Pennsylvania artist Debi Watson improves the quality of her watercolors and catches the attention of exhibition jurors by striving for new subjects and by searching for techniques that get the paints to work for her. by M. Stephen Doherty Change as an Agent of Self-Improvement Aperson who saw one of my watercolors thought she was leveling a negative criticism when she told me she had trouble finding the cat in the painting, remembers Debi Watson. I thanked her for responding to the painting exactly as I had intended. The point of the composition was for viewers to discover something interesting that wasn t dominating the picture. If I had made the cat big and obvious, there would be no reason to spend time looking at it. Watson s recollection of that conversation goes a long way in explaining how she approaches watercolor painting. There s not much point in painting the obvious, she explains. People just won t notice your paintings if they are essentially the same as dozens of others they have seen. Certainly exhibition judges will quickly pass by the Painting as Madness 2006, watercolor 15 x 10. All artwork this article collection the artist. standard, average, predictable paintings in order to focus on the ones that are engagingly unexpected. I m not saying they have to be weird, confusing, or confrontational. They just have to show that the artist has really thought about the choice of subject, the composition, and the painting techniques. 2 WATERCOLOR SPRING 2007 3
BELOW The Human Touch 20 x 28. BELOW Currants 14 x 18. BOTTOM Tuzigoot 19 x 26. Gaining recognition through juried exhibitions was an early ambition that motivated Watson, and she participated in a number of workshops to hone her skills and understand why some artists always stood out in competitions sponsored by watercolor societies. I quit my job as an operating-room nurse in 1999 and decided to learn as much as I could about watercolor, she explains. Living near Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Hershey gave me easy access to workshops taught by nationally known artists such as Bruce Johnson, Zoltan Szabo, and Cheng-Khee Chee. Before long my paintings were included in 70 juried exhibitions across the nation; they received awards in more than a dozen of those shows; they earned me signature status in three watercolor societies; and they were reproduced in several art magazines and books. Watson explains that she works primarily from photographs, but even though that is common among watercolorists, she never winds up with the same shots as other people attracted to the same location. I remember attending a workshop and most of the other students were taking photographs of a covered bridge while I was crouched down in a garden taking close-up shots of an ornamental cabbage, she explains. People thought I had lost my mind, but when my watercolor of the interlocking shapes People just won t notice your paintings if they are essentially the same as dozens of others they have seen. Certainly exhibition judges will quickly pass by the standard, average, predictable paintings in order to focus on the ones that are engagingly unexpected. 4 WATERCOLOR SPRING 2007 5
Watson s Materials PAPER Arches 300-lb cold-pressed PAINTS Burnt sienna Quinacridone gold Raw umber violet (Daniel Smith) New gamboge yellow Vermilion Permanent alizarin crimson Rose madder genuine Quinacridone red Ultramarine blue Cobalt blue Phthalocyanine blue BRUSHES Winsor & Newton Sceptre Gold II rounds, primarily Nos. 6 and 10 ABOVE Cheap Thrills 2005, watercolor, 12 x 16. RIGHT Early Flight 2005, watercolor, 12 x 20. Getting to the Point 2005, watercolor, 15 x 16. in the head of the cabbage was hung next to the 10 paintings of the bridge, they understood what I was doing. I m interested in the design of things, not the photographic details or the sentimental story associated with a subject, Watson says. I enlarge my photographs, crop them, simplify them whatever it takes to play up the strong design and the uniqueness of the subject. Most of the time I can t explain why I decided something was worth painting, but I know instinctively what would work for me. For example, I took 1,200 photographs in Yellowstone National Park and found that only one of them was worth being the subject of a painting. Years from now I may go back to the others and have a different response to them, but at that moment I was only willing to use one snapshot. The composition of values is always the biggest issue with me when I choose a subject and decide how to paint it, Watson continues. I usually do a small black-and-white study to evaluate the lights, darks, and middle tones; and if I feel confident in my plan I begin painting. I think about the standard rules of composition avoid putting the focal point in the center of the picture; repeat patterns, shapes, and colors; find ways of directing the viewers attention throughout the painting but sometimes I like the challenge of breaking those rules to show it is still possible to create a strong painting. Almost all of Watson s paintings are executed on dry sheets of 300-lb Arches cold-pressed watercolor paper because she doesn t care much for the softness of wet-in-wet blends of pigment. Her palette includes burnt sienna, quinacridone gold, raw umber violet (Daniel Smith), new gamboge yellow, vermilion, permanent alizarin crimson, rose madder genuine, quinacridone red, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, and phthalocyanine blue. Her favorite brushes are Winsor & Newton 6 WATERCOLOR SPRING 2007 7
BELOW Another Day in Paradise 2006, watercolor, 19 x 29. Everyday Hero 2006, watercolor, 18 x 19. Colors are always richer and more luminous when they are mixed to the proper consistency and applied in one or two washes because the light penetrates through them and bounces back off the white paper. If an artist is timid and uncertain, he or she is apt to overwork the color combinations, add too much water, or pile on layers that block the light. Sceptre Gold II rounds because they hold a lot of water and retain their point. She only uses one or two brushes throughout the entire painting process, usually a No. 6 and a No. 10 unless she needs to apply a broad wash of color. Most people have problems because their brushes are too small and don t hold enough water, so they wind up scratching the paper rather than letting the wet paint flow naturally, Watson comments. I learned early on that the best techniques are the ones that get the materials to work for the artist. For example, colors are always richer and more luminous when they are mixed to the proper consistency and applied in one or two washes because the light penetrates through them and bounces back off the white paper. If an artist is timid and uncertain, he or she is apt to overwork the color combinations, add too much water, or pile on layers that block the light. Watson explains that she sometimes has to paint a subject several times before she discovers the best way to record it with transparent watercolors. If I try a new technique, a new tube color, or a different subject, I may have to paint several small studies before I understand how to deal with it, she explains. And if I get into the middle of a painting and don t know exactly what needs to happen next, I put it aside while I work on another watercolor. 8 WATERCOLOR SPRING 2007 9
Sometimes it helps to look through art catalogs just before I fall asleep at night because the images stay in my mind, and I wake up with a solution to the problem I was struggling with, or with a great idea for a new painting. Fortunately, I dream in color and remember enough about my dreams to use them in creating my paintings. I m a little obsessive-compulsive, and I just don t have the patience to paint the same kind of picture over and over again, Watson confesses. For example, I did several paintings of rocks and got so good at representing them in watercolor that I could invent rocks of all shapes and sizes. But having done that, I had to move on to a completely different subject. Maybe I ll go back and paint rocks again someday, but not until it feels like an entirely new experience to me. About the Artist Debi Watson, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, worked as an operating-room nurse until 1999, when she quit her job to become a full-time artist. Since then, her paintings have been included in exhibitions organized by the Philadelphia Water Color Society, the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, the Texas Watercolor Society, the Baltimore Watercolor Society, the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, and the Western Colorado Watercolor Society. She holds signature membership in the Pennsylvania, Baltimore, and Philadelphia societies; and her paintings have been reproduced in several art magazines and books. For more information, visit her website: www.debiwatson.com. ABOVE Kelly 1999, watercolor, 19 x 25. With Relish 13 x 21. 10 WATERCOLOR SPRING 2007 11