Making Art: Phase One; With Watercolors, Dyes & Pastels (Exercises)

For an Introduction and Table Of Contents to this series, go to

Making Art: A Course In Allowing Your Creativity To Flourish; Introduction

For a description of the meaning of Phase One, go to:

Making Art: Phase One; Preparing Fertile Ground

For a list and description of materials, go to 

Making Art: Phase One; With Watercolors, Dyes And Pastels (Materials)

This is a piece at the completion of Phase One, but
how do you know when Phase One is completed, why
 is it not "finished", and where does it go from here?

Let's Create Some Fertile Ground!
In these exercises, you will be transforming that sterile, blank, white page or canvas into fertile ground for your creativity. Think of actual soil, and the plants that might grow from it: the richer the soil, the healthier the wheat.  The pickier the plant...well, just think of an orchid, and you get the intent of this phase.


Do not attempt to finish or control your pieces, by any means, in this stage. This is the first of at least three phases in the series, so lucky you won't have to worry about perfection, completion, or any audience but yourself right now.

You should work quickly and instinctively, trying to keep intelligent criticism out of it and to quite simply, just go with the flow.


Understand that this should get messy, so if you are not comfortable making a mess, use a drop cloth. However, it's not possible to make mistakes in Phase One, so don't worry! There will be plenty of time for worry in later phases, so just have fun with this one...

With soaked areas, pools of water, and dry spots.

One, Two, Three, Repeat!

1. First,  choose one of your papers of any size. 


Wet your paper by squeezing water from a sponge or brush directly onto your active surface (this will be the term used from now on to indicate the current paper, canvas, etc. in front of you), in a random way.

Let the water run and be absorbed where it will, and don't try to wet the entire active surface completely or uniformly. 

Paint will flow differently, according to the wetness of the paper. Soaked
areas, pools of water, and dry places make it more interesting!

From one large pool, pigment was randomly added, then
then the page was tilted to encourage the flow of pooled
water into a stream of color through the dry paper.

2. Now, randomly select two colors from your watercolor paints. Don't look, just grab one in each hand and accept your fate!

Squeeze a small amount of paint from each tube directly onto the active surface. Move color around the surface using a wet, dripping, color-loaded brush or sponge.

Pull the paint around in strokes. Squeeze or shake the brush or sponge out over the active surface, letting color fall where it will.

Add new colors, blindly as before.

You may end up with color combinations you dislike at first, but trust
the process for now. Accept "ugly" results and relinquish control.

After leaving this painting to dry on a
slightly tilted table, I found this wonderful
slow drip the next day, that I never expected.

3. Let the paint swirl and eddy where it will. You may turn your paper or bend it slightly to encourage interesting flows, but try not to get attached to any "goal."

4. Repeat, with variations. Variation is key. These steps are infinitely modifiable to suit your instinct at the moment. Read on for some of my own suggestions to keep the process rolling, and keep the creativity flowing.


Watch, Learn, And Encourage
As you work, watch how the colors blend and mix, and how the differing wetness of your paper grabs the color and sends it outward. See how the dry barriers encourage streams and drips.

Notice where colors blend to make new combinations, and where they stay separate, forming natural striations.

The best part of this process is the surprise the paint has in store for you.
You will likely see shapes, colors and patterns that you never would have
planned, but which you find quite beautiful and somehow perfect.

Even water coverage means softer edges between color.

Repeat, With Variations

Even though I offer pictures as visual aids, there is no way for your work to look anything like mine, and you should not try to do so! Let your actions be led by the materials themselves. Following, are some good techniques to try, for maximum randomness and variety:

Modify techniques in the above steps.

• Instead of wetting your paper randomly like last time, this time blot the water evenly over the paper with a sponge or brush, and allow the paper to absorb the water before beginning.
• If last time, you started with bright white, cold press, 300lb watercolor paper, next time use a lighter, softer, buff colored paper.
• If, your first active surface was paper, next time use canvas. 
• If, last time, your canvas was small, next time start with a large one.
• If, last time, you squeezed the paint directly onto the active surface, next time use one of your canvases or papers as a palette.



The smaller canvas here was first used as a paint palette,
then as a stamp, and later will become an active surface itself.

The paint on the left was applied on very wet paper, and it
blends and flows effortlessly. The paint on the right was
applied to a primed canvas that won't absorb water, and so
the paint forms harsh lines, bubbles up, and reveals the
texture of the canvas beneath.

Canvas behaves differently than paper,
with watercolor painting and stamping.

Take advantage of variable surfaces.

• Your unprimed paper will accept water and paint very differently from your primed canvases. Don't try to force either to behave as you would prefer, but use the resulting differences in paint quality as part of the piece.
• Leave bubbled up paint on primed canvas to dry, and see what happens. You can set a good amount of pooled water to dry, somewhere safe from bumping or otherwise being molested. The resulting implied texture can look exceptional next to other paint treatments later.



Fine powder gets activated immediately by the
water, and clumps of powder can be activated later. 

• Thick, 300lb watercolor paper will hold its shape much better than thinner paper, not made for watercolors. Don't worry about what you need now; you may need warped, crazy paper in the future!

Widen your color palette.

• You will be using a good amount of paint throughout the session, and you should continue to grab tubes, randomly, to add to the mix. I caution choosing your colors with any intention, as this usually leads to your trying to control the session, and the result will be less impromptu and more same old.
• Try introducing powdered fabric dye to wet areas, and see what happens. Fabric dye can be especially fun, when it is re-activated later, unexpectedly.
• Use your soft pastels to add color in a different way. Try drawing with them in both wet and dry areas, crushing them, or rolling them on the active surface. Cylindrical pastels will give different results from square and powdered pastels. Pastels rolled in enough water will become pasty and produce yet another effect.

Fabric dye sprinkled directly onto a wet, active surface.

Pastels applied in wet, already painted areas can be mixed in new ways.

Square pastels dragged and rolled on wet paper produce
curiously organic and geometric patterns here.

The paint from the active surface drips onto wet paper that
readily accepts pigment.

Activate many surfaces at once.

• As you let your paint drip down the active surface, let it fall on other papers or canvases. Use both wet and dry catching surfaces, and both blank and already activated surfaces.
• Where colors and water pool, use other waiting surfaces to soak them up. Smash them together, and stack them up; who knows what you will find, when you pull them apart!
• Use your canvas "palette" as another active surface. Smash it or stamp it with other surfaces, and use it as an active surface in it's own right, beginning with Step 1, above.

The dry smaller paper is being used to soak up clotted color,
stamp it repeatedly on the active surface, and will now
become an active surface itself. Its smaller size dramatically
changes the look of the patterns in the stamp.

This paper is soaking up color and changing the active
surface, by introducing a composition line that will be
apparent with the subtracted color.

The strange landscape formations here were formed by stamping or
soaking with another paper, off-set to leave the compositional line.

Experiment with your materials.

• Use your materials in the way that feels right to you, paying attention to how they work together naturally; my instructions are only suggestions.
• Try new things all along the way. Use paint colors you would never normally put together, and brushes you are unfamiliar with. Use materials in ways they may not have been "intended", like a sponge as a stamp,  a canvas as a napkin, and a napkin as a brush.

This small canvas was grabbed to quickly catch some dripping paint, yet
there is a funny little cow figure emerging that I really like; I think I'll keep it!

A sponge can accumulate interesting colors and patters, and
can be used as a pattern stamp.

Things Will Change!

This intricate rock formation was formed
when one of my other paintings, left to
dry overnight, drained off onto the table,
and was soaked up by a happy accident.

I warn you not to try to control your imagery yet, because that's an important part of the process but also because...you really can't control the paint when you work like this! As large, wet areas dry, they will change, so don't get too attached.

Also, since you are using watercolor materials, though they dry quickly, they will always remain active because when you later paint over them or next to them, adding water, they will come alive again! Don't try to plan for this, you can't. Just have fun and watch what happens.

In Phase Three, I will show you how to harness that wild paint and make your imagery permanent and protected. But, don't worry about that yet.

The heavy paint built up here will likely be activated again later, to blend
with whatever paint I am using then, and forcing me to adapt my plans.

How Do You Know When To Stop?

You're not trying to finish anything, so how do you know when to stop? If you start feeling too attached, or start trying to control the piece, toss is aside and grab a new active surface.

You know when a piece has left Phase One when you are excited to work on it more later. Done, leave it for Phase Two. I suggest accumulating a wide variety of color harmonies, textures and spacial arrangements for optimum range of choice in Phase Two; at least 20-30 pieces. See the captions below, as to why I think the following are fertile ground.

Never would I have chosen these garish colors on purpose, but I am
starting to like them. There is a bubbling humor, almost circus-like,
being obliterated by the cloud of smoke rolling in.

Subtle and smokey, with only vague suggestions of form, this space will
be perfect for pencil or pen and ink later.

The muted reds and blues, within the textured neutrals are
crying out for me to do something with that space. The
bright green in the lower corner is vaguely plantlike, in the
rich brown "soil" clot. The rest of the space seems
quite ethereal next to it.

Only a few sparse lines and globs, the placement is almost structural,
as armature or power lines, or could be easily used as such.

Hhhhmmmm...don't know why, just like 'em. Don't over-think it, remember
you'll need lots and lots for Phase Two.

Yet, don't wait for every active surface to become "interesting" or "promising". You never know what imagery you will need on any given day in the future, so you can't really know what might have promise later, in this moment now. Don't give up on the duds! Just save them for later and see what happens. You may just need that dud one day.

Not my favorites, but sometimes ugliness can really spur you on! The
one in the bottom left was so disturbing to me that I started working
on it in Phase Two almost immediately!

Please Share!

Above all, this blog is about making art and talking about it, so please share your ideas and your own examples by commenting and leaving a link to your work.

Making Art: Phase One; With Watercolors, Dyes, and Pastels (Materials)

For an Introduction and Table Of Contents to this series, go to

Making Art: A Course In Allowing Your Creativity To Flourish; Introduction

For a description of the meaning of Phase One, go to:

Making Art: Phase One; Preparing Fertile Ground
To skip to a description of exercises, go to:
Making Art: Phase One; With Watercolors, Dyes, and Pastels (Exercises)

Materials And Tools
CAUTION: You should always use non-toxic materials, when possible, and strictly adhere to directions, guidelines, and regulations on packaging. Read all instructions and warnings, and follow them carefully.
Most or all of these materials can be found at your local art store, Sam Flax (my favorite), or Dick Blick online, and some at Michael's, or Jo-Ann. I don't recommend too many brands here, because I don't have favorites in all of these supplies just yet. Browsing through the aisles of the art store is more fun and usually more productive at this stage. If you don't have a favorite art store yet, look for one!

Art Tools
The tools required will be those that allow you to work quickly, instinctively, and produce A LOT. Here, I am using the following:

-1 set of watercolors in various hues
-1 set of soft pastels in various hues
-Several watercolor brushes of varying size and shape
-1 sponge brush and 2 sponges
-1 container of water
-paper towels
-rags (or old T-shirts)
-1 sketchbook to record thoughts and ideas
-not pictured are several containers of powdered fabric dye (sorry, I was inspired while working and grabbed what I needed after the photo-shoot)

Paper
Have handy plenty of art paper of varying size and surface quality for maximum variety. My favorites are:

-Arches Watercolor (varying lbs, either hot or cold press)
-Arches Cover
-Rives BFK
Use both buff and white.

The above absorb water and receive color beautifully, but it's nice to try the opposite, too! I also keep on hand Bristol board or leftover scraps of art paper for variety.

One rule is to use thick, quality paper that will hold up to plenty of abuse and different materials.

Canvases
Have plenty of stretched and primed canvases of varying size on hand. I prefer cotton canvas, primed with Liquitex gesso, but I will buy whatever is on sale at the local Sam Flax (they have such good deals!).

Canvas stretchers of 3/4" depth will eventually need to be framed to show or sell, so some artists opt for the gallery frame, which is much deeper and can hang beautifully on its own. I like to have both, but the latter is more expensive. The above links to Sam Flax or Dick Blick are great resources for stretched canvases, and even Michael's and Jo-Ann carry some.

Make sure to have large (24"X30" or 16"X20"), medium (11"X14" or 8"X10") and small (5"X7" or 4"X6") for maximum variety. You never know what you need until you reach for it and don't have it!

Floor Space

 

You need to be able to toss work aside quickly, and grab paints or other tools randomly or at a second's notice, so make sure that you have plenty of floor space.


However, you also want to have everything you need close-by, within grabbing distance.

So that you don't have to think too much, it's nice to know where your paints are without looking or where to reach for another canvas or paper to soak up a beautiful, opportunistic spill.

Some of my best starts arose from bumping my elbow against a canvas and just snatching it up, to use on a whim.

You don't need an art studio! Here, I am working in my living room, sitting on my heals on the floor, setting materials on the couch, the floor, the plastic Ikea toddler chair (my art table is the accompanying toddler table). BUT, if you are concerned about ruining your living room with permanent paint, please use a drop cloth, which can be purchased at Home Depot.

While you are shopping, if you see something similar or gregarious that you think could work well with these materials, try it at your own risk. We will be working quickly, wetly, and with spontaneity. Let's begin!

Making Art: Phase One, Preparing Fertile Ground

For an Introduction and Table Of Contents to this series, go to

Making Art: A Course In Allowing Your Creativity To Flourish; Introduction

For a list and description of materials, go to 

Making Art: Phase One; With Watercolors, Dyes And Pastels (Materials)

To skip to painting exercises, go to

Making Art: Phase One; With Watercolors, Dyes And Pastels (Exercises)

This chapter examines one option for the first stage of at least three stages in my instructional painting series, "Making Art: A Course In Allowing Your Creativity To Flourish". Your pieces should remain fluid, non-representational and open-ended in this stage, to prime the scene for the creative explosion to come in later phases.

Although there is merit in simply getting your hands dirty (with non-toxic materials!), and having fun with paint, as a goal in itself or a form of art therapy, that is not the intended purpose of this course. This course will push you to explore more deeply, increasing your skills as a painter and your knowledge of paint as an artistic medium. Try not to limit your ideas of where your work might go, conceptually, or how it could progress, technically, to completion...not just yet! You don't have to control this.

Sarah Wathen, Again: Icons,
Oil and acrylic on canvas,14 in. X 14 in.

Preparing Fertile Ground


The materials-before-materials for this phase are both simple and complex, and unique to each individual. First and foremost, you will need whatever helps your mind to take a break and let art happen. That could be meditation paraphernalia, inspiring music, a glass of wine, or a comfort movie. My friend Diane Ross, an excellent hypnotherapist and spiritual guide, would call what you are trying to quiet the "monkey mind," which is that frantic, unfocused, hypercritical voice that puts a fat cork in your creative fount. Monkey mind keeps you from actually seeing what is happening in your hands, or watching the behavior of your materials closely, and letting them work for you.

Sarah Wathen, Monitored: Icons,Oil, acrylic, charcoal,
and marker on canvas,18 in. X 24 in.

In the following exercises, I actually do meditate to calm the monkey first, before I begin painting. This is not something that I feel capable of teaching, however, and the experience is personal to every artist; for more information on meditative techniques, consult the masters. Most yoga practitioners will offer help with mediation, and you can read up on the subject in any Barnes & Noble. If you happen to be in Orlando, Florida with me, The Spiral Circle bookstore has all you need to get started, including classes, CD's, incense and Tibetan chimes. The link to Diane above is a good resource, if you're interested in a deeper examination of consciousness, as well as Dr. Brian Weiss, for information on eliminating stress and finding inner peace through mediation and/or hypnosis.

Whatever you do, just don't think about art!

Making Art: A Course In Allowing Your Creativity To Flourish; Introduction

Table Of Contents
Phase One

• Preparing Fertile Ground
• With Watercolors, Dyes, And Pastels (Materials)
• With Watercolors, Dyes, And Pastels (Exercises)

What To Expect
This is a free course in the art of making art artistically, and by that I mean painting. Yes, that was meant to be funny; stop taking yourself so seriously or you'll never make any real, meaningful art...your art.

While we're on the topic, what is art? Who cares? If you think about it too much, you may just think all your creativity away for the sake of brilliant conversation. In my experience, you need to stop thinking about art, in order to access true creativity.

Sarah Wathen, Pails and Pails of Water,The Jack & Jill Cycle,
Watercolor, acrylic, marker,
and pen on paper, 11 in. X 14 in.

Making Art Makes More Art
One of the most common misconceptions about making art is that you need to be "feeling inspired" in order to begin. Yet, a more helpful way to think about it is that the act of being creative generates more creativity. Making art makes more art.

So, how do you start this process? Jump to Chapter 1.  The beginning is different for every artist, but don't try to begin with a blank piece of paper, a pencil and a head full of opinions, blame, preconceptions, and self-doubt.

Start slowly and softly, to encourage an unfolding or flowering of consciousness. Imagine, for yourself, how this would feel and fabricate the appropriate environment for you. For myself, and in this course, I will explain how I build a nurturing environment for my own work, a fertile ground with stimulating materials, space and mind-set.

Sarah Wathen, Lace Worms,
Screen print on velvet paper, 8 in X 8 in.

How Do You Do It?
We will explore work habits, conceptual exercises and technical skills that encourage continual growth and spontaneous development of an art piece, within the artists guiding hands.

You will find that, if you follow this course faithfully, your work will mature as if it has a life of its own, and you will find immense pleasure in that natural becoming. No more hand-wringing and hair-tearing!

What Is The Real Reason For This Blog?
Making art is so much a part of life, and I want to talk about it all the time. But, frustratingly, I often find that most people that I care to talk to DON'T want to talk about art. Why?

So many friends, peers, colleagues, and family members really do want to talk about art, because art is the expression of our most basic needs and our most exalted dreams. But, for reasons too complex and  too numerous (and quite beyond my expertise) to write about here, most of us feel somehow unable to be a part of the tactile expression (art) of our spiritual community

Sarah Wathen, The Taking Tree, Acrylic, pastels,
oil, gold leaf and marker on vinyl wallpaper, 10 ft. X 7 ft.

So often, we feel art has been taken away from us and put into the hands of the "professionals" or "them".

I feel the need to teach about what I know of art, when a fellow mother in a children's meet-up group talks about how she used to paint often, but she doesn't even feel the urge anymore; or, when a student has no idea why she has found herself in my class, because she can't talk about what she sees but she has always loved art somehow; or, when a family member used to love art, but now never speaks of it in my presence, embarrassed because I am now a "professional".

I decided to write this blog, because after years of material investigation, punctuated with bursts of fervor and lags of boredom, and held together by the grueling search for my own voice, I actually think that I've gotten somewhere!

Maybe we can paint together, and then talk about it... asynchronously, of course, but that's what the digital age is all about!

Sarah Wathen, Rip Van Winkle
Counting Bichon Frisés (detail),Acrylic paint and ink on vinyl wallpaper,
approx. 10 in. X 16 in.

How Can You Help?

After speaking with so many that have experienced frustration similar to my own, or simply not even begun out of indecision, confusion or fear, I know I can help.

I know that my fellow explorers, "artist" or otherwise, can both benefit from my endeavors and further enrich my own practice, so comments from the beginner or the expert are greatly appreciated and encouraged! 

Please add to this community and share your thoughts and feelings about art!

All of the images shown here are of my previous work, and I am sorry for that staleness in what is meant to be an inspiring introduction, though I have always worked in the same manner that I teach now. The reason for the old images is that I am beginning, as you are beginning, and this course traces my actual experiences in creating a new body of work that develops in real time as this course unfolds honestly. Let's call it "40 Paintings"...

Sarah Wathen, Skinny: Icons,
Oil, acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 16 in. X 20 in.