ABOUT
US
At school I loved painting and drawing.
In the sixth form our art master was happy to let us experiment with all sorts of painting. We used powder paints, poster colors, charcoal and pastels. We used water-based emulsion paints on chipboard and cardboard. But we were never shown how to watercolor.
We painted on murals on walls and cupboard doors – anything that didn’t move! We even painted a reclining colleague because we found him sprawled over the workbench asleep. We undid his shirt and painted his chest! Sorry John!
After 2 years of experimenting in different media (including body painting!) I attended Bournemouth and Poole College of Art followed by Maidstone College of Art where we continued to experiment with different media but, again, not how to watercolor!
Now you may think that I have an advantage over you if you haven’t been to art school. As I’ll show you later, it’s the techniques that are used in watercolour painting that help to separate the amateur from the professional. And these you can learn!
From time to time, alongside a successful career in design and advertising, I’ve dabbled (spelt s-t-r-u-g-g-l-e-d) with watercolors, but seldom did the paintings turn out how I wanted them to.
The frustration was with my paints. They often had a mind of their own and would show little interest in the effect I was trying to achieve in my painting. They would make their own carefree way across my painting determined to create their own!
Some colors, always the stronger ones, would influence the weaker ones, purposefully encouraging them to join forces and wreak havoc!
Sometimes they’d go on too dark, other times too light. Sometimes too dry, or too wet. And sometimes... they had no reason to be in my painting at all! Sound familiar?
Well we have to be responsible for our actions. We must learn to take control of our painting, but only up to a point. Some of the most exciting parts of a watercolor painting can be accidents, so long as they don’t get too out of hand. We have to allow room for these to occur!
I decided that I’d need to devote a lot of time and effort into getting proper instructions in watercolor painting to be successful but it would be well worth the effort. After all, a properly executed watercolor painting is so aesthetically satisfying that we all want to be responsible for creating them!
As Head of Art in a London Advertising Agency it was part of my job to brief some of the top illustrators around. From them I learnt the best practical tips and techniques to control the medium. From choosing the right materials to having the right frame of mind, from expressing confidence in my work to producing the paintings I’d always dreamt about.
There are artists out there
who have truly mastered all aspects of watercolor painting.
I have discovered that they are using techniques that, when
applied correctly, almost cannot fail to produce stunning
paintings, time after time.
It is these techniques that
I’ll soon be showing you. Techniques that will give
you a higher quality of work, more confidence in your water
color paintings, and they will bring out the best talents
that you have in this area of art.
To your success,
Roger Berry
Fellow Artist! |
