As a boy, I painted in both oil and watercolors. Forty years ago, I decided that bouncing back and forth between the two was holding me back from becoming proficient in either.
I felt watercolor was the most difficult of the two mediums and decided to give up my oils and focus exclusively on watercolors. Consequently, I painted solely in watercolor for the next fifteen years.
I painted from a wet palette and often used color straight from the tube. These paintings were highly rendered; there was nothing filmy or washy about those later watercolors. Interestingly, over that decade and a half, my watercolors began to look more and more like oil paintings, but with the absence of painterly brushwork.
Here are a few examples of those highly rendered, pigment saturated watercolors.
When I felt proficient with watercolors, I decided to paint in oils again and have painted in both mediums ever since, often choosing the medium based on the subject that was to be rendered. My landscapes were usually rendered in oil. Still-life paintings, including fish, were painted in watercolor.
My first oil after a fifteen-year hiatus was “Lanin at Dawn”.
Over time my focus shifted almost entirely to painting in oils, and nowadays, watercolors rarely make an appearance in my art. Additionally, I’ve recently renewed my interest in rendering in pencils.
Recently, I have found personal value in occasionally repainting some of those early watercolors as an oil, reveling in the freedom of brush work.
Hi Bob, are any of these for sale?
Are they on your website with prices?
Thanks, twink lafave
Hey there Twink.
I trust you’re well… thanks for responding to the newsletter!
Yes, most of the images in the essay are available as fine art prints, and at least a few as originals… thanks for asking!
Let us know if we can be helpful.
Like reviewing, editing and adapting a favored short story or novella. Your essay is enlightening and well done.
Thanks for the kind words, Bob. I love to edit, nearly as much as I do creating.
I hope you’re well!
Nice story and as usual great art in either medium
Thank you, Robert… I deeply appreciate your kind words.
My dear friend,it is good to hear from you.Bob I am David Wilson and I am 82 but still going strong.I have fished most of the rivers in Argentina and had to quit when I could not wade the river without the fear of falling.Still love the bird shooting there and am going again next Month for Pigeons and dove then South for ducks.Over three dozen trips to that wonderful Country!I just returned from the Bahamas bone fishing and have to fish from the boat but lots of fish.My good friend Capt.Ryan Lambert who is the owner of Cajun Fishing Adventures in Buras La. goes with me and I will send pics.He is featured in this Months Ducks Unlimited Magazine.You need to get downthere.
Count me in on the new book.Take care and hug that beautiful wife Lisa.(I remember when you two were dating at Tikchik)Stay well my friend.DRW
Hey there, David.
How wonderful to hear from you… thank you for taking the time to stay in touch. It’s great to hear that all is well and you’re finding time on the water and in the field.
It’s hard to believe there was ever a time when Lisa and I weren’t married… it’s been nearly thirty years!
All the very best!
I found it most interesting to hear how you have “grown” in your talents, thanks, pete
Hey there, Pete!
It’s so wonderful to hear from you… thank you for taking the time to comment!
Lisa and I look forward to seeing you at Musky Madness!
Thanks for sharing, Bob. I like the painting just above this, “The Bridge Pool” because the colors and textures remind me of Spring, while Bridge Pool III seems to me a bit garish. But that’s why I’m a musician, not a painter. Keep up the great creative work! and Tight lines,
Skip James
Hey there, Skip.
It’s so nice to hear from you… thanks for taking the time to comment!
I appreciate your preference for the original painting of “The Bridge Pool”… for exactly reason you’ve mentioned.
Thanks!
At first I couldn’t decide which I liked best but decided each has its own beautiful merits!
Love both of them. Thanks Bob!
Steve
Thank you, Steve.
I deeply appreciate your kind words about the work!
Very nicely written (and illustrated, of course). I like the idea of revisiting old work in a new medium — not just the technique, but also the years between have their say in the matter.
The “Nocturnes” remind me of your “Gloaming,” which is one of my favorites — any chance you did a watercolor of that one? Thanks —
Hey there, Joe!
Lisa and I hope you guys are well. Thanks for the kind words about the work… it means a lot to me!
I haven’t redone “Into the Gloaming” as a watercolor… yet, but it’d be a wonderful candidate. There’d be so much to learn in the process.
~ Bob
Impressive work
Thank you kindly, Brian… ‘much appreciated!
Masterful ! We totally love your art.
Hey there, Dave and Cindy.
Thank you, so very much for the kind words about my work… I really appreciate it.
If I might be helpful in the future… please let me know.