Adventures in Watercolor Painting

Traditional advice says that before soliciting work, an illustrator must have a portfolio of 12-24 pieces of her very best work.

Solid advice, but wondering if my art was portfolio-worthy in the past caused me to hate everything I created. As a result I didn’t treat my work with respect,(why would I if it wasn’t good enough for my portfolio?). Few pieces were saved or preserved, and lots were given away or thrown out, (for shame!). So today my portfolio is… scant…

…nonexistent might be more accurate.

I haven’t looked for illustration opportunities for lack of a portfolio. Lately, I’ve been in talks with an editor who may want to hire me to do the illustrations for a book she’s publishing. This lead sort of fell in my lap and I decided to pursue the job, portfolio or no. Sometimes I feel it’s best to take a leap before I feel ready, otherwise I procrastinate indefinitely.

I sent the editor one of my pen and ink drawings and she was very interested in my work. She told me she wanted to see some of my watercolor paintings, too. Unfortunately, while I have a lot of knowledge about watercolor, I don’t have as much experience using it as I do with graphite or ink. So over the last couple weeks I’ve been working on improving my watercolor skills. I’ve been painting up a storm and watching tutorials on Youtube to see how other artists use the medium.

Here are a pen and ink drawing I did some months back, and one of my watercolors from this week:

In my experience pen and ink is was way easier to control than watercolor. (Can you tell I have an obsession with birds?)

While neither piece is technically an illustration-- that is, there’s no narrative in the imagery-- they do show my skills with ink and watercolor paints. (They’re also similarly composed; not very inventive I must admit).

Watercolor paints have a mind of their own and can’t be entirely controlled. If you want a medium that will sit, stay, and obey your every command, you’re better off using graphite or pastels. But watercolor has a grace and luminosity that no other medium possesses, and that’s the beauty of it. That’s why I’ve wanted to use it for years. Also, most of my illustration idols are watercolorists. If I want to paint like Mercer Mayer, Jerry Pinkney, or Alan Lee, I’ll need to get the hang of watercolor at some point.

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On a related note, I wish I was in Massachusetts right now. Since November of last year through May of this year, the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts has an exhibit of Jerry Pinkney’s work. It has 150 of his original illustrations, dummy-books, and process drawings. Since the mid 1960’s, Pinkney has done illustrations for dozens of magazines and more than 80 books for children. And I love him.

Pinkney has been one of my idols since I was seven. I was introduced to The Talking Eggs during second grade story-time, and instantly fell in love with his rich tones, “dappled” brush-strokes, and dark pencil lines. I would just die to see some of his work in person.

Pinkey thinks of himself as narrative artist. He says that he’s more of a pencil-drawer than a watercolorist. He wants his pencil marks to show through the paint, and often “draws” with the tip of his paint brush.

Here’s the cover image he did for a book about John Henry:

Look at the pencil detail in the hammer, hat, and the trees in the background. It almost looks like a paint-by-number, doesn’t it?

There are some great examples of his work in this video, too.

Alright, I’m inspired. If Pinkney is better with dry media than watercolor, and can still create paintings like these, there’s hope for me yet. Reguardless of whether I get this illustration job or not, I promise to create some illustrations for my portfolio, (and not just draw birds floating in empty spaces). Wish me luck!

Peace out!

-Jovan