Geoff Allen shared his favorite watercolor palette along with tips and techniques.

Here’s a Q&A with Geoff:

Why do you make art? 
For life, art history and beauty. I connect to life when I am out painting – I meet people, feel places and sense time.  I connect to art history by applying my education, accumulated knowledge and skills, which allow me to know what is possible when attempting my own paintings. Connecting to beauty is felt when I make artwork that captures all the above in my own hand.  

How long have you been painting? 
Since the mid 80s (mostly in oil during school and graduate school). I began working full-time with watercolor when I started an illustration business with my wife in 2005. I didn’t attempt plein air watercolor until 2014. Eventually I spent less time illustrating and more time painting plein air and now I’m teaching workshops. 

Did you have formal art training? 
My training was very fragmented and I feel like I am still catching up with books that review fundamentals. I do have an MFA degree, but I really learned the fundamentals of art-making on my own, through books and 10,000 hours of mileage on the brush. I took the basic art classes, but was never in a start to finish program. Honing my skills of drawing happened when I had to teach it – like on the job training, talking to thousands of students about their work.  So much of learning is about being patient with yourself and others, and letting the art-making practice be the journey. Focusing on the bigger picture”lessens the frustration with an individual piece— just grab another piece of paper and start over. In practicing plein air, I train myself by timing my sketches, running washes with fat beads, and using bold strokes with broken edges to keep the work fresh and loose.  

Are you a working artist or a hobbyist?
Working artist. I made a living by illustrating for companies that need artwork for their products. I was always making work that I thought a client would want, being in their shoes, accommodating their needs. Even though it wasn’t fine art, I was still exploring design, color and developing my own hand. I realized it doesn’t matter what you are painting, as long as you are painting and developing skills. I am now focused on plein air painting and teaching. 

Who inspires you?
I stand on the shoulders of other artists, specifically the watercolor community. I try to put my own spin on my art through exploring, experimenting and following my intuitive art spirit. I think that I have been most influenced by Charles Reid, Chein Chung Wei, Joseph Zbukvic, Alvaro Castagnet and Andy Evansen, to name a few. 

What kind of music do you listen to while painting?  
Bill Callahan Radio on Pandora.    

Do you paint every day?  
Absolutely, even if it is abstract with just brush strokes and washes. Painting is a highly-tuned physical activity that has to be practiced. I liken it to playing an instrument – we are linking and building a neural pathway between our eyes and our hand. 

Do you paint one piece at a time or work on several at the same time? Do you create a concept piece first?  
Mostly I paint one at a time. I get about 90% of the piece completed outdoors and then I’ll stop to assess what is happening. I have a lot of pieces that hover at 90% until I finish them. It’s that last little bit that I add which can make or break a piece, so I’m careful at that stage. I find that my paintings which are solely derived from photos look more contrived. My experience has been that throwing more time into a specific painting doesn’t necessarily make great art happen. I find now that my better work comes from painting a familiar place several times. There is a great film of Jackson Pollack working on a piece. He stops and says that he has lost touch or a connection with his painting, so he abandons it. I believe there is some truth in this. As long as there is connection, the game is on. 

Do you prefer painting in studio or en plein air? 
Absolutely plein air. I waste time in the studio. I am 100% more focused outdoors with a clock ticking. Plein air provides an “on my feet” experience for me that the studio doesn’t. Recently I was looking at historical photos of San Diego and realized that plein air painting is inherently nostalgic. I edit my scenes by removing trees, buildings and the bric-a-brac that accumulates over the decades until I have a painting that resembles how a place might have looked when it was first built. I love how plein air relies on a quick imagination and designing on the spot. 

How many core colors do you use? 
My color palettes have been in flux, but I would say I have a core of 16 color with another 4 coming and going. The core colors are Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue, Phthalo Blue (Green Shade), Cobalt Turquoise, Cobalt Teal, Vertiter Blue, Alvaro’s Fresco Gray, Sepia, Burnt Sienna Light, Alizarin Crimson Permanent, Organic Vermilion, Pyrrol Orange, Yellow Ochre, Hansa Yellow, Medium, and Neutral Tint.  I am also playing with Mayan Violet, Wisteria, Carbazole Violet and Lunar Black. 

Tubes, pans or sticks?  
Tubes.

When do you know that your piece is finished?  
I try to hold myself back from overworking my artwork, but on the other hand, if it’s clear the painting isn’t working, I take it as an opportunity to keep experimenting. Mark-making is one of watercolor’s super powers, but if you go too far, this aspect can drag the whole piece down. Watercolor is unique in that it shows every act so nakedly and there is no going back in history. The only way you learn when to stop is to go too far a few times – that is the art of keeping it fresh. 

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