February Meeting 2019

As a landscape painter, the emphasis of Catherine’s watercolors is on the elements of color, form and light, inviting the viewer to see the subject from a unique perspective. To accomplish this goal, she focuses on more intimate views of the landscape. Many of her landscapes have a high horizon line, thus bringing more attention to the foreground and details that might be passed over.  Every subject that she paints starts with its basic abstract pattern of shapes and values. This helps to simplify the subject and to eliminate unnecessary detail and invites the viewer to engage in the subject and fill in the details.

Catherine uses a three-step process for her paintings: save whites and pour light values, add mid-tones, finish with dark values for contrast and detail. She starts most of her paintings with a poured under-painting of two or three colors over the entire sheet, letting these colors mix freely on the paper and creating wonderful color transitions across the page. Whites are saved before pouring, by using masking fluid or leaving those areas dry. The poured wash represents the lightest color values in the painting and insures that these colors will be there to add a glow to the finished piece.  She paints each composition as a whole, rather than focusing on sections of the painting separately. Colors used are chosen specifically for each painting and typically, only 3-4 colors are used in each painting, creating beautiful color harmony and bright, clean color.

Catherine Hearding is a self-taught artist with more than 40 years of experience in watercolor. She has earned Signature Membership in both the American Watercolor Society and Transparent Watercolor Society of America.  She has a BA degree in zoology and botany from the U of Montana. She works from her home studio in Lake Elmo, MN, and teaches classes and workshops both regionally and nationally in basic watercolor technique, landscape painting, color theory and composition.

For Catherine’s demonstration, she will show how her three-step process works, starting with a poured under-painting.