Walk with a painter

This post is devoted to all the amateur watercolor junkies out there who are tired of pulling their hair out trying to control this wild medium. During my career as a graphic designer, many waking hours were spent painting, exhibiting and teaching the art of watercolor painting. Along the way I eventually developed a reputation for producing rich, colorful paintings that elicited many gratifying comments about my work. The path was not always easy. While growing up, I dabbled in various mediums but kept returning to watercolor although not in a very serious way. That all changed right after being married almost 50 years ago when I really buckled down to learn this medium. Being, primarily, a self-taught artist I was soon trashing my share of failed attempts and watching the dollars fly out the window as a mound of expensive, ruined watercolor paper grew on the basement floor. Nuts to this, I thought. With the ghosts of two influential men hovering over my shoulder I was determined to succeed come hell or high water. My paternal grandfather was an accomplished artist as well as my godfather, Lee Thorne, an architect in Philadelphia. Lee’s watercolors were vivid and bold and he gave me some of those paintings long ago which I cherished. I plodded on, took a few classes, built an extensive collection of books on this subject (Starting with Watercolor by Rowland Hilder was the first one I purchased which is now out of print) and eventually tamed this beast by staying the course.

We’re all tired of hearing that old saw, “Practice, practice, practice!” However, that really is the only way to realize your full potential with watercolor. But, and I mean BUT, life would be a lot easier if, when working on those future award-winning paintings, you had someone to help iron out the wrinkles as you progress. This is where I feel my years of experience may prove to be a valuable asset to you. Let’s be clear on one thing though. Watercolor can be a very spontaneous medium which lends itself to some pretty wild, juicy, explosions on paper that is indicative of a lot of abstract artists. Sorry, I’m not your guy if that’s the direction you’re headed. A quick review of my gallery online will show you my style of painting and if that’s the kind of subject matter you’re looking to paint then welcome to my world!

So, sports fans, if interested you now have the opportunity to take advantage of the knowledge gathered lo these many years working in watercolors with FREE valuable tips on technique, tools, and other contributing factors, such as composition and value studies to help you master this fascinating medium! NOTE: These valuable tips will NOT be posted on my blog as a regular feature. I will respond back via email to any artist with questions about how to improve their watercolor paintings and my responses may then be freely passed on to other interested parties.

TIP No. 1. Watercolor is much, much different than oils where you can just scrape off your mistakes. Pre-planning your painting is the key here which we can discuss in greater detail along the way.

If you wish to have a painting evaluated, just email me a jpeg image of your painting (which should be an original work of your own creation), along with a brief description and any information that may be of value to me. I’ll do a small painting along with notations of how I would paint it and email it back to you. The address is leemkling@gmail.com. There is a fee for this service of $25.00 made payable to me through PayPal. Any questions, please send me a quick note and I’ll respond ASAP. Thanks.

Happy trails!