John Steinbeck, East of Eden
“Our species is the only creative species, and it has only one creative instrument, the individual mind and spirit of a man. Nothing was ever created by two men. There are no good collaborations, whether in music, in art, in poetry, in mathematics, in philosophy. Once the miracle of creation has taken place, the group can build and extend it, but the group never invents anything…the preciousness lies in the lonely mind of a man.”
One such man opened the door to art for me a long time ago when I knew I liked to draw but not much else. Fred Rawlinson is that guy. He was a stalwart at the Memphis College of Art with a huge reputation as a faculty member as one of the top watercolor artists in the south but that doesn’t begin to tell the story. He was undoubtedly the best art teacher I’ve ever been around! I wasn’t a student there. In fact, I was intimidated just walking into the building. These were real art students far superior than I and all I had to do was walk down the hall and look at the strange, fascinating, provocative creations that said, “you don’t belong here”. My real reason was to see a public demonstration by Fred that a friend suggested I go look at…and then it happened!
Fred entered the class, the most mild mannered guy I’ve ever met and stated that we are going to create order out of chaos. (whatever that meant). No build up, no nothing. He started with getting the paper partially wet, then applying pigment with a big brush and already it began to come to life. Without any commentary, he lightly scrubbed with a paper towel, made some scrape marks with a knife, a few deft strokes with a brush and, damn, a picture emerged that was museum-ready! How did he do that! It didn’t take two minutes! All I knew was that life was going to be different for me.
I didn’t become an artist right away but the wheels were set in motion. As much as I treasured his talent and skill, my fortune came from our continued friendship and his encouragement over the years. After his tenure at the MCC, I had a standing invitation to his packed private classes and each one was an adventure. Fred explained the steps in organization of a creative spark all the way through the execution of the finished piece. What made one picture work and another not. We discussed theory. We talked about history. I was totally impressed with his hands-on approach, in which the described what he was going to do, then he did it!
In Fred’s DVD and book, “Getting Started with Watercolor”, he addresses the basics of making a mark. Said another way, it is the process of manipulating paint on a surface. It works for oil on canvas just as well. This is Fred’s vocabulary so I’ll use his terminology:
Basics of Making a Mark:
- Wash: Think of laying in color directly regardless of your
medium. - Lift: With oils, it is simply wiping with a brush or rag.
- Scrape: Using the palette knife.
- Tool Mark: A purposeful cut or scar in the paint layer.
- Calligraphy: Drawing with the brush.
- Texture: Applying pigment with something that leaves a
buildup.
I’ve simplified in translating from his watercolor definition to oil. I’ve added
some of my own: smudge, drip, glaze. It was the same for the cave men,
fyi. I would like to get around to those guys/gals at some point.
