MEETING REPORT Feb. 15, 2018

Demo by David Smith:

“Skies and Water in the Style of Herman Pekel”

  Inspired by a workshop with Australian artist, Herman Pekel, David Smith demonstrated his approach to painting dramatic skies and water.

He began his presentation thanking NorthStar for support and encouragement to him in his artistic journey. He chose the seascape subject “because it’s more interesting than a cityscape.” Where to start? “With a very accurate drawing,” he quipped as he drew a simple horizon line on the paper.

Then he sprayed big droplets of water on the paper with a trigger sprayer. Dipping into ultramarine blue and sienna he let his rigger brush “dance around the paper.” With a larger mop brush he put a light wash behind the clouds. Dropping in more water, he also incorporated a little gouache in his skies.

After drying the paper, his next step was to pull some viridian across the water using a wide flat brush. Then he suggested buildings and boats at the water’s edge, adding very dark ultramarine to the green water and blotting areas behind the buildings to suggest smoke.

His final step was to lift shapes suggesting white sails on the boats. He did this by pulling off color using a magic eraser and stencil cut into a sheet of plastic. A little addition of gouache was the final touch.

Despite a brief interlude due to loss of electricity, David entertained and instructed with his ever-wide smile and great sense of humor.