Zan Barrage – Friday Night Guest – October 15, 2021

( Submitted by Marilyn Walsh) Zan Barrage shared his insights and critiques with members who sent in their artworks for this Friday night talk.  

Zan used  PhotoShop to show in practical ways and images how his suggestions would improve our work.

He was very positive and encouraging.  For one artist, he complimented the soft and hard edges used in the shadows increased the sense of depth and the range of values.  For another he talked about the melody of curving lines and repetition of circles.  Dramatic diagonals gave another painting lots of energy.  

For more than one painting, he talked about the need to show 3 layers, not just the object and the background.  His solution was to make the edges of the nearest object sharper and colours brighter and to soften the edges of things more in the background.

Dominance in a painting is needed to anchor the eye within the painting.  Intensifying the colours of the focal point, reducing the brightness elsewhere as well as blurring any lines at the edge of the painting will hold the viewer’s interest within the artwork.

In landscapes, the sky is the lightest colour and the flat ground or water is the next lightest.  Verticals are the darkest colours.  Water in a lake further away will be lighter while the closest will be darker because you are looking down away from the light.

He talked about how curved or angled lines will switch direction in a reflection on the water.

For a number of artists he encouraged us to darken the lower area of the painting  or to use warm colours to anchor the painting.

For further workshops and videos visit his sites below:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/watercolorworkshop

Sunday Class Online: https://www.visualartsbrampton.com/programs/adults/watercolour-cafe