Iain Stewart's workshop

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There were some major takeaways from Iain Stewart's workshop a few weeks ago.

- do lots of thumbnails - for composition, color, values. I learned about thumbnails in architecture school but left that behind when I started watercolor. An excellent reminder. They're quick, they're very satisfying, and you can see right away if something works or not. For several years, in architecture school, I had trouble accepting that a model of a building I was designing could actually give you any information at that scale. What a flawed way to think! Of course it can. If a model works, the building will work. The model may not be able to address everything, but the bigger issues can be definitely resolved.
- warm up - do small studies...paint something. Don't attack THE PIECE.
- the first wash should be very very watery. Start with a puddle of water. I used to start with a medium valued puddle and put that down. Too dark.
- Plan the next few moves. Anticipate; don't react. Whoops - this wash did this, quick, fight it, fix it! Instead, think a few moves ahead. First I'll do this, then I'll leave these whites, then I'll muddle the color, then I'll bleed in this color. This is not natural to me, even though I am a Planner. For whatever reason, I've not brought my good habits from Life into painting. Everything applies everywhere, in some form or another...

I am working from an image I took at the very interestingly named Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum on Park Ave in San Jose. What a stunning little place - beautiful landscaping, gorgeous architecture and color palette, very serene.
Here is a value study [I did many] and a color study. I realize I *love* doing these little playing-card sized studies. So satisfying, and no pressure. That old Ubiquitous Pressure.







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