Daring Colour

Ann Abgott

I love colour but as far as the theory goes I know nothing at all and I visited my local library to see what I could find.  There was very little but I ordered some books and borrowed one called Daring Colour by Anne Abgott. 

The book describes Ann's way of working and her love of colour is very evident. Her chosen way of applying water colour is to mix it on the paper because it allows her to paint more quickly.

Ann calls her technique "mingling" because that it exactly what the paint does on the paper and it creates effects that I just love.

Pick a Pear
Ann Abgott
Watercolour

Ann strives for clean, vibrant colours and chooses her pigments with great care. She saysit is important to know your paints well and understand the difference between transparent and opaque, staining or non staining and granular or non granular as each will give a different effect. As with most things experience is the key.

All this is probably far too detailed for my needs but I was inspired to try just to see what would happen.  To say it is easier than it looks is an understatement.  The first example here is just two colours but the others are mixtures I used when I was experimenting with blending.  When I had finished I simply mingled what was left.

Blue and red

Primary colours with black

Complementary mixtures mingled 

Arbitrary mixtures mingled

I can see that with practice the effects can be quite stunning - they are attractive even in these first experiments.  The amount of water used is very important as it influences everything that happens.  I imagine the degree of control needs a lot of experience; a thought acknowledged by the artist.

Annelein Beukenkamp

Whilst I was looking at Ann's work I sensed some familiarity with the style of a print that hangs in my home.  The picture is called "Posing"  by Annelein Beukenkamp. I bought it at a gallery in Vermont four years ago.  The mingling that I have looking at seems to be something I have been loving for a long time.

Annelein Beukenkamp
Posing

 Annelein says

"My technique is very loose and fluid, letting pigments mix and mingle on the bright white paper to achieve a very spontaneous yet controlled outcome."

A painter friend gave me the names of other artists to look at and I found them fascinating and inspiring.  

Ann Blockley

Ann is a professional painter who during 30 years has developed the loose flowing style I find myself admiring.  She is inspired by the natural world around her and her style lends itself to the atmospheric moods I like.  All the words I have been introduced to in the course are evident in Ann's work particularly texture and marks.  Ann shares her techniques in a range of publications. (I was lucky enough to see Ann give a demo at Patchings Art Festival in summer 2013)

Poppy field
Ann Blockley
Watercolour

Shirley Trevena

Shirley came to painting after a career in local government and describes having "the most wonderful adventure in discovering what marks I want to put onto paper and how to make colours sing".

Shirley's website describes her style as "a wonderfully loose way of painting using a dynamic palette of colours."  Once again the word loose crops up as with the other artists I have looked at.  Some of Shirley's work seems more abstract than that of Ann Blockley but both are very beautiful.

Sarlat
Shirley Trevena
Watercolour and mixed media

Jean Haines

Jean has lived and travelled in many countries and they have all left their mark on her work. In Europe Jean developed a quiet use of watercolor, in China she concentrated on brush control and in India and Pakistan she developed the wonderful use of colour we see in this lovely picture of a child on the beach. I simply couldn't resist it.

On the Beach
Jean Haines
Watercolour

Jean's subject matter is varied.  She has sporting themes, landscape, and figures.  I find it quite amazing that so much dynamism can be portrayed with such a loose, flowing style that seems to leave quite a lot for the viewer to interpret.
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Flying colours
Jean Haines
Watercolour

In the work of all of these artists I can see elements that are directly pertinent to working with textiles particularly of course the use of colour.  There is a freshness to the work I've looked at that seems to be colour dependent.  With my current knowledge of colour theory I feel unable to  analyse exactly why this should be so but hopefully with a bit of time and experience I might be able to return to this work and offer reasons. 

The idea of mingling is one that I feel sure will crop up in my work very soon.
  


Anne Abgott, 2007,  Daring Colour, North Light Books, Cincinnati, Ohio


Links
http://www.froghollow.org/artist/annelein-beukenkamp

http://www.jeanhaines.com

http://www.shirleytrevena.com/

http://www.annblockley.com/