A Surprising Lack of Fear and Questions about Watercolor Equipment
Today I'm asking myself some questions not about marketing and goals. Questions like:
Is it acceptable to paint over the watermark of your Arches watercolor paper? The embossed watermark remains visible as the paint settles darker into the impressions but it's too far in from the edge for me to justify taping over.
How do other watercolorists paint a half sheet painting and call it 15" x 22"? After taping the paper to my painting board, the painting area remaining is never bigger than 14" x 21".
What brown should I add to my palette to replace the burnt umber I hate so much? Seriously, if I'd wanted orange paint, I would have bought orange! Rrrmschrmrkm - that's Fred Flintstone-style cursing and them there are the strongest words I use (unless we're doing drywall finishing). I'm leaning toward the sepia.
I'm topping up the paints in my palette before my big outing on Saturday. I decided to maximize my mall exhibition exposure. I received permission from the Dawson Mall to paint on location for two hours on Saturdays as long as my exhibition is up. And I sent a press release announcing the exhibition and the schedule of my brush-wielding presence to the local papers. The great thing about a small town...I got a call about five minutes later from the paper, gave a short interview and the blurb has been expanded to a short story in the paper. Guess I had no reason to feel a little pretentious, drafting and sending out the press release.
In telling my friends and family about my appointment at the mall, the question I have been asked most frequently is, "Aren't you nervous/petrified?" I'm not at all, and I've been asking myself why for a couple of days. What I've come up with is that I'm not nervous about painting in public because:
- I'm experienced. I've been painting long enough that I don't expect to make TOO big a mess of it.
- I've taught a few watercolor classes, and in doing so, I learned how to talk about painting, and how to do demonstrations for my students. Painting at the mall will be very similar, but without the captive audience.
- I love people. I was in my twenties before I realized that I actually was not shy, but very outgoing (and self absorbed - I'm working on that). As the years go by, I am learning to enjoy people more and more, and there's nothing that picks me up more than a good conversation. And I can have a deep conversation with just about anyone, just about anywhere - like 7:00 a.m. today, between laps at the pool!