The Art of Watercolour 41st issue - PRINT Edition

EDITORIAL
At the time of writing, many museums, galleries and other cultural venues throughout the world are still closed. Shows and concerts have been cancelled and several watercolour festivals - including some of the most important scheduled to take place this spring and summer - have been postponed, or even cancelled altogether. Other events planned for this autumn have maintained their dates, betting on a forthcoming reopening.
If this exceptional period is obviously a hard blow for both the artists and the structures that make it possible to welcome them and exhibit their work, it has nevertheless brought to light two important points. The first is the resilience of watercolourists and their capacity to adapt. Just like the businesses hit hard by COVID-19, many artists have moved online to carry on their activity. The video conferencing solution Zoom has grown from 10 million daily users in December 2019 to more than 300 million in April 2020. How many of these are artists? From online workshops to live demonstrations and virtual exhibitions, watercolourists have demonstrated an ability to react and adapt as, over more than a year of an ongoing health crisis, they have greatly developed their online presence. However, and this is the second point, is this reliance on digital solutions sufficient? Of course not.
The abrupt and sudden halt of all watercolour events has meant that we have become more aware of the importance of this network of exhibitions, workshops and demonstrations, which constitutes the very core of watercolour painting. If these events exist and, in many cases, have been around for years, it is more often than not thanks to the motivation and dedication of many enthusiastic volunteers - artists themselves in many cases - who tirelessly devote themselves to furthering the cause of their passion without counting the hours. Just like the artists, they too are suffering from this unusual context and the best way to thank them, just as we must also congratulate the artists for having managed to get through this crisis, will be to visit the many watercolour exhibitions and art fairs which, for sure, will soon be opening their doors once more.
Happy reading, Laurent Benoist.

CONTENTS:
Special New Readers’ Competition: the results of our “Springtime” themed contest.

What’s on: Watercolour events from all over the world.
Readers’ competition winner: Alison Pinto.

MEET THE ARTISTS:
Revelations: Mady Constanty and Bernard Quillacq.
John bayalis: This hyperrealist painter paints a wide variety of subjects, but always with the same attention to rendering light with precision.
Tatsiana Harbacheuskaya: A fan of floral subjects and gentle atmospheres, she favours juxtapositions of colours and soft edges that suggest shapes.
Maryse Louis: Her favourite subjects are animals, especially felines. She paints them in watercolour like the true enthusiast she is.
Brian Smith: Working with soft touches and superimposed washes, he creates locations characterised by strong light and shadows.

Portfolio Ken Call
His complex portraits and groups of figures take advantage of the transparency of watercolour and highlight the play of light and shadow. Abdelatif Bensalah: In painting Algeria, he reveals his love of his country. Light and warm colours evoke memories and tell the stories of its people.

Andy Evansen: He likes nothing better than to paint landscapes in the open air, capturing their unique atmosphere.
Shuang Li: How can an artist progress? Read about why she regularly enters contests and her approach to watercolour.
Ada Florek: Constantly searching for new subjects, she thinks everyday life is full of beauty for anyone willing to see it.
David Lobenberg: In his paintings, an explosion of colour coupled with the use of stencils guarantees maximum impact.
Marina Legovini: A ceramist by training, Maria Legovini finds the sheet of paper, a place where she can give her imagination free rein and express an abstract take on landscapes.

TECHNICAL GUIDE:
Wei Xin Lin: Using water and pigments instead of words, a subtle and truly poetic art.
Robert O’Brien: The two primordial elements of his watercolour practice are light and texture.
Julio Jorge: When unparalleled technique meets a unique vision, a simple portrait can at times verge on a masterpiece.
Jansen Chow: Travelling the world with his palette and brushes, he celebrates here the landscape of Venice.
Lynn D. Pratt: She likes to create details that give a three-dimensional aspect to her subjects.
Frank Liao XiaoPing: He loves painting flowers and the challenge of dealing with many different elements.