Splash 9 Watercolor Techniques (PDF)

In this edition of Splash we are celebrating artistic vision—that undefinable
gift of the artist—the ability to make visual that which exists in the mind’s eye, or
perhaps only in the heart. Some inspiration comes from the beauty around us, yet
each artist still exercises the “beauty receptors” he or she carries within—each
different, each unique.
Sandra Blair submitted a quote from Vincent van Gogh: “It is not the language of
painters but the language of nature which one should listen to. The feeling for the
things themselves, for reality, is more important than the feeling for pictures.”
Then again, Nancy Fortunato finds that she was inspired directly from the
language of painters—in fact that of van Gogh himself! Several others found vision
in old family photographs, melding interesting images with deep connections and
emotions. Still-life artists find inspirational vision in placing meaningful, or
perhaps even humorous, objects together, thereby creating a small personal
cosmos and bringing it to life.
Many artists exercise their vision in observing people and expressing the
emotion of a fleeting moment in a facial expression or a bodily gesture. Others find
their inspiration in the timeless moments of nature and in things that will far outlast
our lifetimes. But in all of these cases each artist carries within them the beauty
that is just waiting to be energized by an inspirational moment or idea.
And, oh yes, we are reminded by Bev Jozwiak that there is also some hard work
involved. Having one’s “beauty receptors” in place is the first step but, as Bev
says, “To be able to fulfill your artistic vision, you must first put in the hard work
of learning to paint. Tenacity wins out over talent every time.”
This is why we are celebrating the vision of the artists in this book. They not
only admired the beauty they saw or imagined, they put in the time to learn how to
translate it into paint and paper so that we can share their vision. For that we are
all richer.