Enda Bardell Watercolor Demonstration

Yesterday I went to a Watercolor Demonstration by Vancouver Visual Artist Enda Bardell and had a wonderful time watching, and recording the demonstration.

The demo was held in the new Opus Art Materials location in the Harbour Center in downtown Vancouver just across from Waterfront Station, a major transportation hub.

For the seascape watercolors she uses Winsor & Newton paints, and primarily uses Antwerp Blue, Indian Yellow, Alizarin Crimson or Brown Madder, and these colors will provide all the colors she needs for the scene.

Enda called Watercolor her Dance Partner, I am the Leader she said, and the Watercolor is a follower, but must be allowed to do it's own thing.

Watch Enda paint this gorgeous watercolor in the videos below.

Enda Bardell Watercolor Demonstration Part I

Part II

Part III

Visit Enda's Website

https://endabardell.com/

Watercolor Demonstration by Gary Tucker

This is a really great Watercolor Demonstration by Gary Tucker. Lots of great tips on how to paint a Seascape with a warm mood, and using a "Mother Color" throughout the painting.

Watercolor Sketch of Venice

Am very happy, that for the first time have finished a Watercolor Sketch in one session that I am happy with......things are looking up.

This is a Watercolor of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice after the photo by "Franklin", on Paint My Photo website.

8" x 5" Watercolor & Micron Pen on Moleskine 90LB Art Watercolor Journal 

Ukiyo-e-The Art of Japanese Woodcut Printmaking

Hokusai Irises
1760-1849
Source Wikimedia-Public Domain

Ukiyo-e means "Floating World" and I have been fascinated with this form of artistic expression since about 1969 when I saw a reproduction of a Japanese Print that my art teacher in high school showed me.

During this period a number of Japanese artists started print making using blocks of cherry wood which are turned into engraving plates by removing excess wood with small knives, and utilizing one single woodblock for each color to be printed.

Step 1 is to create a detailed line drawing, carve that out into a block of cherry wood, and then print that line drawing as many as 100-150 times. W.J. Phillips in his book mentioned that he was able to get a maximum of 150 prints before the block would degrade from the process.

The watercolor paper is kept wet with water during the printing process. The wet paper is laid on top of the block, after the colored pigment (watercolor) is painted on the block. The back of the paper is then rubbed with a block of wood wrapped in leaves. Each impression is then stacked in a pile wet, with newspaper in between each layer.

There can be as many as 10 colors in each print, meaning that there have to be 10 blocks, so the printing process is a long and arduous one.

However the Japanese discovered a beautiful way to expand their markets by providing limited editions of watercolor paintings. In essence they are not necessarily exactly the same because each wash that is applied can have it's own subtle difference from print to print.

Here are some Ukiyo-e resources that you may find interesting.

A guide to Ukiyo-e websites
Ukiyo-e Wikipedia
Empty Easel-A Brief History of Japanese Artprints
The Woodblock Prints Of Ando Hiroshige

Mayne Island Arbutus-Original Watercolor Painting

26" x 18"
Watercolor on Arches 140 LB Cold Press Watercolor Paper
$449

Contact the Artist

I started this painting in 1984 after a weekend camping trip to Gabriola Island and Mayne Island. I was on the trip with friends, in October, and it was pouring rain. Everyone except me got soaking wet overnight the first night, and the group decided to ferry over to Mayne Island and stay in a motel to dry out.

I stopped work on it because at one point I was stuck on how I was going to finish the Arbutus tree. This often happens to me when painting a watercolor, and I set them aside until I get inspiration on how to go forward. I also started a new job, and was too tired out from that every day to paint.

In the summer of 2007 my dear brother prodded me to finish the painting, so I searched the Internet for photos of Arbutus trees because I no longer had my photograph to reference from, and decided to get it finished at all costs.

The other thing I discovered was that I no longer had a desire to finish it off in the manner that I had first envisioned, and decided to leave it as is for the most part after painting in the parts that were white spaces on the painting.

So the minimalist style was not planned in any way, I found I just liked it as is.

If you would like to purchase the painting please contact me at tkrysak@gmail.com
Buy a Print