Mendelssohn's Watercolors

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) is best known as a composer, but he was also a watercolor painter.

He started keeping a sketchbook at age 13 and produced approximately three hundred artworks throughout his short life. Like most well-education children of his time, he was encouraged to document what he saw in pen and ink and watercolor during his travels with his family through Europe.

 

He created watercolor landscapes during trips to Switzerland, Italy, and Scotland. One of his watercolor depictions is of the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany, where he conducted a performance of Luigi Cherubini's opera Ali Baba in 1836. 

The watercolor may have been executed as a memento of the performance or as a betrothal present for soprano Henriette Grabau, who participated in the performance and to whom Mendelssohn gave two autographed, signed letters and two songs he composed.

More at Library of Congress

Pellew on Originality

In his 1970 book "Painting in Watercolor," John Pellew addresses the question of what the beginning watercolorist should look for when they go to nature to try their hand at landscapes. 

"Let me tell what not to look for. He should not look for a subject that reminds him of the subjects painted by his favorite artist. There are a lot of people out today looking for ready-made Wyeths. To them, I can only say that the best Wyeths are painted by Wyeth."

Pellew advises artists to rid their minds of preconceived notions of what a landscape subject should be. Walk around the subject until you find something that interests you, and then figure out how to translate that interest into a composition. "Keep your eyes open for things under your nose," he says. "You could be passing up a real gem."

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Quotes from Painting in Watercolor by John Pellew

Russell Flint on Color Harmony

Russell Flint, Cordoba, watercolor

In his book Water-Colour for Beginners Sir Frances Russell Flint warned that a painting will lack color harmony if it has too many colors in it. He said: 

"You must aim at getting tone and harmony in your work, although it may not be easy. All pictures may be divided into masses of bright color or light, medium-strength color, and shadows. It may be difficult to trace the exact places where they occur in a picture, but they are there all the same. It is obvious that when you are working out of doors on a bright sunny day all the colors will be strong and bright in tone, and even the shadows and middle tints will be strong too. The opposite occurs on a dull day, when the whole scene is changed to one of low tone, when both colors and shadows will be soft and subdued. In each case the colors will harmonize and all complement each other in tone. Mix the colors of these two scenes together and the result is a discordant picture which will be unnatural and unbalanced."

Exhibit of 19th C Drawings and Watercolors

The Albany Institute of History and Art recently opened an exhibit of plein-air drawings and watercolors called "Hudson River School Journeys: Watercolors and Drawings by William Hart and Julie Hart Beers."

The featured artists are a brother and sister pairing, with a large room filled half with William's work, and the other half with Julie's. 

William Hart, white pine, watercolor

Both of them traveled throughout the northeastern USA, sketching in watercolor, gouache, pencil, and pen. 

William Hart, First Snow, Grafton, Maine, watercolor and gouache

The small image was painted on September 30, 1867 by William during a trip to Maine, as an early snow fell while the autumn colors were at their peak. One reviewer from the time said "It was a strange meeting of two seasons."

Hart's sister Julie Beers frequently went sketching with her brother, and she often brought her friends and students. Her children were artistic too, and the show includes intimate glimpses into their joyful moments, with sketchbooks, photos, and illustrated letters and postcards by her daughter Marion Robertson (Beers) Brush. 

Most of Julie's works are generously being loaned to the exhibition by her descendants.  In the photograph below, Julie is standing amidst her students. She's the one holding a brush behind the central seated woman. 

William Hart's ink wash composition (below) displays "the artist's masterful handling of washes and dry brush application of India ink to create a scene that captures the luminosity of soft sunlight fading in advance of an approaching rainstorm." 

Keene Valley, New York, William Hart, 1873, India ink on paper

William Hart said, "The picture, indeed exists primarily in black and white. The first thoughts of all great pictures are simply beautiful bits of chiaroscuro." 

It's a rare treat to see a whole exhibition of original drawings and watercolors. Curator Doug McCombs quotes from contemporary reviewers in the captions, giving a sense that American society at large was keenly interested in regular updates about the travels and creations of these artists.

Mr. McCombs will be giving an in-person curator talk about the exhibition on April 16, 2023, and you can sign up at this link.

While you're there, be sure to go up to the top floor and check out the large room of Hudson River School oil paintings. Also, don't miss the adjoining exhibition of costumes called "It's a Wrap: Two Hundred Years of Outerwear." 

It's all at the Albany Institute of History and Art in Albany, New York through August 6, 2023. 

  

A Cottage Garden

 

A Gardener in a Cottage Garden by Helen Allingham, 

watercolor, 28 x 37.5cm (11 x 14 3/4in)

Woods in Winter, Watercolor

Konstantin Kryzhitsky was one of the founders of the Society of Russian Watercolorists in 1880.

Konstantin Kryzhitsky (1858-1911) Gathering Branches in Winter, signed in Cyrillic and dated 'K. Kryzhitsky 1903.' 

(watercolor and gouache on paper 13¾ x 18½ in. (34.9 x 47 cm.)

 In this forest landscape, he uses blobs of white gouache for the active shapes of the snow on evergreen fronds and for the distant sky holes. Most of the tree trunks however are handled with transparent paint.

Is Opera Rose Fugitive?

Is the pigment called opera rose lightfast or fugitive? I had always heard it was extremely fugitive, but experts don't agree. 

Opera rose is a quinacridone pigment defined as PR122. According to the authoritative website Handprint, it's very reliable. In fact Handprint rates it as a "Top 40" pigment. They say: "after 800+ hours of sunlight exposure, the samples show no fading or discoloration."

Here's how they explain it:

"Quinacridone magenta PR122 is a lightfast, semitransparent, staining, dark valued, intense violet red pigment, offered by more than 20 pigment manufacturers worldwide. The ASTM (in technical report D5067-99) rates the lightfastness of PR122 in watercolors as "fair" (III, "may be satisfactory when used full strength or with extra protection from exposure to light"), but other manufacturer and independent tests rate it higher. My 2004 lightfastness tests of the nine paint brands listed above, which show color variations that suggest several different pigment particle sizes or pigment suppliers, revealed very little or no color degradation, after 800+ hours of direct sunlight exposure, in both heavy and diluted applications. This puts the pigment solidly in the "excellent" (I) category (BWS 7+)."

"For context, compare these samples to naphthol red (PR170), a pigment with a well established "very good (II)" rating, or with quinacridone rose (PV19), which is considered to have "excellent (I)" lightfastness. This is such a glaring discrepancy that the ASTM test must be flawed or unrepresentative in some way. Because Michael Wilcox relies on the ASTM documents for his pigment ratings, he has been critical of this pigment without any corroborating evidence of its fallability. I suggest you do your own lightfastness test on PR122 paints until a consensus emerges, but at present I see absolutely no reason to avoid this splendid pigment." 

 

I haven't tried it yet in a controlled fade test, but I've used the color in a painting. You can watch the whole 12 minute YouTube video here.

To Convey Drama, Use Contrasts

 In this new YouTube video, I paint a dramatic townscape in watercolor.

I emphasize contrasts between light vs. dark, warm vs. cool, wet vs. dry, large vs. small, and Georgian vs. Gothic.

Zorn and the Rain Storm

American painter Edward Simmons (1852-1931) was an eyewitness to how Anders Zorn painted in watercolor:

"Zorn was one of those artists who are always showing much originality in the use of their materials and combining this with a sense of humor, which often produces fine results. I went into his back yard one day, and he had a six-foot water color leaning against the house, and was throwing pails of water on it—“bringing it together.” 

Anders Zorn, Fish Market in St. Ives, watercolor and gouache, 100 x 76cm, 1888

"He had a great success at the Grosvenor Gallery with a picture of boats, sails, masts, and the seashore sand, with a fat fish-wife walking toward one. (In those days he thought the only beautiful women
were fat ones.) He laid this on a box hedge in the garden when a thunderstorm came up. We all rushed out and it seemed to me ruined."

Anders Zorn, Fish Market in St. Ives, detail

"'Now I can make a fine picture,' he said. He painted out the smudges from the sails and fixed the dirty sky, but in the foreground, in the sands, were large spots of raindrops. These he turned into footprints, and their naturalness has been commented upon more than once."

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Books

From Seven to Seventy, a memoir by Edward Simmons (1852-1931)

Anders Zorn Sweden's Master Painter

Cass Gilbert, Architect and Painter

American architect Cass Gilbert (1854-1934) designed the Minnesota State Capitol and the Woolworth building. 

An early proponent of skyscrapers, he was president of the American Institute of Architects during the optimistic years of 1908-9.

He was also a devoted plein-air watercolorist, deriving inspiration from old-world cathedrals and castles.

Whenever he traveled he brought a set of watercolors with him, and allowed time to capture scenes that inspired him.

His architectural studies demonstrate careful observation and a subtle sense of color.

Cass Gilbert, Arch of Titus, 1933

Book: Cass Gilbert, Life and Work: Architect of the Public Domain

 

Turner's Small Watercolor Kits

J.M.W. Turner's super-portable watercolor set consisted of a small set of cake colors in a leather pocket pouch.

He also had slightly larger sets with flasks. This is his paintbox, found in his studio after his death in 1851

(Tate Archive 7315.6)

To learn more about 19th century watercolor sets, check out the website whimsie.com or the Tate Archive

Pleissner Paints a Painting Partner

 

"Painting of Winfield Scott Cline" by Ogden Pleissner, watercolor and gouache, 1930s.

Painting a Blue Cup of Ice Water

Hang out with me and Jeanette at the diner as I paint this blue plastic cup of ice water. (Link to YouTube)

As we wait for our eggs and fried potatoes, we chat about how Jeanette used to watch her mother (who was an illustrator) paint in watercolor. For a spot of complementary color, I used an orange straw from Dunkin' Donuts.

Three Artists Paint Cole's Studio

 

 

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Christopher L. Evans joins me and Jeanette to sketch Thomas Cole's old studio. 

We talk about perspective and keeping brushes clean.

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Christopher Leith Evans website

Jeanette Gurney video "Sketching with Line and Wash"

Thomas Cole Historic Site

Painting a Gravel Road

For this informal sketch of a gravel road crossing a stone bridge I use transparent watercolor because of the sparkling qualities it offers.

(Link to YouTube) In the middle of the video I demonstrate a simple “salt and pepper” exercise to practice leaving random light spots in a dark background, and dark spots in a light background. 

ART SUPPLIES 

Scarlet Pyrrol (watercolor)

Cerulean blue (watercolor)

Yellow ochre (watercolor) 

Cad yellow light (watercolor)

Permanent green pale (watercolor) 

Burnt Sienna (watercolor) 

Watercolor sketchbook

Travel brush set 

Water cup

Why Paint a Tiny Watercolor?

Here's a pocket vista of Baltimore in a tiny book (3.5 x 5.5 inches).
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Why paint small?
1. More portable.
2. Less expensive.
3. Less obtrusive.
4. Faster, more convenient.
5. Overcome inhibitions.
6. Try new technique or subject.
7. In good company (Turner, Rembrandt)
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Painting big is fun, too. It's nice to switch it up.

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Moleskine Watercolor Album (3.5" x 5.5"), 60 Pages 

Sennelier L'Aquarelle French Watercolor Paint, Aqua Mini Set of 8 Half Pans

Painting Forsythia Flowers

I paint the flowers of a forsythia shrub using a limited palette of watercolor and gouache. I show how to start by capturing the overall gesture and silhouette of the whole plant and then subdivide the mass into smaller shapes.

Full video on YouTube 

ART SUPPLIES: 

White gouache 

Cadmium yellow

Cerulean blue 

Scarlet pyrrol

Burnt sienna

Water cup 

VIDEO TUTORIALS: 

“Watercolor in the Wild” (Download or stream on Gumroad)  

"Flower Painting in the Wild" (Gumroad): 

"Gouache in the Wild" (Gumroad)

"Gouache in the Wild" on (DVD): 

“How to Make a Sketch Easel” (DVD) 

“Watercolor in the Wild” (Download) 

Achenbach's Snowy Forest

Andreas Achenbach (German, 1815 - 1910) painted this watercolor of a rune stone in a clearing of a northern pine forest in winter. 

Andreas Achenbach, Snowy Forest, watercolor, 1835, 

Google Art Project, Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf

Stones with carved runes date back to the times of the ancient shamans in Germany. 

According to Google Art project, the painting is huge: 14 x 20 feet (625cm x 423 cm). If that's true, perhaps it's not surprising, as the Düsseldorf painters often painted theatrical backdrops. 

The painting evokes romantic associations of the human touch in the wilds of nature.

Here's a detail showing a fallen tree and a young sapling. The original painting has a subtle balance of warm and cool colors and there are touches of opaque white gouache on the tips of the branches.

Wilhelm von Abbema, German, 1812 - 1889, based on the original 

by Andreas Achenbach. Published by Julius Buddeus, Düsseldorf.

Philadelphia Museum, Plate: 20 7/8 x 28 5/8 inches (53.1 x 72.7 cm) 

Sheet: 23 7/16 x 30 7/8 inches (59.6 x 78.5

The painting was made into an etching by Wilhelm von Abbema. 

Book:

Landscapes by Andreas Achenbach / Fritz von Wille

Zorn's 'Breakfast in the Garden'

Anders Zorn (Swedish) painted the dealer Adolf Magnus in the model's garden.

Anders Zorn ”Frukost i det gröna” (Breakfast in the garden, 1886 /

Wholesale dealer Adolf Magnus) Watercolour 38 x 56 cm.

I like to imagine Zorn telling his friend, "Keep talking," and getting out his watercolor box to start painting as they picked at the remnants of the morning meal.

Mr. Magnus would stop to puff on his cigar or to make a gesture, and return his hand to rest on his leg.

His eyes and mouth are full of animation and movement.

The breakfast table is indicated with a few well placed strokes of watercolor, with some white gouache for the silver and glass vessels in the back.

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Thanks to Sascha Karschner and Bukowski's Auction

Irving Wiles

Irving Ramsey Wiles (1861-1948) painted this reclining woman in 1895 using watercolor, graphite, and gouache on paper. The size is 22 x 28 in. (55.9 x 71.1 cm). 

Irving Wiles, The Green Cushion

Her mood a bit of a mystery. The needlepoint pillow conceals half her face, and she lies languidly on the Empire revival-style recamier couch.

The painting is called "The Green Cushion." He could have called it "Reclining Woman" or "Melancholy." The title signals that color is a factor, and indeed the green patch behind the woman sets off the pearlescent tones of her skin.  

The painting, which won a prize at the American Watercolor Society's 1897 exhibition, is a feast of edges, contrasts, and accents, bringing to life the velvet cushions and silk dress. In addition to being an illustrator, he was a popular portrait painter. 
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Website with more about Irving Ramsey Wiles 

Wikipedia about Irving Ramsey Wiles