Joseph Stoddard Workshop - April 2017

by Marie Castellano

What new horizons for watercolor artists may be out there?  Recently artists came, from as far away as California's coastal regions, to deal with just that.  VHAA's workshop with Joseph Stoddard began with wit, charm, focus, and energy to try new approaches and to see things from a new vantage point.  This is what painting with Joseph Stoddard is all about.
 
We met in a large airy room, natural light coming from a wall of windows.  A plethora of snacks kept us going all day in our downtown Pasadena location. Laughter was prevalent as our adventure began.
 
Starting with a quick foray into basic questions, Joseph addressed what kind of paints does he prefer: mainly Holbein and Windsor & Newton, color: keep paint fresh, sketchbook:  6" x 9" Aquabee Super Deluxe or Stillman & Birn Beta, value/composition: make sketches before you paint, and goal:  Never let reality stand in the way of a good painting.  With that we plunged into a demo, brilliant and inspiring. The next 3 hours we sketched, then painted with Joseph talking and helping each of us, one on one.  At artists' request, a critique of each of our efforts increased our abilities to discern how to achieve what we envisioned.  Much laughter and much focus.
 
It was a delightful day with an inspiring teacher whose own paintings reflect his joy, dedication, and love of color.  All of us learned to be a little looser, a little more knowledgeable and a lot more daring.