THE COLORS OF KATE SIMPSON - ARTIST

Uniball pen and watercolors on paper 9" x 12".  Kate Simpson is a klassmate at SBS and her artwork is terrific.  She views my work as "psychedelic" (whatever that is) and that is fine with me.  She called me the "King of Color" which made me laugh.  A few questions from Donna Schulte and other Klassmates were posed as to how I choose to use colors in my art.
I think drawing and painting are the same thing.  So the first part of the process is to draw.  I use the pen which forces me to really spend a lot of time looking.  I spend more time looking then drawing for sure. There is a huge difference between drawing from a photograph and drawing from a live model.  But out of necessity I use photographs and I don't worry about it the way others do.  No big deal.  Relax...
To me getting a likeness is just that.  A likeness.  I like the drawing to RESEMBLE whatever I'm drawing, but it doesn't have to be photo realistic.  That is all about seeing and trying to get the relative shapes fitting together.  In Kate's portrait I just try to make sure one shape is placed correctly next another. When I'm satisfied with the drawing I brake out the watercolor.  I get asked a lot about what brand I use.  Honestly I think as long as you use artist grade instead of student grade they are all great.  One thing I do differently than other water colorists is that I really lay it on thick.  I may put five or more layers on top.  I don't care if the paper wrinkles or warps.  If that is a concern I will use  watercolor block paper. But I like crinkly paper. I can't over emphasize the need for everyone to just have fun and not drive yourself crazy over things like expensive art materials.  For me it's more about no choice but to make the art.  Show up and get it done.  

When I first started reading about watercolor a lot of artists warned of it's "unforgiving nature".  Sounds like a threat, right.  So, what...  if I put down something on watercolor paper and it's "wrong" that's it...I'm doomed?  Bah, I don't by it.  That's too neurotic.  The only thing I guard against is muddying up the colors.  All the rest are happy accidents that are incorporated into the drawing. As long as I try my best then I'm having fun.  I love being in the uncertainty of the moment.  When things are feeling hopeless and I'm falling, then I know I'm ok.  Instead of feeling bad at this moment, I feel good because I know this is the creative process.  It's not accounting for Pete's sake!

In looking at the photo of Kate I view it in the Picasa 3 program.  I zoomed it up to see what colors I see.  When drawing from a photo I try to see how the light travels around the head.  Remember you are not painting Kate's head, eyes, nose, etc.  You are painting the EFFECT of the light spilling over these forms.  For quick fun paintings like this I just use 3 degrees of tonality: Shadow, halftone and light.  David Hockney (I urge you to look at his work) uses various shades of purple for his shadow areas.  So I did this around the eyes, cheeks and chin.  Anywhere I could see shadow (and I squint when I look) I put a mixture of purple, red, burnt sienna.  I use a piece of bristol board paper or watercolor paper to the side and test out how the color mixtures work and look before I put them on the drawing. (Later if it looks wild enough I draw over this test bristol board and get interesting drawings or just utter crap).  I adjust the colors if I have to on the palate or even on the drawing itself.  I don't worry about it looking too neat. After I put in the shadows I repeat the process for the halftones(cheeks, nose, around the mouth) using a basic skin tone formulas of white, cadmium yellow and red.  Then for the highlights I use white and yellow ochre or naples yellow.  On the background I just put down the colors I thought went well against the head and would reflect what I imagine would make the viewer happy.

So for this kind of sketchbook painting I do play with it very loosely, I do go by my mood and improvise a lot.  I'm not trying to duplicate. Rather I'm trying to re-create . I like it loud, bold and happy!

What I do lot of is copy the work of artists whose work I like.  I don't pass it off as my own, of course, but it is a fun way to get used to using the tools and colors.  I recommend the work of Elaine De Kooning, Xenia Hausner, van Gogh, Joan Mitchell, Alice Neel, David Hockney just to name a few. Some books on color that I use are:

Color Healing by Lilian Verner-Bonds

Colors For Your Every Mood by Leatrice Eiseman

Artist's Color Manual by Simon Jennings

Vincent van Gogh's letters to Theo

I read that Adolf Hitler said "Anyone who sees and paints a sky green and pastures blue ought to be sterilized."  This made me so mad that I have since gone out in total freedom to paint using whatever colors I wanted to! I try to entertain the viewer and make them feel good.

I hope this explains how I use color.  If you have any questions just ask in the comment section and I'll answer them.