Excited to announce my new book: “The Apocalypse Variations: Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days”
I am excited to announce my latest book – available now on Amazon
in Print and E-Book. < affiliate links, thx ]
The Apocalypse Variations: Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days collects all of my work from #30x30DirectWatercolor2019.
The book was my personal goal for this year’s marathon. Not just finishing the paintings on time. But doing something worthwhile with them.
I’m proud of each of my books in their own way, but this one is special for me. I feel I’ve made something more mature. This slim volume is my most personal book to date.
This whole month of talking about the painting marathon, I’ve been intentionally quiet about the real thinking behind the paintings.
The story that so many of you have been seeing in the art.
I’ve always been in love with the technical aspects of painting. I can talk shop for hours. All that ‘what brush do you like’, ‘what are your favorite colors’.
The new book has none of that. But it’s full of everything else. All the reasons why the paintings came out of me as they did.
I have loved blogging and sharing stories about travel and art on this blog, and in my other books. But, as a plein air painter and an urban sketcher – the work has never been about anything personal. Not really.
Painting on location is almost a mechanical process. You are a kind of art-camera. You record what you see like a documentary filmmaker. Yes, of course, it’s art. Every person’s view of a place is unique. But still – it’s always been easy to stay on the surface. To avoid being too serious. Just go to some nice places and enjoy your visit. Make some pretty paintings.
This project has been an entirely different experience for me.
In recent years with the slow-motion decline of my parent’s health and the final sputtering end of my career as a commercial artist, and the realization that my dreams of full-time travel-and-art are no longer compatible with reality (I’m getting too old, and frankly, too broke), I’ve had to face some serious questions about why I do art.
What is the motivation to live this lifestyle? Is it even worth it? What is the value of my lifelong dedication to the craft of painting? (In particular, my brand of painting quickly, directly, expressively. Work that I love, but that might fall below the level of ‘real art’ in some people’s eyes.)
This book seems like my first real step towards the future.
(Sorry – you’ll have to indulge me in some self-congratulation. Which, I think is a crucial skill for a fine artist. You need to do this for yourself, or how else do you keep going? :)
So yes! There it is!
I hope you’ll be interested in this new type of book from me.
I hope you’ll find something worthwhile in my analysis of my own paintings, my own motivations – and in seeing a tangible example of what I think the whole process of living creatively might look like for an artist today.
And – if you do pick up a copy – please do leave me a review on Amazon.
I want to know what you think, and, leaving honest reviews is an immense help to the author. It’s the lifeblood of bookselling these days.
My thanks, in advance,
~marc
The Apocalypse Variations: Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days
now on Amazon in Print and E-Book
Day 30 : #30x30DirectWatercolor2019 : Do Not Go Gently
I want to thank everyone who participated in this year’s #30x30DirectWatercolor2019 marathon.
I spend altogether too much time talking about myself on this blog.We’ve had over 3500 people this year in the facebook group.
There’s a lot to see from all different levels of artist, and every kind of subject matter.
It’s been a whirlwind of activity. Exciting to be around everyone making great art. Keeps the blood flowing, and has kept me painting.
We (myself and Uma) will leave that facebook group open in the break, but we won’t be checking it much – until next June.
Feel free to continue to talk amongst yourselves.
Now that we have this critical mass of members, I expect there will always be some activity in there. People have been joining even up to the very last day.
Again > Tremendous thanks to everyone who participated! And I will keep in touch through these pages at CitizenSketcher.
~marc
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”
Day 28 : #30x30DirectWatercolor2019 : The Narrow Path
“The Narrow Path”, 18×18″ watercolor on paper
Well – I do believe I quietly crossed the finish line a while ago. If I look back, this is painting number 34 of 30 – if I’m counting right?
It’s been a tremendous experience for me this year. Looking back at my primary goal – to produce a body of new work with a consistent feel, and new confidence with watercolor – I feel well satisfied.
I had a secondary goal of sending some of this work to the Canadian watercolor society. That’s in the judges’ hands as we speak. I’ll be able to report back soon if they are also fans of Direct Watercolor :)
I have one more bit of news, but I’ll push that off till tomorrow.
I hope all of you hit your thirty – or are expecting to make it in the next few days. Feel free to post your success stories in the comments! Let’s get the last few paintings out and take a well-deserved break!
~m
Day 27 : #30x30DirectWatercolor2019 : Castle Bravo
“Castle Bravo”, 18×18″ watercolor on paper
Detail of waves. Painted with Holbein watercolor Grey-of-Grey over a damp wash of Neutral Tint and Indigo. An example of how watercolorists might benefit from more opaque painting techniques?
It’s interesting how things in life keep looping back. I am finally getting around to internalizing what I saw Sargent doing with body color at an exhibition in 2014.
That’s playing the long game for you.
Day 26 : #30x30DirectWatercolor2019 : Walk the Desert
“Footfalls Throw Dust”, 18×18″ watercolor on paper
Day 25 : #30x30DirectWatercolor : Vanishing Lake
“The Vanishing”, 18×18″ Watercolor on Paper
There are some experiences in life that stick with you. I frequently think back to our trip to the vanishing Salton Sea.
Of course, it doesn’t look like this at all. But I’m enjoying this exercise in sketching from imagination and memory and re-interpreting my own drawings.
Day 24 : #30x30DirectWatercolor2019 : Re-Inspiration
So, I’ve been fussing with something here in the past few days, which is that I’ve used up the inspirational value of my digital sketches. (For now).
I did – I think 45 sketches – to get me to 30 paintings. It was sort of a random number. I just sketched whatever was in my head and stopped naturally when the ideas started slowing down.
After you’ve been painting all the best ones – the ones that grabbed your eye – eventually, you’re down to the dregs. There really isn’t anything worth painting left!
So – I had to take a day off and sketch some new ideas.
Just for a break, I went back to the familiar – and painted in ink and wash with Chinese brushes.
Tomorrow, I’ll ‘re-boot’ with some of these new inspirations.
“Ten Thousand Foot View”
Day 22 : #30x30DirectWatercolor2019 : Hurricane Season
“Hurricane Season”, 18×18″ watercolor on paper
Here I am again, returning to my very first sketch.
Look how much you can get out of the same bit of inspiration. I felt like I hadn’t done a good enough job at the blackness – so I went back.
These drips are not *entirely* intentional. But on the other hand, I don’t mind either. I mean, they are intentional in the sense that I know they will happen – if I soak the paper and paint at an angle. I enjoy learning to live with what the water does.
The end result, I feel looks like a massive waterspout. I like it.
I left it. I could see many others not liking the results. But what are you going to do? You can’t have a personal vision without doing things some people won’t like.
The sky, by the way, is a huge wasabi-wash of Daniel Smith’s Graphite Grey. (Tinted with a few random things).
This is a color that isn’t much good for anything in the natural world. Maybe certain kinds of rocks. A stone beach if you could find one. I do believe I used it in my parking garage paintings last year. It does have a unique velvety texture that I haven’t seen in any other pigments I’ve tried.
Day 21 : #30x30DirectWatercolor2019 : The Mountain
“Geologic Timescale”, 18×18″ watercolor on paper
To me, this one has potential for scaling up.
If you sit with it in your hands, it looks massive. This wall of rock.
I grew up in Alberta – though I didn’t appreciate the Rocky Mountains until I’d left. It’s an incredible feeling being up in those places, with towers of rock all around you. I regret that I didn’t get into rock climbing when I was younger. I don’t think it’s something I’ll get around to in this lifetime.
So yes – questions of scale.
This is one thing I have not defeated with watercolor. The ability to paint truly large paintings. This series is not large. They’re all 18″ paintings. For practical reasons of space and timing during this marathon.
But! I do plan to scale up some of these pieces later. The question will be if I do them in Oil or keep pushing Watercolors larger.
There are definite practical issues. Sourcing larger paper for one. You can’t just pop out and buy larger watercolor sheets. Ordering them is expensive if I have to get them outside Canada. And I expect half the time they’ll arrive damaged, considering the issues with shipping a huge flat fragile object. I suppose I’d have to look for larger rolls. But that would be an issue and a half dealing with that. Getting it off the roll un-damaged would probably require building a stand for the thing. And then dealing with the curl of the paper. And mounting a sheet on what? I’d be limited to 4×8′ plywood. I’d have to build some kind of work table. Aieee! See?
I suppose really, I could work in panels. Do it like Japanese screens.
I also have to wonder if the watercolor would perform at larger sizes. The distance color will creep is partially up to the length of the fibers in the paper. I’m not sure that this will simply scale up.
See – these are the things that push you towards Oil (or Acrylic) when you start thinking about truly large paintings. Because I would like to see this one six feet high!
Citizen Sketcher 