This past weekend I taught a workshop at the Dubois Center in southern Illinois. I had some enthusiastic students who welcomed and responded to me, and made me remember why I love teaching so much.
Students get frustrated and discouraged for all sorts of reasons, but two of them are totally avoidable! First, get the best brushes you can afford. Working with inferior equipment will only complicate an already difficult
process. A good brush should come to a chisel or point, with hairs long enough to hold a lot of water, and be springy enough to bounce back to their original shape. Get at least two very wide brushes. You can't cover a half sheet with a wash using a brush that is only 1/4 inch wide!
Second, before each painting session, squeeze out a generous amount of paint. Don't worry about cost or drying out. Re-wetting will take care of that. You'll never be able to get a rich, creamy dark with a miser's worth of paint! You'll end up with more water on the paper and not enough paint. You have to be able to dig into the paint!
Thanks to my kids for a wonderful, laugh filled weekend! Hope to see you again very soon!
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