Size: 8 by 9 inches
Medium: Watercolour
Price: $200
Artist’s notes: This is a tiger rock and was painted in Victoria BC, near Dallas Road. This was a summer painting (in 2011). Calm colors and those who live in Victoria will recognize the rocks and ocean.
By Ron Mulvey
Moving water is the key element for success. Know your water and know what it can do for your brush. If you ignore the part that water plays you will end up out of control. Labor is also important because if you labor at it you kill the process.
The magic of watercolor is found in the immediate response to the wetness of the paper the purity of the color and the deftness of the brush. There is only one mistake you can make and that is to try and control the natural properties of the water. You have to stay in the background at the end of your brush much like the fly fish angler at the end of his rod.
The action takes place on the surface of the water away from you and you have to feel and observe–not control and fuss. The paper is saturated with water; the brush is charged with pure pigment which is flicked and maneuvered across the receptive surface of the paper.
There is no turning back; you are committed. You have 15 to 30 minutes for the image to surface, start drying and be transformed.
What it will look like at the end is always a mystery until it has set and dried.
Ron is a contemporary landscape artist. You can view and buy his landscape paintings in his online art gallery. Ron offers beautiful, original landscape paintings for just $40. You can view and order these small paintings here.
By Ron Mulvey
If the painting surface is smooth (no thick build up of paint), here is how to do a safe cleaning.
First, vacuum dust off surface without touching it. Keep the soft brush attachment about 1/4” from the surface. Allow the suction to take up loose dust particles.
Gently brush the surface with a very soft-haired brush. Do not scrub. Hold the picture up vertically and flick the brush in a downward motion starting at the top of the picture. The dirt that is loosely attached to the surface will fall to the bottom. Continue this flicking to the bottom of the painting and then vacuum once again.
Now that you have removed the surface dust, examine the painting closely. Use a magnifying glass if you can and look for insect stains (flies will leave little brown spots), cracks in the finish, chipped paint layers, food stains, anything of an organic nature.
If you find cracks don’t disturb them or apply anything to them. Your job is to clean, not repair. We don’t repair paintings; we restore them. If you wish to restore you need to research. Google ‘oil painting restoration’.
Using a ‘Q-Tip’ or cotton swab, look for little specs. A spot will usually be the size of a small freckle; you may have a few or a lot. Choose one and lets see what the cotton swab can do. If it comes off easily, great! If it doesn’t, don’t panic and start rubbing – once again, never scrub.
Find the spot and gently twist the swab in one direction 3 or 4 times. Take a look at the swab. If there is dirt, you are on your way. That’s the purpose of cleaning: get the dirt.
Now if the spot is still there, get another clean swab (you can not clean with a dirty one). Repeat – Gentle Twirl – Check for Dirt – Repeat. When the swab comes out clean after a twirl, stop. If the spot is still there, leave it.
Ron is a contemporary landscape artist. This website is his online art gallery.
Looking for an inexpensive piece of art? Ron offers beautiful, original landscape paintings for just $40. You can view and order these small paintings here.
Here are just some random thoughts on the primary mediums of a landscape artist: oil, acrylic, and watercolour. These aren’t really meant to be read by art collectors. Just me thinking about the daily materials that I use and the best methods for using oil, acrylics, and watercolours.
In the studio, as a rule, I work fast with oil initially and then slow down, settle in and enjoy what only oils can do. Each medium has its innate personality: oils should really be layered. They should glow with a luster that says “I am fully saturated with colour, and oil.” There are definite ‘dos and don’ts’ and the success of an oil is knowing the chemistry that produces the glow and finish only oils can produce.
I like oil paints because they are slick, full of light, patient (slow drying), adjustable, fully saturated, of two natures; fast and direct, slow and thoughtful.
Nothing is as permanent as plastic. Fast drying, easy to build up, thick and juicy if you want, or thin and liquid. Plastic paint that likes to be built up, plastered on, layered, veiled, or mixed with a myriad of extenders and mediums.
If oil is deep sea fishing and acrylic is trolling then watercolour has to be the intimate friend of flyfishing.
Direct, demanding, technical, liberating like winning a lottery when all goes right; but never plodding or time-consuming. If you spend 50 hours on a watercolour, then 48 of those hours better be spent getting ready.
My conviction is it happens and it has to happen quickly. Leave the adjusting, modifying and correcting to oils and acrylics. Waterclolour is about see it, do it, accept it. To me, a long drawn out watercolour is like snow shoeing down a ski hill: you’ve got the wrong equipment.
Ron is a contemporary landscape artist. You can view and buy his landscape paintings in his online art gallery.
Looking for an inexpensive piece of art? Ron offers beautiful, original landscape paintings for just $40. You can view and order these small paintings here.
