Artists of the Month - May 2016

by Judie Apablaza

Devorah Friedman, "Waiting"

Devorah Friedman was our blue ribbon winner in the “Premier” category. Devorah is a loyal and outstanding member of our Verdugo Hills group. She has membership with the National Watercolor Society, Watercolor West as well as other national membership organizations.

Devorah is always growing and perfecting her signature specialty of portraits and figures. She stated that her current winner, titled “Waiting,” started out as a very uninspired and bland photo. She removed a figure and concentrated her focus on one man. She breathed life into her painting taking into account intensity, value and hue as well as lights and darks of the sunlight and shadows. Davorah is a stickler for detail and this painting seemed to meet her personal expectation and criteria. She also stated that the drawing must be correct. To achieve the best possible painting, Devorah feels that “value supersedes color.”

She has been painting with Fealing Lin for twenty years and feels that Fealing has become a mentor and a friend. Devorah states that she is very competitive and follows a long line of artists in her family who excelled in music as well as the visual arts.

David McCully, "Canyon Study"

David McCully was our first place winner in the “Open” category, for his painting, “Canyon Study.” A painting colleague had returned from a southwest vacation and shared her photos of the southwest landscape with David. He was impressed with the Grand Canyon pictures. He had the pictures enlarged to capture the unusual values and tonal qualities in this complicated subject. He stated that his winning watercolor painting was really a “study,” and hopes to perfect his Grand Canyon paintings with figures in the foreground of future paintings. David prefers watercolors and usually paints on at least a half-sheet format. David stated that he admirers and is influenced by Turner’s style and attention to tone and value. We look forward to more of David’s inspirations in the future.