Art Every Day Month - Post 9

Brushstrokes

Brushstrokes - Detail of 11" x 15" Watercolor on Paper -
Study in Making Marks with a Brush

In Oriental painting, there is a formal study of brush marks, similar to the calligraphy of Oriental writing. This is not that.

As I was experimenting with this study of  brushstrokes, I became fascinated with the results that a movement of the brush touching the paper and leaving a mark in paint would give. I was amazed at how a sequence of free gestures repeated in a variety of ways could build up into a compelling image suggesting leaves and branches. Rhythm, repetition, shape, direction, flow.

Art Every Day Month - November 15

Spirited Calligraphy

I found a quote from one of my old painting teachers, John R. Fox, who passed away recently:

"I believe that a painting has to be a feast for the eyes.
I try to create in my art something that makes me feel alive.
Any art that makes me feel better is good." - John R. Fox

The colors I used in today's challenge, a flat wash of cadmium yellow underpainting, with Opera magenta and alizarin crimson details in the blocks, would look bright and cheerful in any painting.
When you look closely, the alizarin crimson actually looks dull and brownish in contrast with the much more saturated pink and yellow.

But it is the active brushstrokes that bring this painting to life.
I blotted these calligraphic marks out of wet washes with a brush that I first wiped absolutely dry, and then put a touch of color straight from the tube just on the tip.
When I made a firm heavy stroke, the dry brush sucked the wet paint away, and the concentrated paint laid itself down on the paper in the same movement.

This painting certainly makes me feel enlivened just looking at it, and I am grateful that the 16 block arrangement has become truly a feast for the eyes.