BeckerArt FLOAT-YOUR-PIGMENT Newsletter October 23rd Black & White

Published: Tue, 10/23/18

Hello

Welcome to the FLOAT-YOUR-PIGMENT Newsletter #179 Black and White

I am in Florida this week Judging the Jacksonville Watercolor Society show along with doing a demonstration at their meeting and a 3-day workshop to end the week. I hear back home the weather in Illinois is terrible with high winds and a little snow this weekend... maybe my luck is getting better.

Dad and Mom Report: dad is doing amazing and getting better and better every day. Mom who was in that terrible accident came away with only a cut arm and it is healing great. I'm hoping when I get back home dad will finally be able to come home.

See my re-write below and how I didn't like what I wrote for last weeks article on green, I usually don't try to write about my opinions but instead write about facts.

If you in Jacksonville, Florida today, Tuesday the 23rd stop by the Jacksonville Watercolor Society. 7pm - 9pm at Cultural Center Ponte Vedra Beach. INFO HERE

Yes to Class at the Civic Center in Libertyville with Sue Macfarlan, Thursday, Oct. 25th 1 pm to 3:30

Yes to Open Studio at the BeckerArt Gallery in McHenry, Saturday, Oct. 27th 9:00 am to 11:30 am

Black and White

Last week I talked about how I didn't like summer because of all the green and how it was hard to make it look good... that was my opinion and not a fact. As an instructor, I always tell my students that anything can be any color and use the colors that you like and you don't need to copy the color in the photo, so my opinion of green summers contradicts what I teach and is why I am sorry and taking everything back that I said. Not sure why I stated that opinion last week but thanks for those that emailed me and caught my mistake. You know what they say about opinions, I won't say it here but I hope to keep my opinions out of this newsletter and keep the teaching to facts that work.

I did state some facts in last weeks newsletter about green and those facts and teachings still apply. This week I, however, want to talk about Black and White watercolors. As a watercolor student back at the American Academy of Art I was taught a lot of don'ts, and the biggest was don't use black and white in watercolor. They never said why it wasn't to be used but as a student who followed directions, I stopped using black and white. Then after I graduated from school and started teaching I questioned why I couldn't use black and white with watercolor.

I learned that the teachers probably didn't want me to use black and white because using black for all dark's would make those dark's bland and they wanted to teach me to mix my blacks with colors, making the blacks more colorful. The white they didn't want us to use because we were supposed to use the white of the paper for the whites. They also didn't want us to use white for covering over mistakes and not to use the white as a crutch but instead in a traditional transparent way.

Not until I saw that John Singer Sargent and Andrew Wyeth used white and black did I also start using it. I figured if these masters used it so could I. I now teach my students how to use the white and black as a way to enhance their paintings and not use it as a crutch. The black I mix with other colors to make it more colorful and the white I also use with other colors to make pastel colors that I teach to use in a transparent way.

Like I always say, anything can be any color and if you need dimension in your colors you can grey and lighten the color for the background and intensify the color to make it come forward. So last week when I said you should grey down the green to make it go back that is a fact but you can also lighten it. But me not liking summer greens is just my opinion so if you like green go ahead and use it, then break the rules and use black and white and use them to create wonderful paintings.

artistic license, use it!

David

Workshops and Demos in 2018

Jacksonville Watercolor Society Workshop, Jacksonville FL, October 24, 25, 26 For Information Click Here

Workshops and Demos in 2019

Dillman's Festival, Marco Island Center for the Arts DEMO, Florida, January 27th, For Information Click Here

Marco Island Center for the Arts WORKSHOP, Florida, January 29th-30th, For Information Click Here

Morris Watercolor Guild Workshop, IL, March 1st, Information to come

Dillman's Acrylic Workshop, Lac du Flambeau, WI, June 3rd - 6th For Information Click Here

Vermont Art Event Workshop Classes, VT, July 29th - August 2nd, Information to come

Cheap Joes Workshop, Boone NC, Sept. 9th - 13th For Information Click Here

Dillman's Watercolor Workshop, Lac du Flambeau, WI, Sept. 23d - 26th For Information Click Here

Artist of the Week

Robert Leedy is a Jacksonville, Florida artist that I saw on the internet. I really like his work.

6 BeckerArt Brushes
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

For any other info please email me at david@davidrbecker.com