or bathtub! And there’s always the back side!
cemeryposh@gmail.com http://www.corneliaemery.com
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