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Charles Evans at Totton Art Society

Charles Evans, Daler-Rowney's chief U.K. demonstrator entertained T.A.S. members in January with a display of what could almost be called 'Alternative Art'. His first words were that art was about "slapping it on with big brushes and having fun" and he proceeded to show how to make watercolour painting appear to be ridiculously simple.

This is an account of the first half of his very enjoyable demonstration.The painting was a beach scene. Having drawn the barest outline in pencil, he laid on a wash of Alizarin and Yellow Ochre in a strip across the middle of the paper with a large flat 'wash' brush. Then an Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna wash was taken from the top and through the previous wash.

Charles works on 140lb. Langton Rough paper, not pre-stretched, and uses a limited palette of the primary transparent colours. He never uses Raw Sienna, but instead substitutes Yellow Ochre mixed with Raw Umber. His is the messiest palette you ever saw - filled with heaps of dried watercolour pigment - and his fast, exuberant style sprays paint at a radius of several feet, much to the discomfort of some of his audiences in the past.

Clouds were created by squeezing the brush dry and lifting out paint, then squeezing the brush again and adding dabs of paint into the white spaces. The edges were softened with a damp brush. One of Charles's mantras is: "Mop up, squeeze out and take the colour out".

The lower part of the painting was given a Yellow Ochre and Raw Umber wash with a pinhead of Ultramarine added ("a good flesh tone"). The cliff was painted with a Hooker's Green and Burnt Sienna mix with stripes of Ultramarine/Alizarin ("a good shadow mix"). Pale stripes were taken out with a damp brush and a weak shadow mixture shape was added to the right of the first cliff to denote a second cliff beyond the first. Clumps of dark trees behind the white cottages were created with a round brush. First Raw Umber/Ultramarine was applied and then Hooker's Green/Burnt Sienna. The roofs were Burnt Sienna leaving a sliver of white paper around them, so that the colours would not blend.

Passing a dry brush along the horizon lightened the distant sea. A wash of the Charles Evans Sand colour (greenish-white) wash washed across the bottom part of the picture. Charles Evans British Sea was added in 'wriggles' to suggest waves in the sea and with a very dry brush across the beach to suggest stones. The same colour was applied with a flick of the brush to add a seagull to the sky. A rich dark green - Hooker's Green/Burnt Sienna and a tiny touch of Ultramarine - was scrubbed on with the large wash brush. Lighter coloured grass was scratched out with the fingernails.

After the demonstration ("as good as cabaret" exclaimed one member) Charles worked extremely hard selling art materials and Programme Manager Claire Palmer lost no time in asking Charles to come back to the Society to lead a workship. He will return on 22nd October to encourage members to enjoy using watercolours.

Di Alexander T.A.S. Editor