Watercolor Artist - USA (2019-12)

8 Watercolor artist | DECEMBER 2019

Anatomy of a Painting

C

lassifiedasoneofthegreat

artistsandpoetsofBritish

Romanticism,WilliamBlake

(British,1757–1827)wastoooriginal

tobelongtoanyschoolormovement.

Hiscreativeworldwastheprovinceof

mysticism,symbolismandprogressive

ideas.Blakewasa Christianwho

spurnedorganizedreligion,a free

thinkerwhosecommitmenttoimagi-

nationwascontrarytotherationalism

oftheEnlightenment.Hewaseccen-

tricenoughthatmanyofhispeers

thoughthiminsane.Weunderstand

betternow.

Whetherexpressedthrough

writing, drawing or painting, Blake’s

gifts were those of a visionary

genius. He infl uenced the art of the

Pre-Raphaelites and the Symbolists,

and the writings of the Beat Poets and

Bob Dylan. He has been cited, for his

creation of a personal mythology,

as a precursor to the study of the sub-

conscious mind in the 20th century.

Blake’s parents recognized his inde-

pendent character and enrolled him

in drawing classes when he was 10

years old. Apprenticed to an engraver,

he drew the Gothic architecture at

Westminster Abbey, a formative expe-

rience. Blake professed, neither for

the fi rst nor last time, to having reli-

gious visions at Westminster. Later, a

course of study at the Royal Academy

engenderedantipathytothepopular

styleofpaintingtaughtthere.

BlakeillustratedworksbyChaucer

andDanteandwasparticularly

inspiredbytheBible.Itwasonlylate

inlifethathefounda patronwho

consistentlypurchasedhisBiblical

illustrations,thoughthesaleswere

mademorefromfriendshipthan

appreciation for the art. Among

Blake’s most powerful Bible illustra-

tions was a series of watercolors,

known as the “Great Red Dragon

Paintings,” that referenced passages

in the Book of Revelation.

In Th e Great Red Dragon and the

Woman Clothed With the Sun, the

dragon is the embodiment of Satan.

He confronts “a woman clothed with

the sun, with the moon under her

feet and a crown of 12 stars on her

head.” Th e woman, who represents

Christianity, is endowed with wings

that will bear her safely away. WA

Jerry N. Weiss is a contributing writer

to fi ne art magazines and teaches

at the Art Students League of New York.

TheBookofRevelationdescribes

“agreatreddragon,havingseven

headsand 10 horns,andsevencrowns

uponhisheads.Andhistaildrewthe

thirdpartofthestarsofheaven,and

didcastthemtotheearth.”Though

Blake’sdragondisplaysreticulated

wingsanda long,coiledtail,his

essentialformishuman.Thefigureis

soevocativeofevilthatit hasserved

asthematicinspirationforliterature

andmoviesinthehorrorgenre,

includingtheRedDragonand

HannibalnovelsbyThomasHarris,

andTheSilenceoftheLambsfilm.

According to an analysis ofhis

watercolors by conservator Anne

Maheux, Blake preferred camel-hair

brushes, which are fi ner than sable.

The study also listed the paints

Blake most often used as vermilion,

madder lake, unidentifi ed red lakes,

red ochre, gamboge, Prussian blue,

blue verditer and charcoal black.

The application of gambogeis

especially notable in the woman’s

fi gure and the sun, which together

constitute the sole area of lightin

a darkened, turbulent image.

Early in his career, Blake tried

painting with oils, but was

dissatisfi ed with the medium. He

began working in watercolor in 1777,

at the age of 20. He usually began

by drawing with graphite or pen

and ink, and both media were used

in this painting. Blake’s development

of a watercolor didn’t follow a

traditional sequence, however, in

that he’d add washes of paint and

then would draw over them with ink.

The Visionary

Genius

WILLIAM BLAKE’s imagination was

well matched to a frightful Bible passage.

By Jerry N. Weiss

The Great Red Dragon and the

Woman Clothed With the Sun

(ca 1805; pen and gray ink with

watercolor over graphite,

161⁄1₆x13¼ ) by William Blake