Today, at our Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society meeting, we had a wonderful demo and talk by Ken Landon Buck. Ken is a well-known and respected local teacher and artist who works in watercolor, acrylic and pastel. He has signature membership in many of the state and national art societies, and his work is always intriguing. Ken opened our minds to creating paintings in a "different" way = using permanent India Ink to draw the subject and get in the darks first. Then working dark to light to finish.
He let the India ink dry overnight, then went in with watercolor paint, painting over the ink (which is why he let the India ink dry overnight to be sure it was bone dry and wouldn't "move" under the watercolor). And yes, you could see the watercolor over the ink.
So - India Ink first.
Then watercolor, covering some but not all of the white and some of the darks, adding in some rich colors.
Then to finish up the painting, Ken added colored pencil work on top, creating texture and lightening areas. He said he was thinking like a sculptor to shape the subject matter.
It was really interesting and I'd like to try it - you can be heavy with the ink or light (he had a musk ox that was very dark but also had a finished painting of a sea turtle on the beach done the same way but with less sections of the India ink).
I'm afraid I forgot my camera - had a lot to remember today - but I know Deb Ward will have some photos on the GCWS blog soon :)
After the program, we had a chocolate cake with raspberry filling from Graeter's, as a thank you to Deb for her past work as President of the group and for all the other work she's done for the group since she became a member.
And then we all brainstormed ideas for future programs since we have no Program Chair for the coming years. Some interesting ideas were tossed around and we'll see where it goes from June (when I have the last guest artist/speaker scheduled).
He let the India ink dry overnight, then went in with watercolor paint, painting over the ink (which is why he let the India ink dry overnight to be sure it was bone dry and wouldn't "move" under the watercolor). And yes, you could see the watercolor over the ink.
So - India Ink first.
Then watercolor, covering some but not all of the white and some of the darks, adding in some rich colors.
Then to finish up the painting, Ken added colored pencil work on top, creating texture and lightening areas. He said he was thinking like a sculptor to shape the subject matter.
It was really interesting and I'd like to try it - you can be heavy with the ink or light (he had a musk ox that was very dark but also had a finished painting of a sea turtle on the beach done the same way but with less sections of the India ink).
I'm afraid I forgot my camera - had a lot to remember today - but I know Deb Ward will have some photos on the GCWS blog soon :)
After the program, we had a chocolate cake with raspberry filling from Graeter's, as a thank you to Deb for her past work as President of the group and for all the other work she's done for the group since she became a member.
And then we all brainstormed ideas for future programs since we have no Program Chair for the coming years. Some interesting ideas were tossed around and we'll see where it goes from June (when I have the last guest artist/speaker scheduled).
4 comments:
Hi Rhonda, thanks for the link to Ken's site. I just love his paintings of the swimmers.
Sounds Like an awesome day! I met Ken at his studio once, and he was so interesting to listen to him talk about the finer points of his painting process. I bet he was great at your meeting.
I like to use colored pencils myself on top of watercolor at times. The cake sounds yummy!
Dear Rhonda - what an interesting post. Ken's work is beautiful too. Sounds like someone should have called me for that delicious sounding cake - (LOL) - I am sure if I had been invited I would have done my best to get there - have a great day.
Post a Comment