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MEDIUM: Watercolor on Paper
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SIZE: Image Size: 22" x 30"
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STATUS: Sold
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PRINTS: Giclee prints are available (contact Judy)
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ACCOLADES: Region I Award and among only 60 accepted in the Juried Tennessee Watercolor Society 2012 Exhibition
"This watercolor painting, of local musician and friend Jerry Van Asdale, is one I painted in my brain long before it landed on paper! I took reference photos nearly 2 years ago. What a great painting challenge: capturing Jerry's fuzzy beard against a dark background, and, emotionally, depicting the character of a very special person, so much admired for his kind and gentle nature, compassion, extensive musical talents, and dry humor.
From a technical point of view, this "character study" was somewhat like my painting "When She Was Three". I have learned, even in my paintings of animals with light fur, that hair is not one solid color. Light hair is full of pastel hues which play against the very whitest strands to make it look realistic in a painting. In traditional watercolor, no white paint is used; the whites are unpainted areas of the watercolor paper. For a painting such as the one I was embarking upon, being representational, this meant I'd have to pre-plan where my "whites" would be. Since the painting was already done in my head, this wasn't a problem.
I decided to use a limited palette to do this painting - just blue, red, and yellow. I choose 3 different primary hues than with that previous painting - American Journey brand Joe's Blue, Rambling Rose, and Sour Lemon. I found it a bit more difficult to mix reds, rich dark colors and shades of grey with these particular three colors compared with those used in previous paintings. Always good to stretch yourself as an artist, huh? If you really study Jerry's painted beard, you will see lots of purple, rose, blue, and other colors among the flesh tones."
