Blown Away

Blown Away, Winslow Homer*

"I have learned two or three things in my years of experience...One is, never paint a blue sky." When asked why, Homer replied, "Why, because it looks like the devil, that's all.  Another thing; a horizon is horrible-that straight line!" --"Watercolors by Winslow Homer, the Color of Light," Tedeschi
*courtesy the Brooklyn Museum, used with permission

Go to the Masters

The Red Canoe, 13 3/4 x 20" watercolor, 1889, Winslow Homer

(sold at Sotheby's in 1999 for $4,842,500 and prior to that, in 1983 for $260,000!)

In the book Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg tells us "if you read good books, when you write, good books will come out of you. Maybe it's not quite that easy, but if you want to learn something, go to the source." That is my philosophy on painting as well. Those artists whose artwork draws me to it again and again have so much to teach. I never tire of pouring over the beautiful passages, hoping to figure out how to convey some of the magic in my own work. --SG

Painting Inspiration: Winslow Homer

Girl Carrying a Basket, 1882, Winslow Homer

In recent months Winslow Homer's gorgeous watercolors have piqued my interest. He utilized several techniques that modern watercolor instructors seldom endorse or teach. In fact he used anything and everything necessary to achieve his beautiful results. For instance, he often used opaque white watercolor, sometimes mixing it with color, to highlight certain areas of the painting. He often abraded the paper with knives and sandpaper. He used rough paper. He even used breadcrumbs to achieve a texture similar but more subtle than salt.