W is for the wow factor

There is something about doing art that just seems astonishing. For sure, there is a “wow factor” involved.

From a blank sheet of paper to an image of springtime.

You take a blank sheet of watercolor paper and you start drawing on it. You draw vague shapes at first. It still looks like nothing but a bunch of light pencil lines on a background of white. Then you start adding detail to the shapes. The circles become flowers. The ovals become faces. You’re starting to see objects or people or flowers or a landscape or a bunch of grapes, instead of random shapes. Your picture becomes more real, although, as a line drawing, it still has a very two dimensional feel to it.

Potted pansies.

When you start painting, the wow moments just start multiplying. You’re adding color and, because the world is color, you are giving your image life. You add more color and then you add the details. You figure out where the light source is coming from and you add shadows and high lights. And then you stop. The hardest part of painting is knowing when to stop painting. 


You look at the painting and you realize that you’ve managed to capture a little bit of the world on paper. The shadows and the highlights give the appearance of being three dimensional. 

Sometimes you just want to capture a feeling. In March, I was trying to capture the feeling of warmth on a bright, golden day.

It is totally wow, this feeling of transforming a blank sheet of watercolor paper to a representation of something that you’ve seen. If you are a painter, you will understand that feeling. If not, why not give it a try? If you don’t really care for watercolor, why not try another medium, such as acrylics or oil paint? 


Conversation point: What is the wow factor in your world?

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Save