I recently received my copy of Jean Haines's new book, How to Paint Colour & Light in Watercolour . I've admired Jean's style since I first saw her work on Wetcanvas.com. During my early days dabbling in watercolor I followed a class Jean was giving on the w/c learning forum and found her style was beyond me at that point. I had just left realistic drawing and was relatively new to this medium. My intent was to pursue a medium that would allow (ok...FORCE) me to be more free and expressive. I found Jean's 'beyond' loose watercolor paintings fascinating but I just could not let go of that much control at the time. I'm better now (I have been able to loosen up) but this is taking it to the extreme , IMO and it's exciting.
This is my first humble attempt (I'm not counting those horrible paintings I created in her class years ago) at watercolor 'Jean Haines style'. My subject is one of my own cats. I'll leave my visitors to figure out what the cat is doing. Please take time to post your answers or guesses. Thanks!
8 comments:
Wonderful cat...looks like she is scratching her ear?
Thank you, Cynthia! I guess you're the only one that's going to chime in and you guessed correctly. This my white cat Digby having a good scratch behind his ear.
Nice work. Lots of light and movement!
Congratulations!
Thank you, Jaime! I love the sense of spontaneity that comes with this approach to painting. It's what attracts me most. I would love to explore this further.
Neither I have gone through Jean Haines's book nor I have seen his paintings but I can say you have done beautiful work.
Thank you so much, D.D.:) Jean's style of painting borders on the abstract but stops just short of going all the way. I love the life she brings to her subjects and it's that quality that I wish to bring to my own work.
WOW! You are far better than me at my own style Billie and I adore this! I have admired your talent and your own journey in art for some time now. I really am absolutely thrilled you like my work and my book. And I can't thank you enough for being kind enough to mention me as inspiration for this fantastic painting. I so look forward to seeing more of your " loose " work.
Thank you Billie,you are a wonderful person and a pleasure to have crossed paths with online:):)
Jean
I'm thrilled you like this, Jean!:) I wasn't too sure if I hit the mark or not. Part of the trick seems to be knowing when to just stop painting and call it done.
I have enjoyed your book and intended to send you a message on Facebook telling you so but hadn't gotten to it yet. Shame on me.:(
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