International Watercolour Biennial...

Mr. Burbank's Cactus

transparent watercolor, 20" x 18.5"

Chris Beck

Back in January, I received an invitation from Eau en Couleurs – Belgian Watercolour Centre and the National Watercolor Society here in the U.S. to exhibit a painting this summer in the 2014 International Watercolour Biennial in Estaimbourg, Belgium.  I've just completed a fairly large (for me) painting -- 20" x 18.5" -- based on an enormous old cactus that I saw in the Luther Burbank Gardens in Santa Rosa, California.

I want to give a shout-out to Katherine Taylor and John Cogley of Daniel Smith Inc. I met Katherine at a watercolor sampling event at a local art supply store and, a few months later, met John when I went to his fascinating talk on Primatek pigments at an artists' materials expo here in northern California. John is the owner of Daniel Smith Inc., the force behind the company's expansion into new product lines and the worldwide market, and someone who cares about and supports our artistic endeavors with quality materials. Katherine, the sales manager for the wholesale branch of the company, generously gave me watercolor dot cards and other materials so I could try out some new colors.

Cobalt Violet Dark turned out to be indispensable in this painting, along with Quinacridone Deep Gold. Quinacridone Sienna has been my go-to color for mixing darks since I first discovered it ten or twelve years ago, but the star of this particular show is undoubtedly my old favorite -- Green Gold. Thanks, John and Katherine!!

Dippy Duck #6...

Dippy Duck #6

watercolor & gouache, 8" x 8"

Chris Beck

Dippy Duck has been a favorite demo subject -- no surprise there as he is brightly colored and quite distinctive. The title reflects the construction of the set -- the top part is a pepper shaker and the bottom half is a salt dish from which you would dip the salt with a small spoon. Oddly enough, this is the one salt shaker I don't actually own. I discovered this little fellow near the close of an eBay auction and the price was stratospheric -- somewhere around $400 -- quite beyond my budget.

This is another of the pieces I finished during a demo last fall. Like the duck painting I posted last week, the background is spattered with gouache to add sparkle and texture.

Ruddy Duck Revisited...

 Quack

watercolor & gouache, 9" x 9"

Chris Beck

Back in October, I was asked to present the program for one of the local art clubs and decided to take a slightly different approach than I usually do.  Instead of working on a series showing the progression from start to finish on one image, I took several unfinished demo pieces that had accumulated in my studio and played around with them a bit.  I had hoped to share things sooner, but I left early the next morning to visit my mother and help downsize her living situation yet again. By the time I got home a week later, other tasks required my attention and this unfortunately slipped out of mind.

You may remember our old friend Ruddy Duck. Ruddy has starred in a number of demos over the past few years.  This was how he looked at the start of the demo:

I added the word "quack" up the side of the painting, using gouache with some oversize alphabet stamps that I found by chance at Rileystreet Art Supply in Santa Rosa, CA when I went to a product expo event there.

Because it looked pretty stark after I stamped the letters onto the painting, I decided to soften the image with spattered gouache.  I cut a mask for the duck out of low-tack Contact paper (you could also use frisket paper) and pressed it lightly against the image with my fingers.  Then I mixed up various colors of gouache on a spare palette tray and used a flat-bristle toothbrush to spritz it over the background and letters.

I used ultramarine blue, spectrum yellow, flame red, and burnt sienna, along with white to brighten up some of the colors. As you can see, I've customized the toothbrush I use to spatter paint. I used a heat gun to soften the handle just enough to bend it so it has a better angle for mixing paint on the palette.

I have a few other examples that I'll be sharing as soon as possible.  Right now I'm working on a large painting for an invitational watercolor biennial in Belgium this summer, so that takes precedence.

Featured artist in the NWWS Newsletter...

Hip Hop Bebop

watercolor, 12" x 12"

Chris Beck

It's always a delight to hear that someone loves your work, so I was very pleased to get a note from Charlene Collins Freeman this past summer, inviting me to be a featured artist in the Northwest Watercolor Society Newsletter.  Charlene created an excellent online interview, covering everything from my early art experience to my creative process and my thoughts on success, and she has included many of my favorite paintings in her presentation. The feature has just been published in the latest Northwest Watercolor Society Newsletter (Jan/Feb 2014). My thanks to Charlene for the invitation and resulting feature article and also to the newsletter editor, Jeff Waters, for sharing my work.

If you're not familiar with it, NWWS is a fantastic organization with enormous energy and I'm very honored to be recognized in this way. Check out the NWWS website.

My guest column in The Artist's Magazine...

 

 Arabesque

watercolor, 9" x 10.5"

Chris Beck

Now that the January/February 2014 issue of The Artist's Magazine has reached subscribers and is in bookstores, I can share the paintings I created for my guest column on masking fluid. 

The article features expanded steps in the creation of both Arabesque and Pelican Dreams as well as several other illustrations to help you make the most of masking fluid, regardless of your choice of subject matter.  If you aren't a subscriber or don't have easy access to a shop that carries the magazine, you can order a paper or digital copy by clicking here or going to the link in the sidebar.

The addition of gouache (pronounced "gwash" -- opaque watercolor -- for more info, check out this page on the Daniel Smith website) to your watercolorist's bag of tricks opens up possibilities for surface embellishment and the use of lighter colors on top of a dark base of transparent watercolor. In Pelican Dreams, I spattered gouache on the background both to tone it down and add visual complexity. Gouache would be off-limits in certain national exhibitions that require transparency, but there is a long history of using gouache, sometimes referred to as bodycolor, to add highlights and depth to a painting.

 Pelican Dreams

watercolor and gouache, 8" x 6"

Chris Beck

Schnozz made his debut here about a month ago, and is just back for an encore visit. He's painted strictly with transparent watercolor.

Schnozz

watercolor, 6" x 6"

Chris Beck

In other news -- I'm sorry to report that I have closed my Zazzle shop.  I discovered quite by accident that they had disabled the design controls I put on my mugs and stamps and allowed buyers to apply the images to different products in the same category. That meant the images were being distorted to fit shapes they were never intended to be displayed on. After going around and around with customer service, I learned there was no option except to re-post every item and reset the controls. And since Zazzle has periodically made other changes that required me to repost some of my products, I have no guarantee that they wouldn't disable my controls again. I cannot constantly monitor something that was supposed to be a fun, no-hassle way to share my work.

My "secret project"...

Schnozz

watercolor, 6" x 6"

Chris Beck

I spent most of the month of August on a project that I couldn't discuss until it was finalized. Just got word that it's a go, so....

Sometime last spring, I was invited to be the guest columnist for one of the features in The Artist's Magazine. The Brushing Up column is devoted to technical matters of painting and my article covers one of my favorite art products -- masking fluid.  There are tips on purchasing and handling it, as well as ways of using this versatile product.  Schnozz is one of the paintings I did specifically for the article and there are stepped out examples of how I painted each one.

My article will appear in the January/February 2014 issue of The Artist's Magazine -- due out in early December.  I'll be sure to let you know when it's available.

Zombie Peeps...

Zombie Peeps

watercolor, 6" x 6"

Chris Beck

Last Easter, I found a box of oddly shrivelled green Peeps on the shelf at one of the local stores and initially rejected them as too creepy for Easter. But when I shifted my point of view, I decided that they might be just the thing for Halloween, so I went back and bought them. (I laugh to recall that I was worried they might not be there when I went back, two days after I first saw them. Guess shrivelled green Peeps don't say Easter to anybody else either!!)

Despite the fact that I had all the "ingredients" for a funky Halloween painting, I had a lot of other things going on and pretty much had abandoned the idea of a Peeps painting this year. But yesterday, I woke up with a bolt of inspiration.  I didn't actually get at the painting until mid-afternoon and I finished at midnight (with time out for dinner) -- quite possibly a record time for me.

So, for your Halloween viewing pleasure, Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you: Zombie Peeps!!

A Pirate's Ransom...

Capt. Hook

watercolor and gold leaf, 4" x 4"

Chris Beck

After seeing some dynamite paintings of autumn leaves with stunning gold leaf backgrounds by my friend Carrie Waller, I decided to try gold leaf to cover a dull and muddy background (don't ask!) on this painting of one of my vintage salt shakers.  I'm very happy with the results and it reminds me of an icon painting now -- no blasphemy intended.

It's been ages since I used gold leaf, and then it was to cover a little wooden box as a gift for a friend.  I'd forgotten a few things in the intervening years. Such as: don't breathe any heavy sighs of exasperation when things aren't going well because you'll only increase your exasperation as bits of gold leaf in your work area scatter like real-world leaves in a windstorm!! And: be sure you don't inadvertently get any sizing (basically diluted glue) on your fingertips or they'll be gold-leafed along with your art and there'll be little holes in the gold leaf on your painting!!

It was a fun experiment and I may try to do more with this technique, but right now, I need to prep a demo I'm doing next Wednesday for one of the local art leagues.  Hmmm -- wonder if they'd like to see a gold leaf background?

Flying with the birdies...

I'm working on a special project right now and can't say any more about it, but thought I'd give you a little teaser of one of the paintings that I'm doing for it.  Once again, I'm playing with my collection of salt shakers and hope the results will be pleasing to all concerned.

Splash 14...

My copy of Splash 14 arrived a few days ago -- with my fun ducks featured on page 55.  North Light Books does a fantastic job -- the quality of the book is exceptional and I'm thrilled to be in the company of so many wonderful artists, many of whom are my friends. 

Each Splash book is a treasure trove of the best in contemporary watercolor and a wonderful source of inspiration. You can order from the North Light Books shop -- they have both hardback and e-versions available.

Tech Talk: Lightfastness tests – finale

full view of test card at 6 months

sun-exposed half on left

same card – sun-exposed half moved to right

This is the last post for the lightfastness tests of Mission Gold watercolors that I began in mid-January.  For the last month, I had the sun-exposed card in a window that got much more sun and there was even more fading to the dodgy colors.  As I explained in detail last month, the fading was not unexpected because the pigments used in those colors are rated as poor to fugitive.

Since I posted my previous update, I have had several emails from Dennis Kapp, the chairman of the board of the Martin/F.Weber company, which distributes the Mijello Mission Gold watercolors in the U.S.  Needless to say, he was not happy to see my negative review and said he wished I'd told them about my tests so he could have given me newer, more lightfast colors.  Fortunately, I kept the email correspondence I'd had with his employee, starting with the sample set I received in mid-September, in which I'd pointed out that there were problems with the pigments used in the line.  Although she told me in early January that they were beginning to look at lightfastness matters and would update me, I never heard another word until I received Mr. Kapp's first email in late June.

According to Mr. Kapp, Mijello has reformulated 50 of the 90 colors in the line after receiving feedback at a watercolor society opening last year that there might be a lightfastness problem. (I strongly suspect that the feedback to which he is referring was set in motion by my comments to a watercolorist friend during the National Watercolor Society reception in late September last year.  My friend brought my concerns to the attention of a watercolorist friend of his -- a woman who had been distributing sample sets of Mission Gold at the NWS reception. But perhaps somebody else also expressed alarm about the pigments.)

In his first email, Mr. Kapp listed the pigment changes to the paints that I tested. I've checked them against the lists of reliable pigments, and they are all acceptable.  He also explained that they are creating two versions of some colors -- those labelled as "bright" will be less lightfast.

Mr. Kapp tells me that they have been shipping the newly formulated colors to their dealers for about 60 days now and have instructed their dealers to give replacements for any of the fugitive colors, even if the tubes have been partially used.  

I applaud the company for taking this step, but I have to caution you to be careful. Dick Blick is the only major art supply house that is selling Mission Gold, as far as I can determine.  There is no indication that they are selling a reformulated line and the product numbers are identical to the sample tubes I received last fall.  The local art store that carried Mission Gold removed the product after seeing my lightfastness tests last month. They said nothing about being offered the newly reformulated paint that has supposedly been going out to dealers for the past two months.  If you decide to buy this line of watercolors, ask questions and do some research before purchasing.

Here are some ways to check on pigments: both Michael Wilcox's The Wilcox Guide to the Best Watercolor Paints and Hilary Page's Guide to Watercolor Paints are available through online booksellers, although both are now somewhat out of date -- quite a few new pigments have been added to the world of art since they were published.  I also know of two websites that deal with pigments: Handprint and Art is Creation -- Handprint is chock full of information, but the pigment charts on Art is Creation are much easier to read.

I hope you have found this series of posts instructive and helpful. I strongly feel that artists must demand quality materials -- to accept less is to dishonor our time and talent.

Color Blending Workshop

 

Dramatic Color Blending workshop -- Day Two

Despite abnormally high temperatures in our area this past weekend, sixteen intrepid artists worked to complete a dramatic floral painting using "un-poured" color blending techniques.  By masking and then dabbing color in loosely with large brushes, we achieved the look of a poured painting without the messiness of splashed paint.  Color was subsequently reinforced or modified and details were added in with a variety of brushes.

My finished demo painting

Finished paintings posted for critique

Seeing all the paintings at the end of the weekend was quite a treat!! Although not everyone was able to stay to the finish on Sunday, we had 13 fabulous completed paintings to share!!  (If you'd like to see each of the paintings individually, Guy has posted additional pix on his blog.)

Huge thanks to Guy Magallanes for hosting my workshop.  Guy is the most accommodating and upbeat person -- it's always a pleasure to spend time with him and teach at his studio.

Tech Talk: Lightfastness tests – 5 months

full view of my test card –

sun-exposed half on left

center panel compares full-strength color –

sun-exposed paints to left of center

center panel compares tints (diluted washes) –

sun-exposed paints to right of center

Back in January of this year, I began a lightfastness test of these Mission Gold watercolors after receiving some samples of the paints. Because they are new to the market, there were no published lightfastness tests, and many of the pigments used in the manufacturing of these paints were poorly rated in the resources I have.  (See my previous posts here (introduction), here (at 2 weeks) and here (at 6 weeks).)  I put half of the sample sheet in a folder made of acid-free matboard and stashed it in my flat files.  My sun-exposed half of the test sheet started out with several hours of winter sun each day, but at this point, the sun is blocked most of the time by trees.  I've now moved the sample to a spot that gets sun for about 4-5 hours most mornings and will continue the test for about six more weeks.  However, there are such clear changes at this point that I would be remiss in not sharing the results.

I took these photos in full sun yesterday and have done a bit of digital cutting and pasting on the second and third images so you can more easily see the comparison of the full-strength pigments and the tints. (Note that the sun-exposed pigments are on the left side of the full-strength sample and on the right side of the tint sample.)

I should point out that pigments ranked as lightfast on some lists may indeed be lightfast in other media, but unreliable in watercolor paints. As I understand it, this is due to the binding agents used -- oil and acrylic paint bases being more protective of the pigments than the gum arabic used for watercolor.

As noted in earlier posts, the full-strength Permanent Yellow Light (PY17) has darkened with exposure and it has also faded significantly in the diluted wash. Quite a predictable outcome, since the pigment is known to be fugitive.

Yellow Orange (PY65 and PO13) is composed of a very reliable yellow pigment, but also contains the same unreliable orange pigment as Orange (PO13). Both show darkening at full strength and fading as a diluted wash, although it's more pronounced in the Orange sample.

The Permanent Red (PR112) is only slightly changed at either strength, but Permanent Rose (PR122 and PR209) is quite faded both at full strength and as a tint. A bit of a surprise, actually, since Permanent Rose is a mix of two supposedly reliable quinacridone pigments. [added note: There is some disagreement on the lightfastness of PR122, with Michael Wilcox labelling it as unreliable.] The Rose Madder (PR83:1) is actually alizarin crimson, a pigment which has been replaced in most professional-quality product lines by a more lightfast substitute. This paint changed only slightly at full strength, but is noticeably faded as a tint.

Permanent Violet (PV3:1) is anything but. It began showing signs of fading by the second week of sun exposure and is now seriously changed both at full strength and in the tint. This comes as no surprise, because the pigment is a known bad actor.

All three blue paints in my sample -- Ultramarine Deep (PB29 and PV12), Prussian Blue (PB27), and Peacock Blue (PB15:3 and PG7) -- seem quite reliable, despite the inclusion of a mystery violet pigment in the Ultramarine Deep. I can find no information in any of my resources on it, but it doesn't seem to affect the color stability.

Viridian (PG7) is actually phthalo green, which makes it very stable, but also a very strongly staining paint. Sap Green (PG36, PBr25, and PY17) includes the same yellow pigment as Permanent Yellow Light, which means it shares the same problems -- darkening at full strength and very noticeable fading in the tint.

Burnt Sienna (PR101) was a definite suprise -- fading badly across the board. Not a true burnt sienna, it is composed of a red pigment that is supposed to be very lightfast, but this sample didn't live up to the reputation of the pigment. 

VanDyke Brown (PBr9) is made of a pigment that does not appear in any of my resources, but is similar to one that is rated fugitive/unreliable. It faded particularly badly as a tint -- in both samples!! I had to go back to check my photos at 6 weeks to verify that there had been a noticeable difference in the exposed and non-exposed tints at that time. I therefore have to conclude that simply exposing this paint to air will cause it to deteriorate at tint strength.

So I'm sorry to say, but my advice would be to avoid Mission Gold paints as they are currently formulated -- unless you're planning to channel Picasso's Blue Period or keep your work in a drawer.

New Color Blending Workshop...

I'm really excited to be doing another watercolor workshop at my friend Guy Magallanes's studio!!  Guy has created such a congenial space -- it's just a pleasure to be there.  We're expanding this workshop a bit (starting on Friday afternoon and continuing with full days on Saturday and Sunday) to make sure everyone will have time to complete this painting.  I'll also be showing you some simple things you can do to make a rather plain resource photo pop with energy.  I hope you'll join me in June!!

Fourth Annual Peeps Challenge!!

Little Bo Peeps

watercolor, 6" x 6"

Chris Beck

I hauled out my artistic license for this one: anyone who collects vintage tableware will undoubtedly recognize the girl salt shaker as Little Red Riding Hood, but by cleverly painting the hood pink instead of red, I have magically transformed her into Little Bo Peeps!!  If you look closely, you'll notice that two of the Peeps are also salt shakers -- a lucky find just as I started planning my painting.

 

Equality for All Peeps

watercolor, 6" x 6"

Pablo Villicaña Lara

Happy Hour Peeps

watercolor, 10" x 10"

Kathleen Ballard

A Fistful of Peeps

oil, 11" x 14"

Geraud Staton

I'm pretty sure the original Peeps Challenge was something Pablo dreamed up in a moment of grand silliness, but now it's almost an institution -- four years and, Peeps willing, forty more!! Pablo and I have shared this challenge each year since then, with a changing cast of other participating artists. Joining us this time around are Kathleen Ballard and Geraud Staton.  I love the creative fun that this challenge provides and, judging from their witty results, so do my fellow Peepsters.  I've provided links to posts about the challenge -- hop over to read more.

Catching up & a teaser...

Hip Hop Bebop

watercolor, 12" x 12"

Chris Beck

I've been doing the happy dance here on a regular basis lately.  Hip Hop Bebop was recently selected for the Northwest Watercolor Society's upcoming international exhibition on Mercer Island, WA by juror Mark Mehaffey. The show dates are April 15 to May 31.

Then, yesterday, I heard that Hip Hop Bebop was also chosen for publication in Splash 15: Creative Solutions, part of the ongoing series published by North Light Books.  Publication date is set for Summer 2014.

 Waiting in the Wings

watercolor, 12" x 12"

Chris Beck

And a few weeks ago, I learned that Waiting in the Wings will be included in the Transparent Watercolor Society of America's exhibition (May 4 to August 4) at the Kenosha Public Museum in Kenosha, WI.  Jurors were Robin Berry and Paul Jackson.

  

And please keep an eye out for these little guys! >>>

I'm joining with my friends Jelaine Faunce, Pablo Villicaña Lara, Kathleen Ballard, and Geraud Staton in the Fourth Annual Spring Peeps Challenge!!  We plan to post by Sunday morning.

Tech Talk: Pigments - Week 6

Lightfastness Test Strips

(bottom half is the sun-exposed section)

Back in January, I painted these test strips of Mission Gold watercolors because I was concerned about the lightfastness of the pigments used in manufacturing these paints.  As I've reported before, I cut the sheet down the center and put half in a drawer in my flat files and half on an enclosed porch that gets a few hours of strong sun on clear days.  Despite the limited sun exposure during our rainy winter months, there are definite changes to many of these pigments.

The sun-exposed yellow has become darker in the full-strength strip, but other colors have either become slightly dull or are changing color slightly.  At full strength, permanent rose, permanent violet, and burnt sienna are faded and somewhat duller now and prussian blue is slightly faded and also leaning towards green. 

Changes are more noticeable in the tints, which is often the case with impermanent pigments.  While orange and peacock blue had only slight fading, there is noticeable fading to the permanent rose, rose madder, permanent violet, prussian blue, and burnt sienna.  Sap green and Van Dyke brown both showed moderate fading. 

Out of curiosity, I changed the white background of my photo to a 60% grey tone in Photoshop.  The neutral grey really makes the colors pop and makes it easier to see the changes to the sun-exposed pigments.

I'll be leaving the test section in place on the porch for the forseeable future.  Even with many hours of full sunlight, it can take several months to see the full extent of changes to pigments.  I plan to report back here in a month.

Peeps mugs!!!

Calling all Peeps lovers!! Check out the new mugs in my Zazzle shop!! Be the first on your block to collect them all!!! 

What a great trio this makes -- all the primary colors!!  Three of my Peeps paintings are reproduced on classic white mugs and the images are printed on both sides so your breakfast mates can enjoy them too. Get one (or two or three!!) at my Zazzle store -- ChrisBeckStudio.

These are high quality mugs with bright, clear graphics, as you can see. They can be used in the microwave, but should not be run through the dishwasher.

L to R: Five blue Peeps join a couple of vintage ceramic bluebird salt shakers in "What Did You Expect From Marshmallow Eggs?"  A clever tin toy frog thinks he can hide out in a box of classic yellow Peeps in "Spring Peepers." A solitary pink Peep sits on a nest of foil-wrapped chocolate eggs, dreaming of hatching a flock of chicks in "Hope Springs Eternal."

Tech Talk: Pigments – Week 2

 Lightfastness -- comparing full strength paint

(bottom half is sun exposed strip)

 

Lightfastness -- comparing tints

(top half is the sun exposed strip)

Two weeks ago, I began testing these Mission Gold watercolors. (See the original post here.) After painting the test strips, I cut the page in half and put one piece in my flat files and the other in a spot that would get direct sun. Following my plan to compare the sheets every two weeks, I put the two pieces together today, first comparing the full-strength strips and then the lighter washes.

There are a few changes at this point, although nothing drastic. As might be expected, the tints (light washes) were generally affected more than the full-strength colors.  Prussian blue faded slightly in the tint, as did burnt sienna -- both a bit of a surprise, since the pigments listed on the tubes are supposedly lightfast.  There was also a slight darkening of the yellow, particularly noticeable at full strength. The tint of Van Dyke brown faded slightly.  Neither of these was unexpected -- the yellow pigment was rated as fugitive by both Michael Wilcox and Hilary Page and the brown is unlisted, but its closest relatives are considered fugitive.

It's worth noting that the sun-exposed strip has had only a few hours of sun a day on the best days and we had 4 or 5 days of deeply overcast weather in the past two weeks. I'll continue to monitor the test strips and will post again when there is more information.

Update on the Shanghai Biennial...

Morning Glorious

watercolor, 15" x 18"
Chris Beck

Responding to a request from one of my readers, I'm posting this quick note about events following the Shanghai Zhujiajiao International Watercolour Biennial Exhibition.  My painting has been included in a travelling show that appeared at the Child Welfare Institute Children's Palace Shanghai from January 19-27, 2013.  From there it goes to one of the most visited landmarks in Shanghai, the Oriental Pearl Tower Shanghai, where it will hang from February 7-17, 2013.  And because the exhibit coincides with the Chinese New Year holidays, they are expecting up to 30,000 visitors per day.  Pretty heady stuff!!

You can read a bit more about this at the Biennial Exhibition website.