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Ron Sheldon
When I meet people at an art show who have tried watercolors,
they frequently tell me watercolors are too hard. I am fortunate that my first
exposure to watercolors was an introductory class that let me explore the
technique rather than do a painting. The class was a birthday gift tom my wife.
*In the class we were given a small starter kit of high quality profession
paints and a quality brush and were provided with good watercolor paper. I
didn't, at the time, realize how important that was, cheap watercolors and cheap
paper will not produce pleasing results for anyone, especially a beginner. You
can not paint any better than the quality of paper and brush. You can get by
with student grade paints to begin and soon discover they are not really a
bargain. Quality, brand name paints have more pigment, cover more area, and dry
more brilliant.
*Having got off to a good start I found watercolors to be fun and not difficult.
In addition to understanding the technique it is important to let the water do
some of the creating.
*I bought several books and tried every study exercise. One of the paintings I
completed, I call my breakthrough painting. This painting still hangs in our
living room. It is winter scene of an old carriage house with a broken down rock
wall, weathered boards, a large tree void of leaves and a very cold gray sky.
*This painting made me feel that I could really do watercolor paintings. I
joined the three local art societies and started entering contests. If you enter
enough contests you eventually win some ribbons. I started getting some first
place and best of show prizes and got up the courage to try being a vendor at a
few of the nearby fairs.
*Along the way I kept trying new techniques and styles. I am still exploring the
world of watercolors. I have a number of different ways to apply the paint. A
favorite is using small spray bottle with various mixes of watercolors. Another
is to paint with oil brushes of which I have chopped most of the bristles off. I
use these techniques to create trees and bushes, weeds and grasses.
*One of the newest innovations I am doing is painting watercolors on clayboard.
The paint is not absorbed into the clay as it is on paper. This requires some
very different techniques. The results are stunning as you will see as you
explore my portfolio.
*I am active on the art fair circuit in the Northwest.
*I am available for commission work. I prefer to paint from reference pictures
in different techniques. I have my work in local galleries but I show most of my
art at the art fairs.
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