ArtistsNetwork.com 17There was no shortage of paintings worthy of celebration in this year’s Watermedia Showcase;
the trouble was limiting the number to nine. Our congratulations to the artists whose work
rose to the top of a large and competitive pool. The paintings receiving recognition exhibit not
only a high level of technique and skill in watermedia, they demonstrate something much more
elusive—they have heart. We’re happy to share—in the artists’ own words—the creative stories
behind their award-winning works. BY ANNE HEVENER
WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION
FOR THIS PAINTING?
About fi ve or six years ago, I was
teaching oil painting at Ohlone
College, a community college in
Fremont, Calif. At one of my por-
trait painting classes, a student’s
mother kindly volunteered to be
the clothed fi gure model for the
class. In addition to the demonstra-
tion, I also took a few photos of
the model for future reference.
My wife really liked the pictures
of the kind mother and printed
them out for me. Years went by.
I’d forgotten about the photos,
which were by then buried under
a stack of books. Th en, a few
months ago, I was organizing fi les
and photos, and I found them.
Studying the image with fresh
eyes, I realized that the model’s
pose, expression and the overall
lighting all synchronized beauti-
fully and created a touching
setting that suggested the start
of a story. All of a sudden, I had
an urge to paint her right away.
WHAT EXCITES YOU MOST ABOUT HOW THE
PAINTING TURNED OUT?
I think there’s a combination of rough texture
and daring brushstrokes that contrasts with
a traditional portrait approach. It presents
a somewhat sketchy view of the subject that’s
still powerful enough to draw in viewers.DESCRIBE YOUR PAINTING PROCESS AND
MATERIALS USED FOR THE WORK.
Th e painting was done on cardboard, pre-
painted with gesso. To begin, I used burnt
umber for an underdrawing, sketching out the
overall composition and basic value distribu-
tion. When applying color, I started with the
background, and then moved to the clothing,
scarf and skin colors.
Although acrylic is the primary medium
I used for the painting, I also used artist cray-
ons for detail rendering in the fi nal stage. Th e
crayons are water-soluble, so I was able to use
my fi nger to smudge color or touch up with
a paintbrush. I found that a bristle fl at brush
works very well with this medium.DID EVERYTHING GO ACCORDING TO PLAN
DURING THE PAINTING?
Yes. Th e execution went as I planned. I some-
times pre-plan everything in my head before
touching my paints; other times, I start paint-
ing right away, following my instinct. When
painting Her Dark Scarf, I used a large fl at brush
to paint the background. I was looking for a
rough texture and color variation. I wanted the
texture to enhance the color change of the
background. For the model, I painted her skin
tone in the lighted area with warm colors, while
in the shadow, I chose complementary colors
such as blue and violet. For the refl ection on
the face, I used orange. To guide viewers’ atten-
tion from the face to her hands, I purposelyemphasized the distance between
the model’s hands and her face by
loosely rendering the area in
between the two.WHAT’S MOST IMPORTANT TO
MAKING A SUCCESSFUL PAINTING?
I think it’s the unique artistic
characteristics that stop viewers
from walking away. A painting
needs to have a quality that
evokes emotion and touches
a viewer’s mind or heart.WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT
WORKING WITH WATERMEDIA?
I’m primarily an oil painter, but
I love watermedia in general and
have been experimenting with it
for a while.WHAT HAS BEEN MOST INFLUENTIAL
TO YOUR ART-MAKING LATELY?
John Singer Sargent has long been
my favorite master painter. I’ve
studied his paintings from the
color to the brushstrokes. Recently,
I’ve been challenging myself to
pave my own path—searching for
an artistic style with my own
approach to color, composition and
textural control. Also, I’ve been
playing with acrylic more, applying
more and more water to my paint-
ing surface to test the interaction.
I love the texture left by water
fl ow. I use it to unify a background
and to create contrast with the
detailed depiction of the focal
area. Th is approach is still new
to me, and I’m feeling excited.Watermedia Showcase
11th ANNUAL
BEST OF SHOW
Jian Wu
Union City, CaliforniaHer Dark Scarf (acrylic and
artist crayon on board, 24x18)