Aug 24

Curtis Whitwam

"Born and raised in Tampa, my love for Florida’s waterways and wildlife is expressed through my art. I feel most at home underwater or paddling. I love to share the feeling of deep connection to nature through watercolor paintings and underwater videos that I create to inspire everyone to get outside and appreciate the beauty and abundance of wild Florida."
Curtis Whitwam


The Sketchbook Project

"Order a sketchbook, fill it up, and send it back to us to be a part of the world’s largest collection of artist sketchbooks! Every participant is sent the same 5x7'' blank custom sketchbook. Each book will be given a unique six-digit barcode so we can easily catalog it into Brooklyn Art Library's system. 

Once we catalog it, you’ll be able to track where your book travels and how often it is viewed - we want to make sure you can stay connected with your sketchbook!

Anyone - from anywhere in the world - can be a part of the project."
Sketchbook Project
Thank you, Marlene


Winsor & Newton Support Team
Dear Shirley, 
Thank you for contacting Winsor & Newton.
Davy's Gray is a greenish gray color originally made from slate.  It was created in the 1800s and named after Henry Davy, a drawing master who used the color frequently.
Kind Regards,
Ann McCarthy

Aug 17

Mary Ciofalo in the 50|50 Show

Sanchez Art Center's 50|50 juried exhibition showcases the work of over 60 artists who have been working over the past 50 days to create 50 original new artworks.
For more information: 50/50 at the Sanchez Art Center

"If people don’t want to brave the crowds on opening night, then I will also be there on Saturday, the next day, from 3-5, Mary"

Nerd Heaven: The Color of Art 
Pigments, colors and mediums are the tools of the painter. Ever since human beings stood upright, freeing their hands, they have been using natural pigments, earth colors and synthetic pigments to record their experiences. If a language is meant to communicate ideas and record events, then art was truly the first language.
Pigments, Paints and Formulas
Recipes, Formulas and Mediums for the Artist
Free Artist Reference Books and eBooks: Watercolor
(Warning: Rabbit Hole qualities)

Aug 10

Open Book Show 6

There are heavy sketchbooks to pore over, delicate artist books, journals and diagrams to inspect- all reiterating tactile and intimate experiences.
Monday-Friday, 9-5
Reception on August 24, 7-10pm
Arion Press/Grabhorn Institute
Thank you Janie


Ali Cavanaugh











Each painting is a learning experience that builds wisdom and endurance on the journey. You never “arrive”. You grow and change, your art will grow and change. Enjoy the day to day experience in creating art.
Pushing the Medium Forward

Jul 27

Island Artists Jane and Linus Chao

In the most positive sense, the Chinese saying “May your life be interesting” certainly applies to Jane and Linus Chao, island treasures who have been creating and teaching art for the last 50 years. Primarily watercolor artists on silk and paper, art has always been at the center of their lives, which they have shared with our island community.
A Dream of the Heart
Thank you, Darlene

Sophie Rodionov

In this demonstration (bias toward Daniel Smith) I'm going to show you step by step of painting a cat in watercolour. I've selected my really important steps which are how I build every painting.
Watercolor Cat

Jul 20

Where Are All the Bob Ross Paintings? 

NYTimes.com found them.
This video is not about watercolors. I am breaking the rule that limits the contents of this blog because, well, Bob Ross.
This is really cool!
Bob Ross Paintings
Thank you, Mary

Book List 

Handprint.com is one of the premier watercolor sites. These are his current recommendations, without sponsorship backing the choices. In his words: "Hundreds of books are available on watercolor painting and art techniques. 
In this section I review the books published up to 2008 that impressed me as remarkable ... good or bad. Many of the books present the same material in a very similar way; I try to identify what is unique to each. (The title of each book links to the ordering page for the book on amazon.com.) Many of these books are now out of print, but the reviews are offered as examples of how art books should be evaluated."
Books

July 13

John Lovett Lessons

I think I have posted about John Lovett before, but he has added a whole bunch of lessons that may be interesting.
Be sure to scroll down to the end of this page to see the entire list of lessons.
Lessons
This is one lesson:
Oversized Watercolor Paper
His Gallery ain't bad, either.
Gallery

Aug 06

World Watercolor Month 

31 Days of Painting with Watercolor

A Charitable Event to Support Arts Education

31 Watercolors in 31 Days Challenge!

Charlie O’Shields started to capture little bits of the world in ink and watercolor in July 2015. Even though he hadn’t picked up a pen to sketch in over 20 years and he’d only just used watercolor for the first time that day, he got excited about it and Doodlewash was born.

Doodlewash

Vocabulary - Inspiration and Afflatus

Inspiration might be described as a breath of fresh air, and so it is appropriate that inspire derives in part from a word meaning "to breathe"—Latin spirare. Afflatus is a lesser-known word for inspirationthat followed a parallel route. 

Afflatus, which in Latin means "the act of blowing or breathing on," was formed from the prefix ad- ("to, toward") and the Latin verb flare ("to blow"). That Latin verb gave us such words as inflate and (via French) soufflé. The Roman orator Cicero used afflatus in his writings to compare the appearance of a new idea to a breath of fresh air. Nowadays, one often finds the word preceded by the adjective divine, but poets and artists can find afflatus in the material world as well

Instagram Account

For All You Tech Savvy & Happy To Be So Peeps

Our watercolor community now has an Instagram account: @watercolorcommunitysf.

If you have any digital pictures or your paintings, please send them to: watercolor.sf@gmail.com. It is a great way to share our work with each other and expand our audience for our shows.

- This forum is kind and generous, not mean and nasty like some others.

- It is a visually strong forum, but a few words attached to each picture gives the image some support.

- Your name does not need to be attached to the picture if you don't want it there. Totally up to you, just let me know. If you have your own account, and want to be tagged, I can do that, too.

This image is an example of a post, from David Hockney's account.