A dark underpainting with berry detail added
A fern exercise: the initial leaf-like brush strokes (method: touch, press, lift) became the negative shapes between the fern sections. Note the "descriptive" detail on one portion of the fern.
This negative painting design was made over a wet-on-wet underpainting of diagonal strokes
Landscape cartoon #1 Note negative painting to reveal grass shapes
Landscape cartoon #2 Note negative painting to reveal tree trunks
Landsape cartoon #3 Note grass. tree. and mountain shapes__________________________________________________
In the middle of June I attended a very good workshop in Cookeville, Tennessee. The Tennessee Watercolor Society made it possible for artists in our area to experience the negative painting of Canadian artist Linda Kemp
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Most artists are aware of negative painting and use it occasionally in their work. In Linda Kemp's work negative painting is the main focus. She does not paint a positive shape: she paints "around" it to reveal the form. She led us through various exercises. She made it look easy. Her finished pieces are vibrant and exciting. Our simple exercises were struggles. We worked from 9 AM to 4 PM for four days. We took home a stack of unfinished exercises and happy remembrances.
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Linda works on plexi glass. For a wet-on-wet painting the paper is wet on both sides. It sticks to the plexi with no need for tape or staples. An underpainting is made by dipping a large flat brush into one color on one side and on another color on the other side ("double dipping"), then sweeping across the paper either in curved, vertical, horizontal, or diagonal strokes. It may be sprayed with water or splattered to get different effects. The dried underpaintings are the bases for future designs. We were told NOT to look for shapes in the underpaintings. The artist has control and determines what the design will be. Repeat the same colors used in the underpainting.
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We did exercises to illustrate value changes, hue changes, and intensity changes. We practiced simplifying shapes. A leaf could be made with two curving strokes with a large brush. That basic leaf shape would be given a "descriptive "edge by cutting notches with a smaller brush. Landscape shapes became symbols of houses, trees, hills, mountains.
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We did landscape cartoons. Starting with transparent staining pigment, such as raw sienna, we painted a foreground, covering the entire paper. After drying the first layer we painted the next layer using grass strokes that nipped into the foreground color. When the second layer was dry, a third layer was introduced using another simplified landscape feature. Layers repeat in this fashion to make the cartoon of grass, trees, hills, etc. Look at the three examples above.
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Another exercise was with a badger brush, a stiff bristled one-inch brush. Paper was wet on both sides. Then no more water was added. Using two colors on the brush, pigment was pushed downward with the flat of the brush. Successive layers of color were added to make undulating landscape forms. If the brush was too dry to move the pigment, a drop or two of water from the plexi could give enough moisture to continue. It was important not to get the brush too wet. The result is a soft, fused look of rolling hills and valleys. After the paper was dried, landscape shapes could be added.
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The following "Kempisms" were shared by a friend, Francie Entz. We heard these phrases often:
Colors you build with, you finish with
Harmony through unity
If you are naming it, you are probably working in the positive.
Build by value, light to dark, through hue change, intensity change, value change
Shapes and edges tell the story in a negative painting
Shape first, edge second
Captured negatives
The painter is in control of the painting
Touch, press, lift
Start with the thing closest to you
Kill or cure
A book of plans (not sketches)
Double dip
When in doubt, use cerulean
When in doubt, splatter
Don't do something wimpy ...go for it!
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Linda Kemp's book, "Watercolor Painting Outside the Lines ", is very informative. However, to best appreciate the marvelous color in her work, please look for Linda Kemp on the Internet.
