A major plus for Aquabord is being able to wipe off a painting almost completely regaining the sparkle of the whites. This workability allows me to be very free and spontaneous. On rare occasions the first spontaneous marks express my intended poetic, primal movements of the outdoors location. Much too often I miss capturing an interesting intention. But no problem the incomplete beginning becomes the object of loving experimentation. In the case of the 11" x 14" painting at the right, "Keiki Pool Kailua Bay", I struggled to get the movement of a windy day. I sat low to the ground with the painting in my lap to decrease the battle with the wind. The Daniel Smith Watercolor Sticks resisted pressure and broke unevenly on the textured surface of the board. I kept painting and wiping away. The watercolor sticks were too saturated in color. I ended up using a prepared palette of tube colors mixed with Golden White Absorbent Ground. The tooth brush made excellent texture that took on the appearance of the sandy bank. the conditions of the day impacted the painting. The paints dried quickly.To view the painting from a little distance, getting as far back as possible while remaining seated, the painting was placed on the ground. When on the ground the breeze blew sand that imbedded in the wet paint adding more fine texture to the even texture of the manufactured board. Finally it started raining and I left Kailua Bay before I expressed anything close to the atmosphere of the day. The clouds behind the palm were more about my struggle than the actual sky. In desperation the lower middle figure was simply indicated with a red swath in the form of a backward letter"C". In the picture to the right I wiped away most of the red as soon as I was back at the rental. Then at the resolution of the painting most of the red was painted back I needed red to make the young woman important and noticed.
The option of being able to almost restore the original surface, can have draw backs. Becoming too comfortable with indecision! During most of the development I kept a sunbather added after the initial painting outdoors. The sunbather took up a triangular shaped space in the lower right corner. The removal caused an empty space in an other wise finished work. More struggling to capture a unifying swinging life as though it came to be in one breath! The corner must be worked alone while every touch to the surface is mindful of the swinging movement of the whole. The painting will never have the sure serenity of knowing what the intended general flow from the start.I did not give up. Starting Feb. 15th, finally the painting is a result of little changes day by day until March 3rd. In the course of working the board, I now know how to remove paint and regain the white in the ripples of the pond by scratching the board with a fingernail. I adjusted to painting on a small surface up close with my new cataract replacement lenses corrected for working on large canvases where I observe the canvas from distances between three and six feet. After days of involvement,
I feel a sense of accomplishment because the entire painting is like the shimmer of the breezy atmosphere. I am comfortable with the size of the figures in the foreground and middle ground. The painting reads well enough from a little distance. As yet I have not applied acrylic to make it permanent without glass. The commercial spray can is toxic and environmentally bad. I may brave sealing it by brushing on acrylic medium and Liquitex Soluvar Matte varnish later. Care must be taken to keep from smearing the paint. No way am I going back to glass!!
I am not concerned with the imperfections when I have the whole movement working. The figures are much larger in relation to the real size of the pool. To accommodate these giantesses, the water gets deeper faster than in real life. I deliberately took poetic license to exaggerate the way water is a part of the whole energy of the place and time. No matter how many questionable departures are taken such labored paintings always have some commendable parts and a wealth of ideas for future outdoor painting excursion.
"The High Surf" was painted at our rental after observing the stormy crashing surf. The Daniel Smith Watercolor Sticks worked well on the Aquaboard when applied in pools of water that took awhile to dry leaving a line at their edges. The surf painting was completed in two sessions. Good to know because on a calm, hot, dry day the Aquabord lying flat on a table would be fun.Below center, "Kohanaki Beach" on a canvas board using Watercolor Sticks proved more friendly than the combining the sticks with Aquabord. The woven texture more easily accepted the watercolor sticks. The openness of pigment tinted whites and the pigments was a happy occurrence. The painting moved naturally from foreground, middle to distant. The openness lends itself to adding ink lines in the middle ground water. Back at the rental I added three figures.
This linear style with color shapes and linear markings goes back to 1957. My art teacher, Mr. Clark, at Portola Junior High School in El Cerrito, California introduced me to open color and painting outdoors. In his class I painted large swaths of bright color and then drew lines depicting objects on top with the colors extending beyond the boundaries of the lines. The style was further encouraged by Professor Frederich Heidel, my Portland State College painting instructor and some gallery venues and judges in competitions of the Watercolor Society of Oregon.
Also coming soon are new work at the Corvallis Caring Place Assisted Living. No Guild members came forward to show their work for March and April so I intend to replace what was showing in January and February but also a new work but also make some changes in the rest of the building where I manage the hanging. If some of you want to help me out and have work stored in closets you would like to share, let me know please.
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