Art in the Albemarle Area

One of the ways to get your paint muse going is to get together with a group of like-minded individuals. Every Tuesday I get together with a wonderful group of people that are interested in painting. We call ourselves “The wet paint Society.” We meet, talk, and of course paint and discuss our different techniques. I asked what got each of them into painting. The replies were as interesting as they were varied. They ranged from... “ I got into it as a form of therapy..,”... “I always wanted to try painting and there was a group here that offered me the chance..” to “I just wanted to see if I could because I always loved working with color ..” Whatever the reason … get out and try it.. I promise you will not regret making the attempt. Our group is led by an awesome artist … Jackie Zagon. In our area there is always a group you can join to teach and aid you in your painting endeavors. If you just want to try painting on your own you can find materials to start at almost every one of our local “box” stores. You can also get materials from the specialty art stores in our area or the surrounding counties.

In the last issue I was writing about the various types of painting media. In this issue I would like to explain a little about one of the easiest paint materials to start with, watercolors. Watercolors come in different forms. Cake, tubes, and powders. Most of the readers are familiar with the cake form of watercolors. These are the watercolors that you see in the children's art section of many stores. There are various quality cake forms. Most that we encounter are not the highest quality cake form but are excellent starter sets to see if you would like to paint with. The higher quality cake-form watercolors have a better consistency. more pigments, and last much longer. There are watercolors that come in tubes, these also have different quality brands and consistencies. If you use these, I would suggest that you get a starter set. This set usually consists of student grade paints. One of the highest quality of watercolor paint forms is the powder form. You can mix this with water to get the translucency or opaqueness desired for the particular painting you are working with.

I have some watercolor post cards that are 4” x 6” in size. This is the perfect size to start your painting development. Its not too large to be overwhelming and not too small to be cumbersome. Get your paint set, your brushes, an absorbent towel, and two small cups of water. (always needed to have one cup of clean water).

Its now time to just let yourself go and put some paint on the watercolor canvas. You may have an idea of what you would like to paint, if so get started. If you have no idea... try this..

- Tape your 4” x 6” card to a larger piece of cardboard or firm material.

• Take your large brush (1 1/2”), wet it, then gently stroke across the watercolor canvas.
• Pick a color, wet your brush, dab it in that color, then dab it on your canvas. You will notice the color will spread out and diffuse over the canvas, allow this to happen, you can even tilt the canvas in different directions to allow the paint to move and be absorbed by the canvas.
• Then proceed to the next color using the same brush. You will see the colors blend and move across your canvas.
• Let this have some drying time before applying more paint, I enhance this time by using a simple hairdryer.
• Use your smaller brushes and let yourself go. Next month I will include my pics of this.

I have included a painting and will donate any money to one of our area charities. It is is a 16” x 20” framed painting of two ducks in flight. $150.00 is the value placed on this painting. Contact our editorial staff and they will see that the money goes to the charity selected. It could be a church or other needy organization within our area. Feel free to contact me by e-mail bowhuntor@yahoo.com or by phone 252-267-5437. Talmage Dunn, Artist.