BeckerArt FLOAT-YOUR-PIGMENT Newsletter August 27th, www.stencilgirlproducts

Published: Tue, 09/03/19

Hello

Welcome to the FLOAT-YOUR-PIGMENT Newsletter #223, Stencil Girl Products

I spent most of last week at my studio/gallery where I lent out my studio to John Lovett of Australia and Frankie Johnson of the Mainstreet Art Center in Lake Zurich, IL. John was conducting and Frankie was hosting a 4-day workshop. The workshop was amazing and I too learned a great deal from watching John teach. I hope to try some of John's techniques this week and I hopefully will try and teach a few of them in my classes coming up. First I need to find a good goat hair Hake brush.

There is still time to join me up at Dillman's this September for my watercolor workshop that will have a lot of new things happening in my teachings... now even more since I learned a few more tricks from John Lovett last week. I will be bringing a lot of free samples for all the students to work with on this trip/workshop to Dillman's... there are going to be so many new techniques at this workshop you don't want to miss!
Go HERE to sign up for my Dillman's class this coming September.

Yes to Class at the Civic Center in Libertyville, Thursday, September 5th1pm to 3:30pm

Yes to Class at the BeckerArt Gallery in McHenry, Saturday, September 7th 9:00 am to 11:30 am

Watercolors & StencilGirl® Stencils

Last week I was featured in a blog at StencilGirl® and for anybody that didn't see it I am posting it here this week in my newsletter. Enjoy!

For over 35 years I, David R. Becker have been painting in a traditional transparent watercolor medium style. I have always studied watercolor painting masters like Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent and followed the ways of the old masters. That was until about half a year ago when I met an artist at an expo in Texas named Trish McKinney. Trish was working in the booth next to the Legion Paper booth where I was working at and Trish was working with stencils. I brought over a piece of my work and Trish showed me how I could use that stencil on my watercolor work. I was sold and then Trish gifted me one of her stencils that she said came from a company named StencilGirl®. I was sold and loved using this one stencil I now owned. Later in that month Trish contacted StencilGirl® and told them about my experience with their stencil. I then ordered a bunch more stencils and started using them on my watercolors because I loved the look that it gave my watercolor paintings.

Below is a step-by-step watercolor that I painted and added stencils to:

This is the reference photo I used for this painting.

I first draw out a pencil line onto a Stonehenge Aqua 300lb watercolor paper

to show me where I will be placing my paint.

I start the first wash with all the light colors hitting all the spots in the painting that will be light.

Next, are all the dark colors that make up the background leaving them plain so I can come back with StencilGirl® stencils to finish the background in the next stage.

I now look for a StencilGirl® stencil that I feel matches the look of the painting. At this stage, The stencil I use for this project is called a Thicket Stencil which you can HERE at StencilGirl®.

I wipe out the watercolor with a magic eraser sponge over the stencil that is placed on top of the watercolor.

The sponge shouldn't be really wet just slightly damp. You are wiping out the watercolor leaving the light of the paper shining through.

You can also brush in the watercolor over top of the StencilGirl® stencil onto the paper. Make sure you brush in the watercolor with as little water as possible, a drybrush effect works best and also dabbing the watercolor brush straight onto the paper also works well.

The finished piece will have a look like you spent hours creating the most beautiful background.

Shown below are more paintings where I used stencils to do parts of the background,

some I took the paint away and some I applied the paint to.

I store all my wonderful StencilGirl® stencils in a stamping-up photo binder I got at Goodwill.

These binders have 12" by 12" plastic sleeves that the stencils fit in perfectly.

Thanks so much for visiting today!

David R. Becker

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WORKSHOPS and DEMOS in 2019

Cheap Joes WORKSHOP, Boone NC, Sept. 9th - 13th CANCELED

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

McHenry Community College CLASSES October 2, 9, 16, 23 Class is SOLD OUT

LaGrange Art League WORKSHOP, LaGrange, IL, October 18th - 20th
For Information Click Here

Product of the Week
A stencil from StencilGirl®.

The product I'm posting this week is a Stencil from StencilGirl®. Her products are available at https://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/

Question of the Week

Asked: Are stencils allowed to be used for juried watercolor shows?

Answer: I see no reason why they would not be allowed, it's just another tool or technique like lifting with a brush or throwing salt into the wash. Unless it specifically says don't use stencils in your watercolor work I say go ahead and use them and then submit to the show.

Do you have a question? Email it to me at BeckerArt@gmail.com

Artist of the Week

Trish McKinney is an artist I met in San Antonio earlier this year that introduced me to using stencils in my work!

BeckerArt Brushes

Click Here to Purchase BeckerArt Brushes

Shop Amazon by clicking the logo below to help me fund this newsletter... Thank You!

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