Watercolor Artist – October 2019

ArtistsNetwork.com 21

O

ne of the strongest ways

in which a painting can

intrigue is through

restraint—the sense that information

is being withheld and that drama is

being underplayed. Hints and sugges-

tions often engage the viewer in a way

that complete disclosure and spectac-

ular displays never do.

Th is is Joel Popadics’ strategy.

He renders landscapes with a quiet

simplicity, paring shapes and forms

to the point of transparent clarity

and then painting them with subtly

judged values. With this approach,

it’s scarcely surprising that the artist

is at his best in foggy weather, in

which complex elements are reduced

to luminous outlines and the details

largely vanish. Shrouded in mist, the

landscape takes on curious properties

where recognition can be diffi cult and

forms can loom enigmatically.

Following the Allure

of Fog & Mist

Popadics’ paintings brilliantly evoke

the atmosphere as they engage in

the formal interplay of shape, identity

and the deep aerial perspective

created by forms enveloped in fog.

“I love fog and mist,” he says. “I’m

attracted to their serenity and peace-

fulness. I love to set up my easel and

be enveloped in these elements. Fog

reminds me of an old black-and-white

Sherlock Holmes movie in which the

action is set in mist—something that

added extra suspense to the fi lm.

“On an artistic level, I like how it

simplifi es and obscures detail,” the

artist continues. “It reduces objects

to simple shapes and adds a sense of

mystery to my work.”

As much as Popadics fi nds atmo-

spheric weather conditions exciting,

he says that painting outdoors in

foggy weather presents its fair share

of challenges. “Th e damp air can really

slow down the drying time,” he says.

A Maine Morning

(watercolor on paper, 22x28)