New at Wattsatelier. This is what I learned in the first six weeks
At the end of May, I came across the Wattsatelier, an online program to learn traditional drawing and painting techniques. It excited me as I was looking for a place to improve my painting skills but couldn't find an art school in my region that offered what I was looking for. Jeff Watts is a natural and I was keen to learn more from him and his teachers.
I'm intrigued by color. I enjoy applying colors to see how they can transform ordinary objects into subjects that have a story to tell.
Wattsatelier emphasis is on teaching traditional drawing and painting techniques, which is not very much the style that brings me to that painting skills. Still, being able to apply color the traditional way seemed interesting to me, as it is always good to have some foundation skills. Most probably, I won't be able to follow through the conventional way 100 percent anyway.
You have different subscription options. I chose to sign up for the complete package, drawing and painting classes and was willing to go through a strict process as long as I could cope with it. I was thrilled by the idea not only to learn from the masters but also to get personalized feedback on the course assignments - a game-changer and different to some very good online courses where you won't get any feedback. The critiques can be difficult to interpret sometimes, but they are great for keeping yourself accountable.
Now, six weeks after signing up, I'm still following through with the material. I'm still learning and can see improvements.
The important thing is:
Get started and make small steps. as I mentioned it in my 2023 art review. Of course, the first pieces will be imperfect and embarrassing to show, but that's part of the process to become good at something one day.
When signing up, I went straight to the oil fundamentals course.
It was scary to get to the first assignment, the sketch of the tiger. But once I had seen the demo, it felt easier than I initially thought. The idea behind the exercise was to learn how to pick out oil colors. Picking out is interesting as a technique, especially if you use it as underpainting.
It was the first time I worked with the pick out of color. I feel like I already learned a lot. As you can see in the photo, the painting has some weaknesses. The brush strokes especially in the background are not blended well enough. I was proud anyway and the critique I received on the tiger was motivating.
So I kept on working through the material. The progress might not be visible yet, but in the future, for sure. :)
The assignments in the oil fundamentals class varied a bit. The sombrero man was definitely not my passion project (way too many details), and I didn't have the colors that were needed (cad light and an ultramarine blue). Instead I went for a cadfree scarlet and phtalo blue and learned what the change in color would do to the result. The blue switched to a greenish blue.
The goal with the pigeon sketch was to learn a new way of applying color to the surface. I'm not used to blending my brush strokes, so it was an important exercise to see how that can be done.
One of the following class assignments was to paint the skull with burned umber and titanium white. By the time I did this one, I had not drawn or painted skulls before, so it was an interesting experience, and I clearly lacked skull skills.
I'm embarrassed to show you a gesture painting that was part of the assignment. I passed it but was recommended to practice some more of these. So I did and probably I should do more ...
For the gesture sketch below, I used phtalo blue instead of burned umber.
The next step was an intro to the Zorn palette. For practice purposes, we were supposed to paint skulls again.
The palette is named after the painter Anders Zorn. It is a limited one for which you only use titanium white, cadmium red (light), yellow ochre, and ivory black. This palette works best for portrait paintings as it offers various skin tones. The lady with the red sunglasses is a sketch I painted with the Zorn palette.
After the first month, I decided to focus on the drawing aspects more. As drawing is the foundation of everything I'll draw as much as possible for the rest of the month.
I can't wait to be back to painting with some more drawing skills, though.
Most of Watts's classes focus on either the head or figure studies. I'll study both.
The photo shows how to build a head with the Reilly Rhythm, which I find really helpful for head lay-ins.
The figure drawing is more complex for me. In the picture you see gesture studies from photo reference and a limited time of five minutes each. The first step is to get the gesture right, then the proportion. The rest will come.
I'm curious to learn and share more in the close future. :)
