ArtistsNetwork.com 75PLANNING AND PREP WORK
Though her photographs are the basis for many of her
pieces, it’s Habets’ training as a graphic designer that
guides her painting process. She earned a BFA degree
with a major in graphic design and a minor in drawing,
which led her to work as a graphic designer and art
director for 15 years.
At the age of 36, she took a short leave of absence from
her graphic design consulting business and signed up for a
watercolor class, just for fun. She was immediately hooked
on the fluidity, spontaneity and versatility of the medium,
so much so that she left graphic design permanently shortly
thereafter and began her career as a self-employed artist.
Habets’ graphic
design skills in
Photoshop, however,
heavily inform her
composition. “Once
I have the reference
photos I need,” she
says, “I start design-
ing the painting
on the computer.
I move, delete, add
and adjust until
I have the framework
for a well-designed
painting.” She prints
out a 5x7-inch image
and copies it using
tracing paper, and
then creates small
value sketches using
the tracing paper
and a soft graphite
pencil. Next, she uses
the value sketch to
paint one or more
5x7-inch color studies
to ensure that she’s
on point with color,
value and edges.
Throughout this
planning process,
Habets is attentive
to the core concept of
the painting and how
she’s telling her story,
but she also thought-
fully considers the impact and design. She wants her pieces
to capture the viewer’s eye—even from a distance—with
strong values and use of color. The thumbnail size allows
her to consider the piece holistically without prematurely
focusing on the details.
Once she’s happy with the thumbnail, Habets prints
out her image full size and cuts out the primary shapes,
including the figures and buildings, and arranges them on
a large sheet of watercolor paper. She traces around the
edges of the shapes and fills in the drawing from there.
“This hybrid process of tracing edges and drawing details
works well for me because I don’t end up overly erasing
and ruining the sizing on my watercolor paper,” she says.
In fact, it’s in this moment—staring at a full-sized sheet ofWhat Plagues Us
watercolor on paper,
29x22