FRANK WEBB ON WATERCOLOR, Review of DVD

FRANK WEBB on Watercolor. DVD

This DVD, produced from a classic movie of Frank
Webb, is a departure from the usual step-by-step demo. Almost like voyeurs, we get to watch Frank in action as he creates two watercolor paintings in his inimitable graphic style. With guitar background music and voice-over, Frank makes philosophical remarks about painting and art while he hypnotizes us with paint. He doesn’t explain what
he’s doing. But it’s a treat to watch him draw, pull color out of
his paint wells, and lay his color into complex shapes with a large flat brush. He considers design to be of prime importance in art, saying about his subject, “What’s my chief pleasure in this?” With assured marks, he builds his painting, until his subject magically appears out of the abstract jumble of values and colors. Then he pops it into a mat and points out the design elements. An inspiring visit with a master painter.

SUCCESS IN CREATIVITY

Thoughts after watching Kung Fu Panda. I know, it’s a kids’ movie. But they throw in the piece of ancient Chinese wisdom: There is no secret ingredient. It brings to mind the advice frequently given to unpublished writers and not-yet-successful artists. There is no magic secret to success.

Like so many bits of wisdom, this is both true and untrue.My thoughts:

True: There is no one bit of knowledge or skill that separates the successful from the unsuccessful in the arts.

True: There is no secret that the successful artists keep back from the others.Not true: there is no difference between the successful and the hopeful.

It is not one thing, but a whole pile of things, including:
Brush miles/number of words/hours spent on craft
Effective work habits, which translate into hours spent on craft, and productivity rather than spinning wheels
Thoughtful study: some combination of work with a mentor and self-direction
Expanding on strengths
Improving or circumventing weaknesses
Effective rule breaking
Development of a unique voice (which some say happens after brushmiles/number of words)
Choices, limitation of scope, unique methodologies, world view, all of which add up to voice
Selectivity, working toward beauty of expression
Effective marketing
To sum up: expertise, expression, marketing.

GETTING RESTARTED

A student asked what advice she could pass on to a friend who has taken a break from painting and wants to get back to it. Here's what I told her:

1. Make a place to paint. Find someplace where you can leave yourstuff out, so all you have to do is clean your brushes and cover yourpaints when you quit.

2. Set aside 5 minutes every day and paint for five minutes. If youdo more, great. If you paint 5 minutes a day, your brain decides thatit is an important activity and rewires for it while you sleep. Don'tskip 2 days. Do it every day. The same time every day is good, too.

3. Paint for fun. If you've set it aside for a while, paint onlywhat you want to paint, what you're driven to paint. Play a bit.Give yourself premission to paint awful stuff. Give yourselfpermission to paint wild stuff. Look at what happens and solidify theparts that you like.

WORKING IN BATCHES

Yesterday I blocked in half of a painting. Today I finished blocking that one and three others. The benefits of batching.

Several factors contribute to this efficiency. First, the materials for the task are all out and don’t have to be organized. Solutions to the first project can be carried to the second, and so on, speeding the decision making and eliminating work time on side trails. The mind routinizes parts of the task, allowing you to perform more quickly and efficiently. I even feel as though my physical movements become more direct.

Another piece happens overnight. What was difficult one day can sometimes be trivially simple the next, with no apparent thinking about the problem. And never underestimate the power of a good nap.