Rachel Rubin Wolf - Splash 9: Watercolor Secrets

Table of Contents

Splash 9

THE BEST OF WATERCOLOR

Watercolor Secrets

Sunny Flowers Daryl Bryant
15 15 (38cm 38cm)

ABOUT THE EDITOR

Rachel Rubin Wolf is a freelance editor and artist. She edits and writes fine art books for North Light Books, including the Splash series (Best of Watercolor); The Best of Wildlife Art (editions 1 & 2); The Best of Portrait Painting, The Best of Flower Painting 2; The Acrylic Painters Book of Styles and Techniques; Painting Ships, Shores and the Sea ; and Painting the Many Moods of Light. She also has acquired numerous new fine art book projects and authors for North Light Books, and is the contributing writer for Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine .

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you to the editors, designers and staff at North Light Books who have made this into the beautiful final product it is, including Jamie Markle, Mark Griffin, Mona Michael, Guy Kelly and Amanda Metcalf. A special thanks to Vanessa Lyman who has been the foreman on the job, keeping it all together.

A special thanks also to the contributing artists. As I have said in my introduction, you have been great! You have been so willing to share and revise and send me more. I honestly count a number of you as friends, though the finite limits of space and time restrict the expression of that friendship. I long, as many of you do, for the fullness of the beauty we appreciate on this earth to come to fruition. For now, we can only imitate the wonder we see; one day we shall truly enter into it.

Splash 9: Watercolor Secrets The Best of Watercolor. Copyright 2006 by Rachel Rubin Wolf. Manufactured in China. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by North Light Books, an imprint of F+W Publications, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45236. (800) 289-0963. First Edition.

Other fine North Light Books are available from your local bookstore, art supply store or direct from the publisher.

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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data---updated to come
Rubin Wolf, Rachel

Splash 9 watercolors scenes : the best of watercolor / Rachel Rubin Wolf.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN-13:978-1-58180-694-6 (hardcover:alk. paper)
ISBN-10:1-58180-694-9 (hardcover: alk. paper)

1. Watercolorpainting--Technique. I.Title: Splash nine watercolor secrets. II. Title.

ND2420.R83 2006

751.422-dc22

2006002778

Production edited by Vanessa Lyman
Designed by Guy Kelly
Production art by Lisa Holstein
Production coordinated by Matt Wagner

Reflect on Reflections

When painting water, remember that you actually are painting reflections. My general rule is to start by wetting a blue sky reflection with water. Then, starting at the farthest point, I apply a graded wash of more cobalt and less cerulean that has a touch of burnt sienna to tone down the brightness. When dry, I repeatperhaps several timesto get the desired depth of color. You can enhance a solitary boat scene with reflections of unseen objects. You can place such reflections with an artists purpose, aiming to add balance to the painting. Use a long, thick reflection on one side balanced with a few short, thin reflections on the other, for example. Then use a rigger brush to design ropes and lines in an undulating fashion to act as pathways through the reflection. If the reflected object also appears in the painting, get the placement right by painting the reflections with your eye level exactly even with the object itself. It is also a great idea to add a touch of the complementary color in the center of interest; in this case the burnt orange of the crab basket helps balance all the blue and acts as a magnet for the eye.

The Crab Basket Betty Ganley
20 14 (52cm 37cm)

INTRODUCTION

Unspoken Friendship Bev Jozwiak
33 32 (84cm 81cm)
Collection of Mary Hurley

Splash is well on its way to becoming an institution. I have had the uncommon privilege over the years of viewing a large volume of exceptional artwork from a distinct body of artists. Some of the characteristics I have come to associate with our Splash artistswatercolor painters allare sincerity, friendliness, eagerness to please, willingness to share and a general lack of that stereotypical vice of the creative artist: the inflated ego. What I have encountered over these fifteen years is an overwhelming sense of humility and gratitude for the gift of art.

For this ninth volume we asked the artists to share their tips and techniques so the rest of us can benefit from their experience. Again, they were more than willing to openly share their dearest art secrets. But while I was editing the captions I found I wanted to know something deeper, something a little less tangible, a little more personal. I decided to e-mail all the artists and ask them, Why do you paint? Responding was optional, yet about two-thirds answered. We have scattered the responses throughout the book, but I wanted to share here a poem sent by contributing artist Donna Phillips Roberts. I thought it summed up both the thought of many of the artists, as well as the open, giving spirit that has become for me the hallmark of the Splash artist. Please receive the wonderful gifts presented here, in the artwork and in the shared secrets.