Think You Can’t Paint? Just Try the Waterlogue App!

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Dana Burrell

Have you ever taken a photo and said… “I’m going to paint this scene after I’m home!” … and then never did?

Well, that’s TOTALLY my M.O.! So many photographs, so little time! I took this photo of shorebirds on my recent trip to San Diego. (I tried looking them up… are they Marbled Godwits?) I was definitely going to take my watercolors out and paint them.

BWA-HA-HA!!!!! … that was a month ago.

Enter the Waterlogue app. First off… you’ll need and Apple iPhone, iPad or iPod touch running iOS 7. The two creators, John Balestrieri and Robert Clair are working on a version that will run on a desktop/laptop Mac running OSX but it isn’t available yet. And sorry, you Android folks are out of luck.

Waterlogue will allow you to choose from 12 algorithms and paints an image as you might, sketching first, then painting light to dark.

Click each image to enlarge.

Waterlogue – Natural

Waterlogue – Bold

Waterlogue – Luminous

Waterlogue – It’s Technical

Waterlogue – Travelogue

Waterlogue – Rainy

Waterlogue – Illustration

Waterlogue – Soaked

Waterlogue – Shallow

Waterlogue – Color Bloom

Waterlogue – Fashionable

Waterlogue – Blotted

I’m rather fond of Natural and Color Bloom but each choice is amazing!

Is it original art? No, after all, it’s still a copy. Will I give up my watercolors? Heck no! But this is so much fun just for the immediacy of it, I envision using it as a model to emulate with my brush and paints.

It’s the best $2.99 I’ve ever spent! Find it in the App Store and prepare to lose yourself as you play. Isn’t that what art’s all about anyway?

Stephanie Reininger – Watercolor Demo at Long River Studios

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Dana Burrell

Saturday, April 19th was the date of World Wide SketchCrawl #43! Coincidentally, I went to an artist demonstration at Long River Studios, a gallery in Lyme, NH that specializes in works by local artists. Hmmmm… two birds, one stone?

Stephanie Reininger, a watercolorist, demonstrated her loose and expressive style for a group of avid admirers. I did a quick gesture sketch to document my day and then settled in to absorb her fluid watercolor technique and try to grasp as much technical information as possible.

Thank you David and Lisa Chelone for bringing this unique experience to your gallery! We all were blown away by your open and welcoming friendship, and of course, the awesome blueberry buckle!

And special thanks to Stephanie Reininger! You’ve inspired me to work larger and outside my beloved sketchbook!

One last thank you… to Michelle Goldsmith, who spied the advertisement and gave me a quick email! You’re the best!

Watercolor Paint-along

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Dana Burrell

I’m still on a John Singer Sargent high!

On the MFA website there’s a “Learn Sargent’s Technique” video where an artist, Monika de Vries Gohlke, demonstrates John Singer Sargent’s wet wash technique. I watched it a few times and this morning decided to paint along.

Have I nailed it? … not by a long shot! But it was fun and that’s what matters.