Spot Quiz

Learning that some watercolor artists dilute their paints with whiskey amused me. I wanted to give it a try, just for something new and different. The thought of doing a series of little paintings with images that relate to whiskey itself popped into mind. I know just a little about liquor, so I began by searching online for names of popular whiskey cocktails. I made a short list of those I thought could be captured with a painted scene or object. I eliminated ones which gave me no visual inspiration, like Mint Julep and Whiskey Sour. I ran my list by two former bartenders, my sister Jean and my friend Teresa, and fine-tuned my list to six possible paintings, based on their helpful feedback.

Coming up with simple images was a challenge, and for most of these paintings I explored several possibilities. I set up my own arrangements and photographed them (one is shown here), visited a local museum and other nearby spots to take pictures, and scouted online for free usage reference photos. I used Photoshop to size, crop and combine reference images, incorporating elements of design which I try to incorporate for every painting, like balance, range of values, textures, color harmony, etc. After checking the ingredients used for the cocktails I chose, I painted each with the type of whiskey most commonly used, such as whiskey, rye, scotch, or bourbon. I ended up creating 7 paintings - I was unhappy with one I had struggled with and painted a new version which I liked better.

Technically, the six paintings shown are each 4” x 4”, painted with a limited color palette. I used an Arches block of 140lb. cold press 10” x 14” papers, creating 2 paintings on each sheet. The colors are a selection used by an artist whose work I love, Mary Whyte. They include various brands, with raw sienna, burnt sienna, permanent rose, hookers green, cerulean blue, ultramarine. I added cadmium yellow to give me another strong primary for better mixing of colors. As with various limited palettes I use, I refer to a sheet I created with test swatches as a guide. This shows me tints of each color as well as some mixtures to create other colors, such as purple or grey. I lay out a small amount of paint in a white porcelain tray and mix my colors there as needed. Also shown in the photo is a 2oz. shot glass to hold the small amount of whiskey I paint with and a nip of Tennessee’s own Jack Daniels. For this series I used a set of water media brushes I had won, called Grey Masters™ by Jack Richeson. Included were #2, 4, 6 and 10 pointed and a 3/4” flat. I liked working with them.

I’m no authority on whiskey (and prefer wine or hard cider when imbibing), but I have learned more with this exercise. Whiskeys vary, due to many factors. Different grains are used, such as barley, wheat, corn or rye, and there many methods for every step of production: mashing, fermenting, distilling, aging, diluting, blending, flavoring, coloring and more. The source of ingredients and place of distilling make a difference as well as the alcohol content. Aging can occur in new oak barrels, white oak barrels, charred barrels, or barrels soaked in wine or sherry. Traditions, regional standards, and even trade legislation are other factors, such as bourbon being required to be made with a grain mixture of at least 51% corn, or everything called scotch being made only in Scotland. Cocktails generally are not made with the finest spirits; those are commonly reserved for sipping neat or on the rocks. Now I understand why there are so many different whiskeys and why people have their preferred ones.

My introduction to the Whiskey Painters of America (WPA) was a few years ago. I was reading the credentials of an artist and listed among awards and designations was membership in the WPA. Their website provides an interesting history. Based on the work of the founder Joe Ferriot, member artists create miniature paintings (now specified to be no larger than 5”x4”), thinning their paint with alcoholic spirits. “On a foggy night in 1962 at the Tangier Night Club in Akron, Ohio, 11 members convened, forming a charter with by-laws and governing rules, and elected Joe as president.” The exclusive group allows no more than 150 living members, and those wanting to join must be sponsored by an existing member, then go through a jury process. The WPA holds four exhibitions and sales shows each year. While doing this series of cocktail paintings, I made contact with the current president, inquiring about how to find a sponsor and go through the jurying process. I learned they currently have openings for new members. I also received a positive response about joining and the president found a member sponsor who has contacted me. He said "...clearly you qualify the basic requirements, ie; having won awards and quality of work." With my membership application, I must submit two paintings which meet their specifications. If/when I am accepted, one will become part of the WPA's permanent collection and the second is awarded to my sponsor. I am on my way to becoming an official Whiskey Painter!

By the way, painting with whiskey vs. water didn't differ much. The alcohol evaporated faster than water, on the palette and on the paper, but didn't yellow my hues. Working with watercolors in miniature made my passion for details a bit challenging, but I survived the test. Now I am creating two more small whiskey-color paintings to present with my WPA membership request, and I've chosen some unique subjects.

I hope you had as much fun with this post as I had creating the series of cocktail whiskey-colors... and maybe learned a thing or two about whiskey too!