Watercolor Artist - USA (2019-10)

26 Watercolor artist | OCTOBER 2019

“I leave paintings that are in progress

all around my studio,” he says. “I’ll

have as many as fi ve or six in various

stages. Sometimes I’ll look at a piece

for days or weeks, determining what

needs work. I don’t always know when

it’s fi nished; sometimes I’m still paint-

ing as I’m framing the darn thing.”

Popadics’ approach to brushing is

in keeping with the restraint and sim-

plicity of his vision. He doesn’t go in

for dramatic brushstrokes or spectac-

ular watercolor techniques, such as

dripping or splashing. Instead, he

uses an even touch across the work

with suffi cient action to keep the sur-

face lively and engaging but not so

much as to draw unwarranted atten-

tion to the handling.

Embracing the

Atmospherics

Th e strength of Popadic’s approach

is on view in Pilings in the Harbor

(on page 25), in which a luminous

gray sky sheds an ethereal light on

a limpid, misted sea. Th e rocks in the

foreground are rendered in high contrast with simple

shapes while the boats in the distance resolve to shim-

mering gray silhouettes. Th e painting as a whole evokes

the eerie calm and stillness of a foggy morning.

In other paintings, atmospherics and simplifi cation

become more complex. In Ground Mist, Shelburne Farms

(below), for instance, cattle are rendered as fairly sharp

silhouettes against a bank of mist. Behind this, the air

clears to reveal a delicate tree line while above, an early

morning sky radiates a warm orange light. Here the

artist uses fi ne control of soft and hard edges to alter-

nate clear outlines with more suggestive passages.

Th e way in which atmospheric eff ects can evoke

feelings is explored in Temple of Hephaestus (at right),

a painting the artist made on location in Greece.

Working on a gray October day, he found the brilliant

Greek light to be soft and damp, enveloping the temple

in a delicate shroud of thin mist. Th e trees are reduced

to soft, almost-fl at elements while the detail is picked

up again in the foreground via the stone steps. Th e

painting suggests some of the powerful feelings of

a deep historical past that the artist felt on his visit.

Creating a Sense of Connection

In the end, it’s this emotional response by the viewers

and the resulting sense of connection that drives

Popadics. “I think that as artists, our highest purpose

ABOVE

Temple of

Hephaestus

(watercolor on

paper, 10x14)

LEFT

Ground Mist,

Shelburne Farms

(watercolor on

paper, 22x28)