Lorraine Watry from the USA shared her favorite watercolor palette and techniques.

Here’s a Q&A with Lorraine:

¿Por qué haces arte?
First, I make art for myself. I need to express my view of the world with my artwork. I paint a variety of subjects and love the challenge of making them look realistic. Second, I make art for others. I want to show my viewers those moments in time that I find fascinating.

¿Cuánto tiempo llevas pintando?
I’ve worked with watercolor for 29 years.

¿Recibiste formación artística formal?
Yes, I earned a Bachelor of Fine Art degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder. I also took watercolor classes with several local artists and workshops with John Salminen, Linda Baker, Ted Nuttal, Soon Warren, and Birgit O’Connor.

¿Eres artista profesional o aficionado?
I am a full time working artist and watercolor instructor.

¿Qué te inspira?
I look at national and international exhibitions, Instagram and art magazines. I like to see what others are doing, even though I have my own style. I am not looking to emulate others, but I find inspiration in peers’ colors, compositions, and techniques.

¿Qué tipo de música escuchas mientras pintas?
Jazz and pop.

¿Has tenido algún mentor?
A past watercolor instructor was instrumental in encouraging me to display my artwork and enter exhibitions.

¿Pintas todos los días?
No, unfortunately, I do not paint every day. I will try and paint one or two times a week, but I am often getting set up for teaching classes or doing the day-to-day parts of running a business, like bookkeeping, framing, and advertising. I am also on the board of the NWS which often involves putting my brush down to perform the duties of my position.

¿Pintas una pieza a la vez o trabajas en varias simultáneamente?
Sometimes I have several paintings going because of classes I am teaching, plus I might be working on my own painting.

¿Primero creas un boceto conceptual?
Yes, I call them color studies. I don’t necessarily do an involved or complete color study for every painting anymore, but I used to. The concept piece/color study really helps solve some of the problems before I begin the actual painting. If I have painted a subject before, I may only do a portion of the painting now in order to try a particular technique or color.

¿Prefieres pintar en estudio o al aire libre?
I prefer the studio because I paint very detailed subject and work from my photographs to create realistic, representational scenes. I do like to paint plein air, but I don’t go out very often.

¿Cuántos colores básicos utilizas?
The colors I use vary with each painting, but if I had to choose colors that I tend to use a lot, I would say there are about ten.

¿Tubos, sartenes o palos?
Always tubes. I fill my wells with paint from tubes and then rewet when I am painting.

¿Utilizas líquido de enmascarar?
Yes, for small shapes.

¿Cuándo sabes que tu obra está terminada?
I find that if I am fiddling around and don’t really have a purpose for adding something, then the painting is probably done. I will also look at my painting in a mirror across the room from me while I do other things. If nothing pops out that needs adjusting, then I know I am done.