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MEDIUM: Watercolor on Paper
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SIZE: Image Size: 15" x 20"
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STATUS: For sale $800, matted and framed under plexiglass
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PRINTS: Giclee prints are available (contact Judy)
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ACCOLADES:
2020: "Sorghum Maker" is one of 77 from 302 entires juried into the 41st National Exhibition of the Georgia Watercolor Society, with entry open to artists across the U.S.
2019: This is one of two paintings which Judy had accepted into the 51st Annual Oak Ridge (TN) Open Show; very few artists got 2 works into the exhibition (Heart to Heart was also chosen). Juror Victoria Boone gave it this critique: "Beautiful sense of color and composition. The central placement of the figure is balanced well with the linear elements to the right. Executed exceptionally well...."
"I often approach my paintings of humans as 'characters' rather than accurate portrayals, concentrating on the profession or activity of an interesting subject such as this. My Sorghum Maker is the patriarch of the Mennonite Guenther family, who own and operate Muddy Pond Sorghum Mill in Monterey, Tennessee. I had photographed Mr. Guenther sitting at the mill which crushes the sorghum cane to extract the juice. This casual pose, interesting beard, good lighting, wonderfully textured clothing, and old machinery all captivated me and cried out to be painted.
Technically, I painted this with a limited watercolor palette of 6 colors: 3 'warm' primaries and 3 'cool' primaries. I based the use of the colors on using the warm tones in the shadows and the cool tones in the highlights. I also used a variety of other watercolor techniques, such as sprinkling salt on the background greenery to create abstract texture, using masking fluid to preserve the white of the paper where his beard hairs appeared against dark areas, lifting color with a magic eraser when it appeared too bold on the plaid shirt, and dabbing on paint with art sponges instead of with brushes."
NOTE: See Judy's video of this painting in process, "Anatomy of a Watercolor."
