Hello
Welcome to the FLOAT-YOUR-PIGMENT Newsletter #156, Watercolor & Pastel
Happy belated Mother's Day to all the wonderful Moms! My mother just arrived back from a month in Germany visiting many of our relatives. I'm happy she got
home safely and we could spend the whole day picnicking at our local state park.
This week I will be asking around to find out what my student's favorite subjects are. Many of them I think I know what they like to paint but this week I want to find out more about why it is their favorite subject. I always tell my students to paint what you love and know a lot about and if you love something but don't know a lot about the subject, that is when I tell them to
start learning as much as you can about the subject. It may not seem like knowing everything about your favorite subject will help you when you are painting it, but it really does, trust me. This is the reason I am trying to learn as much as possible about the Armed Forces as I get ready to paint an exhibition of works for this November's Veterans Day. It has been only about 3 weeks since I started this quest and I have learned so much. This week I am heading to the Volo Museum where they have a huge military exhibit where I want to go look and sketch some of the vehicles and helicopters they have on display. Know your subject matter!
Coming up on the 27th of May I will be demonstrating at the Dillman's Spring Open House in Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin. For more
information GO HERE
Sign-up asap to take my 3-day workshop at the Le Mars Arts Center. Sign-up for three days June 5, 6 and 7th, 2018, for only $275.00 a person. Click HERE for info to sign-up
Yes to Class at the Civic Center Libertyville, Thursday, May 17th, 1pm to 3:30 Yes to Class at the Antioch Fine Arts Foundation, Thursday, May 17th, 6:30pm to 9pm Yes to Class at the BeckerArt Gallery in
McHenry, Saturday, May 19th 9am to 11:30am In the last couple of months, I have been working a lot with different mediums and seeing how they work together. I have been painting with watercolors and fluid acrylics and also many opaque watercolors. I have always encouraged my students to try new things, like new papers, mediums and whatever else they can find online that interests them. One thing I
hadn't mentioned to them is mixing the mediums together or as we artists call it, Mixed Media.
Last week as I was on Facebook an artist friend, Frankie Johnson had posted some of her mixed media and I fell in love with her watercolor/pastel paintings. I will post the ones I loved below. I had totally forgotten about this form
of mixed media, it was something I used to do back when I attended the drawing sessions at the Palette and Chisel. I was mostly painting in watercolor but would many times use pastels to finish the details of the figure painted watercolors. At the time I didn't even know what mixed media was, I was just using the pastels because I could get the details better with pastel
then I could with watercolor.
I remember talking to a few pastel artists that would use watercolor first to start their pastels, laying down large washes of colors and then using pastels over the washes. You can also use watercolors over pastels which takes the pastels, which is a pigment, and spreads it around like watercolors. What one has to worry about is the paper or board you use when using both watercolor and pastel together. You really can't use pastel paper when
using watercolor, but there are a lot of sand type papers and boards that work really well with both mediums.
I can't find any of my old watercolor/pastels that I did way back at the P&C so instead, I will show you the professional work by Frankie..... go check out her website. I also recommend her workshops at her school in Lake Zurich IL. I know there are some artists that will only do traditional watercolor painting and follow the rules that were pasted on to them by their instructors. I on the other hand tell my students that after they have learned the basics and fundamentals of watercolor to then start breaking the rules and learn to be your own artist. Do what you
must to take your art to your personal next level and make it your own style. Mixed Media no Rules! David
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WOW! Can
this lady paint or what! My BeckerArt Workshops and Demos in 2018
DEMO, Dillman's Festival of Artists, Lac du Flambeau, WI. May 27th For Information Click Here
Le Mars Arts Council Workshop, Le Mars, IA. June 5th -7th, For Information Click Here
Dillman's Spring Workshop, Wisconsin, June 10-15th, For
information Click Here
Vermont Art Event Classes. Burlington VT, July 23rd -27th, Information to come
Dillman's Fall Workshop, Wisconsin, September 9-14th, For information Click Here
Artisan Materials Expo Classes, Santa Fe, September 27th-30th, For Information Click Here
Perquimans Arts League, Hertford NC, October 15th and 16th, For Information Click Here
Jacksonville Watercolor Society Workshop, Jacksonville FL, October 24, 25, 26 For Information Click Here
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Frankie Johnson is the owner of the Mainstreet Art Center in Lake Zurich, IL. I have known Frankie quite some time now and she is also an alumni from the American Academy of Art. Frankie
paints in all mediums and does such a wonderful job with all of them. Last week I saw Frankie post her mixed media watercolor/pastels and they just blew me away, so wonderful.
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6 BeckerArt Brushes
Thanks to all of you that have sent me your great reviews on my brushes,
I am so happy you all like them!
I now have 2 sets of BeckerArt Brushes... they are the original set which includes the 1 1/4" flat, the #16 round and the #4 rigger. My NEW brush set includes the 1/2" flat, the 1/4" flat and the #8 round Click Here to Purchase BeckerArt Brushes |
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For any other info please email me at david@davidrbecker.com
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