Skip Lawrence Workshop ~ Day 4, Thursday ~ Watercolor by Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

Watercolor, mixed media on 140 lb watercolor paper
22" x 30"

Wow, did this sheet of paper look big and it looked so much larger than the Skip Lawrence demo I carried the paper on the support up to the front and measured to make sure Skip hadn't been painting on a half sheet. I was getting ready for the day's assignment about working from top to bottom or bottom to the top.. I never did get the terminology down correct. It was all about layers. After we saw a slide show about looking at figures and how different artists paint figures and that was a great slide show but Skip has a rule. Only he gets to narrate..OR he loses his train of thought. By now, by the fourth day the group acted like and felt like "friends" and we were always wanting to interrupt. I hope that was all and not just "me". I was using 140 lb. watercolor paper and he says the "professionals" use 300 lb. with a slight chuckle so it was necessary for me to anchor down the paper with his favorite Ace hardware tape. I'll discuss the steps in the next photos and you can click on them to enlarge.


I sketched a figure in pencil and charcoal. I don't think Skip used charcoal. In fact a lot of times I don't think he did much sketching. Wet the paper where the figure was. I found this out later as I wet a lot of my paper but later found out, he wet the area where the figure was to be painted.

Begin putting on your layers of color and work from transparent to opaque, something like a yellow, then a permanent rose and then a blue and begin to use less water. The paper will only hold so much water. You can tell it was still wet when I took the photo. Add some blue next.
Add some blues and anything else you fancy and start finding and adding some shapes, always searching for things that's yours and how to make the work your own. Somewhere about now you need to take a 2 hour break while some of this dries or you will get mud. Now you can add the opaques or add white paint to watercolor. My deal is I like to paint red haired women, can't stay out of my stamps and I like the women with a little attitude with a hint of a wing shape. I used some Caran d'Ache in the hair and for other accents. Skip said she looked like she had a tattoo. That's OK because I see a lot of tattoos at my family gatherings.

Blick Art Materials:
You rock, Blick Art Materials. I will be giving a program in Graham, TX. at the end of the month on art journaling and I asked for a donation to give to the attendees. When I arrived home Friday here was a big box filled with goody bags containing a Blick sale flyer, a $5 gift coupon and a Blick paintbrush. Thanks Jen McCutcheon and Dick Blick for the very generous donation. Blick has the Aquabee Super Deluxe Sketchbook that I like to use for journal keeping as it has 93 pound paper pages.

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