Tip of the Month - January 2003

When creating shapes, we often fall into old habits, ones that are easy and comfortable. If painting on dry paper is what you do, the hard edge shape can soon dominate the painting.

Remember, hard edges come forward in space. By gradating the edge from hard to soft, the shape will move back into space

If the work is started with a controlled wetness, wet-in-wet edges can be created. Notice the softness. This would work well for middle ground and background shapes.

Middle ground shapes can also be created on dry paper. Paint one color beside another, while both colors are moist. The wetness of both colors should be EVEN.

Try loading your brush fully with one color, add a second color to the halfway point of the brush, and add a third color onto the tip of your brush.

With the three colors on your brush, make a stroke touching the point to the paper and pushing down to include the whole brush as you create the stroke. The outside edge is hard; color transitions on the inside are soft.

Uneven edges can be created in a variety of ways. Spattering, natural sponge, and dry brush are some examples.

If you use sedimentary colors such as the cadmiums and ultramarine blue, semi-soft edges can be lifted from the dry paint. A Q-tip works well.

As with all techniques, these ones should be used only when it is appropriate. Otherwise, the subject of the painting loses itself in the technique.