The first Tuesday of every month is when the
San Fernando Valley Art Club's monthly meetings take place. As Vice President, I am in charge of booking the artist who does the demonstration. This month
Brenda Swenson, who is a watercolor artist, was on hand to show everyone the magic of painting negative spaces.
First, Brenda gave us an inspired talk, taking us into her process. She focused on the importance of sketching every day and passed around copies of her sketchbooks which reveal her method for taking notes along with the sketches. Brenda even mentions the smells and sounds of a place. The idea is to help the artist reconnect with the scene once back in the studio. Brenda also recommends that everyone use ink pens to sketch, not pencil. She believes that with ink, an artist is forced to be more observant before putting pen to paper.
For her demonstration, Brenda showed the group how to paint the space around an object, negative space. Her method requires a lot of patients and the use of many layers of glazes that give the painting depth and dimension. It was wonderful to watch as the leaves and grapes emerged from the paper.
I know that at the break many of the members wanted a closer look and had tons of questions to ask. Brenda's drawing skills are wonderful with a talent to edit and organize a painting. Her demo inspired all the members to look at things in a different way. Thank you Brenda for a great demo.
