Watercolor Magic

Sometimes I look at that blank paper and wonder, “What am I going to create today?” I get an image (or two or three) in my mind of the effect I want to create. Then I have to ‘come down’ from this imaginative world and deal with the mechanics of the physical universe. How am I going to create that effect and make it look magical?

Luckily, I now have a large arsenal of techniques to draw upon that I can count on to produce magical effects. So I can confidently create an image in my mind that no one else can see – and a few hours or days later, that image will appear on a piece of paper so others can see it. Pretty magical! What is magic anyway?

One magician defined it as follows: “To me magic is an effect, which is inexplicable. … But I think the easiest way to define magic is in terms of the effect. … the magic itself is in the effect, which any magician will tell you. Magic is about the effect, not about how it's done. That's the puzzle. Magic is something that happened which should be impossible”.

So, if you start with a blank piece of white paper and if you come back a few hours later and see on that piece of paper a horse as real-looking as any you’ve seen in life, is that not magical? Almost a miracle?

Here’s an example – I wanted to create a sort of ethereal effect that included images of a couple at different stages of their lives, from youth to old age. I spent many days, actually, figuring out how I was going to do this. I considered many different elements and what techniques and colors I would use.

Finally, when it all came together, I ended up with this:

The name of this painting is “Love is Eternal”

That’s what I intended to communicate with the painting. Is that the message you get when you look at it? If not, what message do you get? It’s fine if it’s a different message. That’s what art is all about. Art is a creation or an effect that evokes a contribution from the beholder. That contribution can be an emotional one. I’d love to know what you see and feel when you look at this painting. Drop me a line and let me know.

If you’d like to see some other creations of mine (landscapes, seascapes, florals, animals, people), take a look here: www.debbielewiswatercolors.com and let me know what effects these paintings create on you.

May 15, 2009: I’m thinking about giving away some of my watercolor secrets for free. Are you interested? Let me know. If a lot of you want to read about some of my watercolor techniques, that will encourage me to start compiling them and posting them here in the very near future!

I look forward to hearing from you.
Debbie Lewis
Creation is Magical – Watercolor is Magical!

Here are two more great art sites:

TheArtistsWindowOnline.com