Cape Otway, Victoria   close-up
watercolor on Arches CP paper, width 100cm
private collection    seascapes in watercolor

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animated art and multimedia
interpretations of Les Baux de Provence

enlarged view of this watercolor

Science & Escher-inspired:
Endless waterfall...
Return universe
close-up
private collection

recent abstract works in liquid acrylic

About my background in watercolor

I began drawing watercolors around 25 years ago in my teens. My parents ensured there was a ready supply of good watercolor paper, fine quality brushes and paints, and various art-instruction books. One book that particularly inspired me was by the late American watercolorist Ted Kautzky. His unusually dramatic use of the medium, especially his seascapes captured my young eye. Other books on watercolor that inspired my first steps in the medium were by Lee Weiss, and Barbara Nechis.

Challenges of the watercolour medium

The transparency of the medium means that, unlike oil painting where weak areas may be over-painted, the watercolorist has no such luxury. Virtually every brushstroke will be visible in the final work, and this is one of its great challenges!

Secondly, in the transparent (purist) use of the medium, opaque colours such as white are not used. Rather, the white in watercolors is simply the ground of the paper itself. In this sense, watercolor is akin to sculpture: the artist sculpts away parts of the white of the paper with the colors and has to in a sense paint the negative aspect of light. Once an area of white paper is over-painted in color, that's it! There is no going back.

Thirdly, watercolor flows. When the paper is wet, if one color touches another, they intermix on the paper in a somewhat unpredictable way. This creates fantastic nonlinear patterns, but also problems for the watercolor portrait artist, who may need to control value transitions around facial features. When you add to this, the fact that wet paper is constantly in a dynamic state of becoming drier, another level of difficulty arises: timing.

Timing is of an essence in the medium. Frequently, action at a particular moment is called for, and all the parameters mentioned above have to be spot on: placement, color choice, value, degree of dampness of brush in relation to wetness of paper surface. There are no second chances. It is this wet-in-wet aspect that makes such painting unrepeatable. Uncopyable in exact character and detail because of these nonlinear happenings which are the hallmark and charm of the medium.

Wayne Roberts, 2001

collages | top of page

Home | watercolor seascape paintings | alps in watercolor | abstract watercolors | recent abstracts in liquid acrylic | watercolor paintings inspired by history, math, science | "the lifeboat", prizewinning work American Watercolor Society, New York | paintings inspired by music | modern figurative acrylic paintings | art links | contact artist and feedback |science-math inspired paintings

available watercolors

watercolor paintings 5 | watercolor paintings 6 | watercolor paintings 7

selected watercolors from the period 1984-1999

 

from top left to bottom right

cape otway
watercolor, width 100cm
private collection

linda's gloves
watercolor double full sheet
collection I. Oxley

endless waterfall, return universe
watercolor
private collection

port melbourne
watercolor double full sheet
private collection

Silhouettes of Melbourne
watercolor
private collection

 

all works © wayne roberts 1989-2001 all rights reserved

 

 

Cape Otway, Victoria
watercolor 1/2 sheet
private collection
© copyright Wayne Roberts

The Lifeboat © 1995 Wayne Roberts
transparent watercolor 56 x 76cm
private collection
Winner of Paul Schwartz Award,
American Watercolor Society, New York