A Book that Changed the Way I Paint
Mar 29, 2023Check Out This Book by Skip Lawrence
“Don’t allow your brain to blind your eyes.” - Skip Lawrence
So much of painting is learning to see what’s actually in front of us and not what we project onto the scene. This book - Painting Light and Shadow in Watercolor by Skip Lawrence - has helped me develop a keener eye and has offered me some great strategies to become a better watercolor artist.
Lawrence has helped me to resist the temptation to fill in the blanks when I look at a scene and to name the individual objects I see. He has also has given me permission to take charge of my paintings so that I am able to create a clear focus and a unified scene.
Join me as I highlight the most powerful messages in one of my favorite watercolor books!
How to Find Connected Shapes for Watercolor Paintings
“Stop thinking about brushes, pigments, how to hold your brush, how to draw a house, and think about shape and color.” - Lawrence
One thing that Lawrence really emphasizes is the importance of the right number of connected and overlapping shapes in a scene. When you include the right amount of objects with varying sizes and connect them in an interesting shape, you invite your viewer to progress through your scene smoothly, almost rhythmically, from one shape to another and from foreground to background.
When you look at these three examples, note what elicits a response in you. Too many disconnected shapes can pull you out of the scene. Too few shapes might warrant a simple glance. But a composition that achieves a balance of “enough” (connected and overlapping) shapes can capture your attention. In the end, this is what we want - enough intrigue to guide a viewer through the elements of the scene.
This painting demonstrates how Lawrence allows shapes to meld into one another.
Lawrence says, “I see students every day whose talents and goals are arrested because of a pencil line. It is as if there is a negative charge in a pencil line that repels a wet brush from crossing it. Go ahead. Cross the line. All great artists have; why shouldn’t you?”
Working with Values in Watercolor
“When painting the focal point, look at the focal point. When painting everything else, continue to look at the focal point.” -Lawrence
Something I noted when I first studied this book was his value chart. I have talked a bit about value studies and about what I do in preparation for a painting. In this book, he identifies two drawback to the traditional value study:
- It doesn’t take color into consideration
- It doesn’t require that you choose a focal point.
He recommends that artists consider what they are featuring in the painting from this early stage, and offers us examples of 9 different value sketches of the same scene to depict this practice.
“Most traditional landscapes feature a light and middle value sky against a darker shape of the land… Don’t confine yourself to this value design when it appears to be the only and obvious choice. If you ascertain that a dark shape would be better expressed as a light and middle value shape, then by all means, do it!” - Lawrence
How to Create a Unified Watercolor Painting
What all of these lessons point us toward is the goal of creating a unified painting. Lawrence leads us away from our pursuit of the literal. He asks us to step back and notice the relationships of every element in our scene. He asks us to think of ourselves as shape-makers, creating shapes that elicit a response from viewers.
Whether it is a pleasing shape or a calming shape or a shape that makes us look closer, the goal is to capture a viewer’s interest, not to replicate the exact details of the world around us.
Integrating Influences to Find Your Voice
I can get so excited by the skill and insight of painters I admire. They inspire me and push me forward. They expand my belief in what’s possible. They spur my creativity.
But what we can’t do as watercolor artists, is to allow one artist’s vision to take over our unique voice. Skip Lawrence articulates and demonstrates principles I want to master as an artist, but he is one of many influences. And some of the most exciting work I do is integrating the lessons I take from each of my varied influences in order to express my point of view more clearly.
So - I challenge you - find the influences that speak to you. Take their lessons to heart. And use them to better express yourself and develop your individual style.
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Related Blogs:
A Conversation with Watercolor Artist, Tim Wilmot
A Conversation with Watercolor Artist, Thomas Schaller
A Conversation with Watercolor Artist, Andy Evansen
