DPW Interviews: Nora MacPhail

From Nora MacPhail's DPW gallery page:

Nora MacPhail is a professional watercolour artist living in Toronto, Canada. She has participated in numerous group art shows as well as juried shows. She is a member of the Toronto Watercolour Society, The Willowdale Group of Artists, Forest Hill Art Club and Central Connection. 

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I began watercolour painting over a decade ago and I took to it immediately. I never found it frustrating, like so many students do.

However, I did abandon watercolour for a few years because I thought 'serious' painters were 'supposed' to use oil. Fortunately, I found my way back to it.

Zebaydo takes the lead
(click here to see original image)

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

I almost stopped painting very early on because of a horrible art teacher I had. But I liked watercolour and I had excitedly purchased every single brush, paint colour, type of paper and many other supplies, so I figured I'd better give it another go!

What mediums and genres have you experimented with? Which ones have "stuck" and which ones have fallen away? Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

I have experimented with oil, acrylic, gouache and watercolour. Then I took a watercolour workshop with Alvaro Castagnet who told us that "Watercolour is not what you think it is; we've barely scratched the surface of it's possibilities."

His words of wisdom just struck me. Watercolour has a long way to go and I want to be part of that progress.

hey neighbor
(click here to see original image)

There's such a wonderful blend of confidence and humor in your art. How did you arrive at your "less is more" approach, where you sometimes combine just hints of shapes and color with a strong theme?

I don't know that there is 'humour' in my art. I am going for a sense of playfulness combined with solid technique. It's important to me that the paintings are well crafted and skillfully painted, but with a dash of playfulness. If you have one without the other you end up with all technique, like photorealism, which I'm not fond of, or just a playful artsy-fartsy mess, which I'm also not fond of. I'm a firm believer in balancing both.

What does procrastination look like for you? What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

I don't have a problem with procrastination, in fact I want to paint so many things that having too many ideas actually distracts me. I have many projects swirling around in my imagination. I have to concentrate and focus on one idea.

I say to myself, this is what I am painting right now, today. Other ideas have to wait until tomorrow.

window light
(click here to see original image)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

I paint whatever I want. I paint what is in front of me and inspires me. I'm not looking for a niche or concerned with what sells. If I don't paint what I want, it all falls apart.

How do you keep art "fresh"? What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?

I draw the human figure as often as possible to develop my drawing skills. Life models are such a great way to learn to draw. All the difficulties of shapes, form and light are right there to work with and learn from.

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

I'm learning how to incorporate line into my watercolours. I want my line, including construction lines, to be an integral part of the painting.

red stripes
(click here to see original image)

What makes you happiest about your art?

My favourite thing to do is to draw. It's such a wonderful thing to have in one's life. It's a highly satisfying activity. Of all artistic mediums, drawing is the best way for me to find my style. It just develops naturally, like a signature. There's no point in attempting to draw like someone else, it's a personal activity.

Pencil and paper is cheap, it's fun, it's light to carry, it's immediate, and it's highly challenging.

© 2012 Jennifer Newcomb Marine

Jennifer Newcomb Marine is the Marketing and Community Manager of Daily Paintworks. She's an author and blogging and marketing coach.

DPW Interviews: Elena Katsyura

From Elena Katsyura's DPW Gallery page:

She was born in Russia and received her Master's degree in Art in her native city of Chelyabinsk. Her artistic creed is a combination of the traditions of Russian realistic art and French impressionism. Her paintings have been shown at exhibitions in Russia and in California and she currently resides in Georgia, U.S.A., with her husband and daughter.

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

In my childhood, I was very interested in everything that had to do with art. I had many collections of postcards with drawings that I found pretty or unique, and I still keep those postcards. I was always into art books and could look at one painting for hours. Later, in elementary school, I enrolled into the Children’s Art Studio in Chelyabinsk, Russia. I loved the place, I loved to draw and paint. I felt that I truly belonged with art.

That was my true start in painting that kept me going my whole life.

Peach and Black Grapes
(click here to see original image)

In my middle school years, I attended a more serious art school for children my age. I learned to paint better there, and decided I would move onto Art College. There, I fell in love with both watercolor and oil painting, but later picked just oil and I have been painting with it ever since.

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

Well,  when I gave birth to my daughter in 1999, I had a minor pause in my artwork, but resumed shortly after my daughter began growing up. I find that I cannot live too long without my paintbrush, and that it is hard to take a long break from my artwork. Since my daughter is 13 now, I am painting regularly and find no need to stop my art.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with? Which ones have "stuck" and which ones have fallen away? Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

I am not really an experimenting person. I tried some acrylic, some watercolor, but I stick with oil. I find it the best medium for me, and currently in Daily Paintworks, I paint only in oil.

Maybe when some time has passed and I become even more experienced with my art, I will take a break from oil and pick up watercolor once more.

Black Coffee
(click here to see original image)

You capture such fine details in so many of your paintings. Have you gotten "faster" at painting accurately over the years?

I find that now that I am painting at least one painting every day, I am getting better, and know what techniques to use and when. I try to remember my previous painting each day and keep mental notes about certain colors to use this time, what brush to use for specific details, and so on.

I remember that one day I thought about what certain type of color to use on a detail in my painting. Then I referred to one of my other paintings, and found out which color I had to use. Referring to my previous paintings helps me a lot in my new paintings, because I learn from my mistakes.

What does procrastination look like for you? What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

I don’t remember a time when I had a problem with procrastination. But then again, I have never painted daily, and always tried to schedule when I would work on a painting.

A couple of years ago, I worked on maybe two paintings a month, because my daughter was still pretty young and dependent on me. Whenever I would try to get some painting done, she would interrupt me and I was once again back where I started on my work. Nowhere.

Now that my daughter is pretty much grown-up and can find activities to do without my help, I paint daily. It also helps that she is in school from 8:30 until 3:30, so I have plenty of time to paint.

If I don’t have anything scheduled for the evening, I work on another small painting as well. I am usually not in a hurry to get my painting done, and I have a peaceful environment behind my easel.

Paris Memories III

(click here to see original image)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

I get ideas mostly from nature. Whenever I see a flower or a pretty leaf growing somewhere in the middle of the highway, I am frustrated that I don’t have the chance to pick it. When it was autumn, I had a large variety of red and golden leaves that I would paint with my teacups. Now, in spring, it is blooming time, and many of those blooming blossoms and flowers have ended up on the table in front of my easel.

I am also thrilled with the idea that I have a “real live” magnolia tree right in my own backyard! My neighbor’s magnolia is already blooming, so I am expecting my own tree to start producing those gorgeous white flowers sometime soon.

Although it sounds like I am having an easy time just simply picking flowers and setting them in front of my canvas, whenever there isn’t an item from nature nearby, I have a very hard time deciding what to paint. I am famous for my teacups, but I notice that so many of my paintings have teacups on them.

My husband is a great help in giving me advice on what to paint, and I am always grateful for a few pointers. Actually, I forgot to mention that my husband graduated from the same Art College as I did, and it is where we first met. So, naturally, my husband is a good drawer himself, but since he is a teacher and linguist, he doesn’t have time for any serious painting.

How do you keep art "fresh"? What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?

Now that I am painting for DPW, I paint every day and usually on 6”x6” gessoboards.

What is very new for me is this tiny painting size. I feel that that is very fresh, and it is amazing how I can fit so much information that the still life in front of me carries on a 6”x6” limited format.

My teacups surrounded with flowers, leaves, and fruit; the vases of flowers; and especially Two Kids from my new “Farm” series simply fascinate me with their ability to fit onto the tiny canvas. But those small paintings carry meaning, and the miniatures that capture interest are the best ones of all.

A Day on a Farm

(click here to see original image)

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

Ever since I signed up for DPW, I found out that it is actually possible to paint daily, monthly, yearly. I am continually painting and finding out more from others.

Before I came to the USA, I didn’t have a blog, and didn’t have any experience in describing my paintings, so this is something else new. Since my first language is Russian, and my daughter is way ahead of me in learning English, she often helps me translate my ideas from Russian into English, even though she is currently 13. Now I am learning to write descriptions for my paintings in both my blog and DPW.

Pansies and Autumn Leaves
(click here to see original image)

What makes you happiest about your art?

I just love returning to my easel every day and accomplishing something I had in mind, as any other artist would! I try my best, and once in a while I have a bad day, but it always turns out fine the next time I paint. I thank God that He has given me an opportunity to express myself through the wonderful study of art.

Thanks, Elena!

© 2012 Jennifer Newcomb Marine

Jennifer Newcomb Marine is the Marketing and Community Manager of Daily Paintworks. She's an author and blogging and marketing coach.

DPW Interviews: Brian Buckrell

From Brian Buckrell's DPW Gallery Page:

Brian retired from the University of Guelph (Veterinary Medicine) in Ontario, Canada in and relocated with his wife to British Colombia. He has won numerous competitions and awards for both his studio and plein air paintings and is represented by galleries on Vancouver Island, in Alberta and Ontario. 

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I retired to Vancouver Island in 2001. In 2003, my wife signed me up for a Painting on the Right Side of the Brain course -- for my 60th birthday. I was fascinated by it, so I took a local acrylic painting course and was hooked.  I painted for a year and read as much as I could, then decided I needed more basic knowledge.

Around the Meadows
(click here to see original image)

I took Barry Raybould's Virtual Art Academy course and found it brought structure to the learning of what to me (with a background in science) seemed to be a very unstructured  and confusing discipline to grasp. That made me want more, so I went on-line and organized a series of artists that I wanted to spend time with and spent the next few years travelling in Canada and the U.S., taking workshops. 

Finally, I decided that I needed serious instruction and continuity in my learning, so I spent six months at the Jeffrey Watts Atelier in Encinitas where I painted and drew from life: portrait, figure, still life and plein air. They completely broke me down, then started to rebuild me. 

Since then, I've averaged two workshops per year and continue to develop on my own. 

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

No real stops and starts, but I developed prostate cancer prior to attending Watts. That set me back in some respects, but also made me more intent on learning what I could while I could -- not knowing the outcome. 

It was then that I decided that this was what I was going to do.

Island Evening
(click here to see original image)

What mediums and genres have you experimented with? Which ones have "stuck" and which ones have fallen away? Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

I started with acrylics and it is my main medium today. I like the immediacy of response to changes. I am a "what if" painter and am constantly making changes and changing again. With acrylics, I get that instant feedback. As a result, they have given me the confidence to take risks and explore new approaches in my work. I particularly like using them for large pieces where I wield big brushes and get quite animated. 

But I also enjoy oils (I work in water soluble), particularly the small pieces -- both studio and plein air. I spent the last six months working mainly in oils to try to loosen up my approach with them and take the artistic risks I am comfortable taking using acrylics. That was my interest in taking Carol Marine's workshop last month and my reason for joining Daily Paintworks -- to see if I could find interest in these small experimental pieces. 

Joining DPW created issues with some of my galleries, but we worked out an understanding that I would only display the small pieces -- for which there is little or no return after framing and gallery commissions.

Even in your darker, moodier work, the quality of light is wonderful. Can you describe your approach to capturing accurate brights and darks?

Wow, heavy question!  

I have been taught to consider values first and foremost to make a painting interesting and attractive. I spend time planning each piece -- studio or plein air -- doing small value sketches and trying to create interesting patterns.

Oregon Coastline
(click here to see original image)

For my acrylics, I normally create a value under-painting. After placing the drawing, I apply a dark transparent acrylic with medium/water and use rubber shapers to remove according to value, leaving a three value pattern. Doing so gives me a chance to consider my large shapes in advance and make early changes. 

I also do a lot of down-glazing with dark transparents as the painting progresses, to even out values and create a bit of a mother colour, then bring back the lights with opaques.  Examples of this approach can be seen on my blog.

What does procrastination look like for you? What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

I don't have a problem with procrastination. I love the challenge of making paintings. My goal this year is to paint less, to try to bring more balance to my life.  

My day starts early and I have found that once I start painting, I am lost. So I have started my day by doing little things I need to do for a hour or so (DPW, blogs, emails, Facebook, etc.) before I get into the painting. Then I force myself to stop about noon, go for a workout or bike ride, then do other things (many art- related) for the rest of the day. 

So I'm trying to hold my painting to about 5-6 hrs per day of actual brush-in-hand time, 5-6 days per week. 

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

I live in (and next to) a beautiful and interesting country. We travel in our RV for 3 or 4 months each year from which I gather reference photos and do plein air sketches.  I am constantly seeing sites that excite me and cause me to  wonder, "Could I or how would I paint that?" Even faces excite my interest. 

Tibetan
(click here to see original image)

Generally, it is the challenge of trying to make something interesting out of something that is often very ordinary... 

How do you keep art "fresh?" What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?

There is still so much to learn that I don't feel the pressure of burnout. I also have a wife that gives me her full support and encouragement  -- and that is essential as I am not pressured to do other things. 

Being in my late sixties probably makes my perspective different than someone younger or who must paint for a living. I so appreciate having found this passion at this stage of life that every day is an adventure.  I also have had the good fortune to be able to sell my work from early on and that keeps me moving forward -- believing that each painting should be better than the last.

I continue to take workshops. I love being with artists more experienced and skilled than I. Most workshops bring that. 

The other thing that has been wonderful is teaching. I do a five-day Fundamentals for Landscape Painters and a two-day Preparing for Plein Air workshop. Teaching forces me to keep current and makes it necessary to constantly review. The best way to learn something is to teach it. 

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

The past six months have been quite interesting. I made the plunge into on-line marketing and exposure to see what would happen: web sales, DPW, Facebook, blog, etc. 

It has taken me from my little town on Vancouver Island to interacting with artists and buyers all over the continent and into Europe.  I just keep doing my "thing," but now the audience is expanding around me. So my most recent learning has been around strategies for marketing my product.

Down to the Beach, Tofino
(click here to see original image)

What makes you happiest about your art?

As I grow as an artist I am constantly challenging myself to try new approaches. 

My work is becoming more impressionistic -- even abstracting my subject matter. It's that freedom to play and experiment that I like most, but also the fact that as my work grows in that direction, I am finding more commercial interest in it. A wonderful win-win! 

Thanks, Brian!

© 2012 Jennifer Newcomb Marine

Jennifer Newcomb Marine is the Marketing and Community Manager of Daily Paintworks. She's an author and blogging and marketing coach.

DPW Interviews: Jill Bates

From Jill Bates' DPW Gallery page:

Jill has participated in various solo and juried exhibitions in Georgia and is represented by the Decatur Market & Gallery in Atlanta. Her work is included in several corporate and private collections. "The unique style and detail of my works are enhanced by the many years growing up on the banks of Crooked Lake. All our fun and exploration centered around the water. I have carried those idyllic lake days down through the years and now my paintings are full of those water memories…."

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting. 

I started when I was really little, using a cigar box full of crayolas and white notebook paper that my grandma gave me. In high school, I did a lot of drawing with just graphite, keeping a sketchbook with me all the time and notes on things that inspired me.

In college, I learned color theory and how much I hated drawing a still life with a stepladder in it.

Yellow Lilies
(click here to see original image)

I moved to Atlanta after college and got a job at an art supply store and I tried every medium I could get my hands on... oil, watercolor, colored pencil, acrylic, even oil pastel. Everything, but what I actually paint with now.

I did buy a set of rembrandt pastels while I worked there, but never used them. One night I took them along with me to a watercolor class and asked the instructor if she cared whether I did watercolor or pastel that night. She didn't and I fell in love!!

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

I stopped to birth two children and get them in school. Then I started doing shows and gradually getting some experience. Then I stopped again, because of a divorce and going back to work full-time.

Gradually, I started trying to paint at night after work, after the kids were asleep, and almost poisoned myself after accidentally dropping a piece of one of my pastels sticks in my tea. So I had to paint on weekends instead, which didn't produce a lot of quality work, because I was also mowing the lawn and building a tree house at the same time.

Comb Over
(click here to see original image)

Eventually, I remarried and thank goodness he is supportive, so I quit my job and now I paint every day I possibly can.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with? Which ones have "stuck" and which ones have fallen away? Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

As I said, I tried everything...

Oils frustrated me because I needed 5 going at once so something would be dry enough to work on. Acrylic frustrated me because it was drying on my brush before I reached the canvas. Watercolor was fun, but a lot of my results were pure luck of the draw.... Where is that drip going to end up? Colored pencil is fun, if you have 80 hours you want to spend drawing a tree, building up your layers.

Pastel is the perfect blend of all the mediums.

Pathway to Water
(click here to see original image)

I get the buttery, smooth, rich color of oils and the brilliance of acrylics. I can do detail with pastel stick edges or pastel pencils and I can work in layers and layers, especially on the sanded paper I like. It's fast and fabulous and I have total control..... Well, most of the time.

Your colors are so rich and vibrant. How do you strike a balance between enhancing what you see and realism?

A lot of the time when I look at a reference photo or go somewhere and paint, I actually do "see" the richer colors under the real ones. I'm not dope smoker either. One of my college professors used to encourage us to try to recognize what makes an object or a landscape "special" enough to capture our eye as a visual artist. I painted this lock on an old chest for a critique and purposely exagerated the colors I did see.

Now I see everything that way.

What does procrastination look like for you? What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

I work at home, so procrastination is oh, time to feed the cats. Oh, gotta walk the dog. Oh, I really need to fill the bird feeder. Oh, I need to go buy some white pastel pencils....

So I decided to treat my painting like a real job, at least so far as I set regular hours. I paint from 10 until 4, unless I gotta go to the grocery store... then 11 until 5. But I get to have a cocktail while I paint for the last hour.

Breakfast of Champions
(click here to see original image)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

I try to always have my camera with me and if not, I think about ideas when I'm walking the dog. Sometimes one painting kind of leads to another. I'll paint for one of our challenges and it will set me off on ideas for another piece, like the horse challenge. I painted roosters, sheep and barns after that one.

How do you keep art "fresh"? What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?


I like to paint everything, so my subjects vary a lot. Sometimes, I paint an entire painting looking at the reference upside down (the photo, not me physically), so my eye and my brain don't recognize the subject, so much as really see the shapes that are there. 


I also I try to change my palette and use either softer or more vibrant colors, depending upon the painting.


What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

This is my biggest challenge.

I still cannot decide if I want to be an impressionist or a realist, so a lot of my work comes out sort of a blend of both. I love characteristics of both techniques and most of the time a painting will lean one way or the other, but there will still be a bit of both in there.

Aqua Line

(click here to see original image)

I'm trying to learn if combining these two major ways of seeing is a new way of seeing, or if Degas is going to appear in my dreams and shoot me.

What makes you happiest about your art?

When a painting "works" and I know it!!

Thanks, Jill!




© 2012 Jennifer Newcomb Marine

Jennifer Newcomb Marine is the Marketing and Community Manager of Daily Paintworks. She's an author and blogging and marketing coach.