Watercolor Artist – October 2019

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to Behold

FEW THINGS IN AN ARTIST’S LIFE

CAN RIVAL THE JOY OF DISCOVERING

A CAPTIVATING SCENE, SPENDING TIME

TO OBSERVE AND UNDERSTAND IT, AND

CAPTURING ITS UNIQUE, EPHEMERAL

ATMOSPHERE THROUGH PAINT.

By David Howell

I

grew up in the countryside, and

from an early age I was particularly

aware of the changing weather and

seasons. As my interest in painting

developed, that awareness of my

surroundings progressed into ana-

lyzing colors and tones and the

eff ects of diff erent times of the year

and times of any individual day. I learned that

nothing stays the same.

I’m primarily a landscape and marine painter,

and whenever I’m outside, I see potential pic-

tures. For me, painting isn’t about super-accurate

detail but much more about the appeal of a par-

ticular moment in time and location. I want the

way I feel about the subject to be apparent to the

viewer. Atmosphere is very much a part of that,

and it’s invariably infl uenced by the weather, the

season and the time of day, all of which I want to

capture in my painting. A lazy summer landscape

will have a very diff erent feel than a hastily

sketched winter subject.

I don’t adhere strictly to topographical accu-

racy, which I feel should never get in the way of

a good painting, and there are times when I

shuffl e elements of the composition about or

leave something out altogether.

What’s essential is to take the trouble to

spend time with the subject. Today we’re fully

equipped with various digital devices that can

easily record a location or event, and many

painters fi nd cameras a convenient way to record

Venice is a beautiful and

unique city, but it can get

extraordinarily busy,

particularly with the

tourist throng around

Piazza San Marco and

the Rialto. Across the

Grand Canal, however,

it gets quieter—and even

quieter still—if you go in

the winter. The colors are

softer and the light is

more interesting then,

as in Rio di San Barnaba,

Venice (watercolor on

paper, 12x14), a painting

of the canal and church

of San Bar naba.