- http://www.stevehorvathartist.com/
- http://www.miad.edu/component/option,com_faculty/Itemid,365/faculty,173/
- http://ramart.org/ram/Watercolor-Wisconsin.html
- http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/article-13173-wustum-museum-opens-lswatercolor-wisconsin-2010rs.html
His watercolors follow a multi-step process: In the studio, he looks at images until he finds things that he likes. First ballpoint pen thumbnail sketches both horizontal and vertical format, then small watercolor sketches starting at about 2x3, then 4x6, then 5x7, etc. He'll lightly pencil sketch in horizon, water, trees, clouds before painting his color sketches. He keeps looking at everything he has done as he keeps increasing the size, the detail, the value contrast until he gets to the final picture at his ultimate size. He tests ideas as he goes along. He normally works dry although on his larger paintings he may work wet on wet for the sky.
He uses watercolor blocks where he has lightly sketched in a box or boxes to paint in. He uses both hot press and cold press paper. Cold press paper can indicate sky and water when the recesses are not filled in. He doesn't paint to the edges but does paint over the border. He also tests his colors in the border. He evaluates his color sketches paintings by setting a paper frame/mat over them. Currently his finished pieces are about 8x12. He works in fits and starts. When painting he works on several paintings at a time to allow them to dry and to come back with a fresh eye. He did use a small blow dryer in the demo. He holds the very end of the brush and tries to vary his movements so the marks are different.
He uses brushes from a #12 round down to a liner. At this demo he used a portable watercolor kit which he bought in Italy that he replenishes the colors as they are used. After each painting he cleans out the mixing wells so that he doesn't repeat the exact colors in each successive painting. He uses blacks to shade, grays to tone and white to tint. Blacks are not all the same color. He uses Winsor Newton and Grumbacher paints. Some of the colors he uses are lamp black, ivory black, davy gray, cerulean blue, prussian blue.
He paints on a flat surface. He works in areas, first the sky, then the bottom, then the trees allowing areas to dry before working over them.
Matting, framing and storing his watercolors:
- He uses Bainbridge museum quality double thick mats which come with their own backboard that he buys at Utrecht.
- He uses T-hinges on the back of the painting to attach it to the mat.
- He doesn't attach the backboard to the mat.
- He has several frames in various sizes that he uses over and over.
- He does not use brown paper to seal the back of the painting. Instead he does the following: First the frame, then the glass, then the matt, then the painting, then the backboard, then corrugated plastic back board (which can be re-used), Everything is then sealed with plastic packaging tape.
- He stores his matted but not framed paintings in archival boxes that he buys at Utrecht.
- He records lightly in pencil on the back; title, when, where, personal comments, where exhibited (typically only exhibits a painting one time.)
- His frames are gold frames which have been discontinued by Utrecht. He used to use metal frames but no longer does.
- He doesn't frame his pastels. He uses a framer in the 3rd ward located on the 1st floor at Buffalo and Water Street. (Other framers mentioned by our members are Deyoung, Creative Enterprise)