I got this interview something half-a-year ago but then it happen that Mary considered that she is not participating my Interview Book project, so I am not sure if I can use her work images she sent me. For the illustration please visit her web page http://marywhyte.com/ She is an extraordinary master!
Mary Whyte
Have you
always been painting with watercolors?
I have painted in watercolor since I was a
teenager. Although I have studied many other techniques and mediums, my
favorite has always been watercolor.
Did you
have someone who influenced you as an artist?
I studied art at the Tyler School of Art in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and for a year in Rome, Italy. Although I had
many painting instructors, there really was not one that was particularly
influential, because I could not find someone who could teach me
watercolor. I ended up having to learn watercolor on my own, by going to
museums and studying the work of artists such as Wyeth, Homer and Sargent.
How did you
come to the major subject of your painting?
I have always loved painting people. Most of the
people I paint live near where I live, and their familiarity makes them
especially appealing to me as models. In my recent museum exhibition
called Working South I painted ordinary working people.
I found it exciting to paint people that I didn't know, and in environments
that were unusual.
Do you
always work with live models?
I believe the best way to paint is always from a live
model. However, working from life is not always possible,
because most people do not have the time or patience to pose for such extended
periods of time. Therefore, I do have to rely on photographs,
working sketches, and painting from memory in order to accomplish my paintings.
How do you work on
composition?
I arrive at my compositions by first doing a series of
small thumbnail pencil sketches. Sometimes I might do as many as twenty
small sketches before I arrive at a composition that I feel has the emotion and
concept I am looking for.
Do you
finish a painting in one session?
I often do preliminary studies from life, which are
done in one session. However, most of my large paintings are
done in my studio over a period of days or weeks.
Would you recommend to
rather leave the painting unfinished than overdone it?
With watercolor there is little room for error.
Every correction takes something away from the painting's freshness, so I plan
my paintings carefully. I would much rather have a painting with an
unfinished look than have a watercolor that is overworked. Once a
painting is overworked I tear it up and start over.
Most of
your portraits tell a story. Do you believe that the painting might have a
value only by it`s painting qualities?
My paintings are often described as being narrative,
meaning that they tell a story. I think every good painting should be
engaging enough that it tells a story, but if an image tells too much,
it becomes an illustration. First and foremost, a painting must appeal to
the senses. Then the painting can tell whatever story the
artist wishes.
What paper, paints and
brushes do you use?
I use Arches 300 pound cold press paper. My
kolinsky brushes are of my own design and are made by Artxpress.com from
Columbia, South Carolina. The pigments I prefer are M. Graham and
Company.
How you can
explain the new blossoming of the realistic Art?
Realistic art seems to be getting more attention these
days. When I went to art school in the 70's there was very little
attention paid to drawing skills or to representational art. Now there
are dozens of traditional art school world wide, offering students a wonderful
opportunity to study more advanced methods.
How we can
keep the watercolor media in spotlight – your suggestion?
It has always been difficult
keeping watercolor in the spotlight, because the medium has always been viewed
as a "lightweight" compared to oils or tempera. We need more
schools treating watercolor as a serious medium, and more galleries willing to
put works on paper on their walls. http://marywhyte.com
During my visit to Frankfurt Creative World show I was delighted to meet some members of Escoda family - two Ricards and Mark. I`ve got a new set of Cembranelli`s signatures brushes and spent some time discussing the ways of marketing art brushes. Ocasionally Ricard passed by my stand were I was demonstration at that moment, and spent some time by watching the demo. The demo picture found its place at the stand of Escoda. I am sure everyone remembers that Escoda produces an exquisite art brushes including the signature brushes of Joseph Zbukvic, Alvaro Castagnet, Nicholas Simmons, Charles Reid, Fabio Cembranelli.
Check http://www.stcuthbertsmill.com/
They really keep to traditions! One of the oldest manufacturers of the paper for artists, they have everything kept as it was in XVII century when it was started. Even the machine making paper is over 100 y.o.
The Saunders Waterford lovers can enjoy the new High White series including all the varieties of this paper. I met the team of this manufacturer in Frankfurt at the Creative World exhibition. We talked about the paper, artists experience and Hot Fuzz / Sean Of The Dead those were shot exactly at the village where the factory is situated...)
Next week I am going to demonstrate at the Creative World 2013 in Frankfurt. Stand H72 B hall 4.1 I am representing art brushes Roubloff. Demo will take place every hour 26, 27, 28 and 29 of January with a 30 min. break in between. Everyone who is nearby - welcome to demonstration! New instructional DVDs, books, signature brushes and fresh paintings are available.
REJECTION BLUES? Have you missed out on gaining selection for that big show which you so desperately wanted to make? If you have, then welcome to the club, you are certainly not Robinson Crusoe !!! Personally, I have probably been REJECTED from more major shows than any artist I know! Nobody, but nobody, wants to receive that dreadful REJECTED slip in the mail, rather like a parking ticket on your car, to feel that you have just been kicked right in the teeth, and that the "masterpiece" which you have sweated over, fretted and worried about, and then finally considered to be good enough to submit, has been passed over by the Jurors.
Robert Wade
What a great blow to your pride, what a feeling of resentment, what a bitter pill to swallow this can be! Do I like being knocked back? No way...who would? However, there are quite a few guide lines in jurying a show, and it is just as well to consider some before blowing your top. The judge, or panel of Jurors, will have a number of requirements in making their choice of paintings, not the least of which will be to present a well balanced exhibition from the work submitted. Now, if you happen to have painted a large vase of daisies, and so have ten others, then someone must miss out and bad luck if you are one of them! We never get to know why we didn't make it, so we are left to wonder why. Let me tell you about some of my unjust, unfair, totally biased, politically influenced, ignorant, spiteful, malevolent rejections !!!!! At least these are the sort of thoughts which spring quickly to mind. However, having been in the role of Judge so many times myself, I know that this is not the case. The one thing the Judge is trying so hard to do is to be fair and honest. All paintings must be selected in an anonymous way, with total disregard for the name of the artist. This is not all that easy, as, like one's handwriting, the artist's style is so personal that the signature is almost unnecessary, but it must be absolutely ignored when making decisions. As it is usually a panel making the selection of works in all of the major exhibitions, it means that a majority decision is necessary, so that if two Jurors really love your work, but three are only so-so, then sorry old chum, you have had the gong.
Robert Wade. Morning on Charles Bridge, Prague. 14x 20" 1996 |rejected
The American Watercolor Society's Annual Exhibition in New York, is perhaps the most prestigious in the world, certainly one of the most difficult to achieve selection, so everyone wants to be hung in an AWS show. Submission is by 35mm. slide, one only per artist, and usually there are 2000-2500 applications, and, from these, the Jurors have the monumental task of choosing about 100 works for the show! This means that about one in twenty gets in, and that sure is tough competition. I have submitted annually since 1981, have been successful just three times, 1981, 1993, and 2000………..that's a long time between drinks! The National Watercolor Society (NWS) is based on the West Coast, and is only slightly less important than the AWS, the number of slide submissions and selections being fairly similar. I've submitted twice, twice rejected. One year the three Jurors were way out modern and off-beat, so there is yet another factor. What are the artistic persuasions of the Jurors? . Shouldn't make any difference, but it must be hard to make balanced decisions without at least one Juror from the traditional side of art.
Robert Wade. Atrium,Boston. 19x 29" 1995 | rejected
The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, London, works on a different system, and the only submissions possible are actual framed works. It makes for a very expensive freight bill from Australia, especially as each artist may submit up to six framed pieces. When your freight to London is adding up to some hundreds of dollars, then rejection hurts even more, right in the hip pocket! I submitted to the RI annually for ten years, and each year some were accepted, but one year not a single one got into the show. Well, do I feel embarrassed to disclose my rejections to you? Not at all! Every painting which I have submitted to each of these distinguished Societies has been my best possible work at the time, and if that were not good enough then I must try harder. Remember this...Constant acceptance breeds complacency and mediocrity, rejection breeds determination and ultimate success. Don't harbour grudges against the Judges, determine to paint something better to submit next year. Just paint better, don’t get bitter! So, if at first you don't succeed, then you can count yourself as pretty normal!
Rejection helps to keep us humble, (and so does watercolour) and it's extremely good for the soul. Talking about that, I was recently Guest of Honour of one of Melbourne's larger Art Societies. After the official proceedings were through, we all gathered for a cup of coffee and cake. One of the Society's longest serving members came over to me and said "They seemed to be making a bit of a fuss over you, but I didn't catch your name." "Wade," I replied, "Robert Wade." "Oh," he said, "What do you do for a crust in the art game?" Like I said, humility is good for you.
Good, Better, Best.. never let it rest, till your good is BETTER and your Better’s BEST!
Dear Art Friends!
If you are near Moscow, Russia, you are welcome to my 2-days workshop "Portrait in Watercolor".
Most of the participants speak Russian but just for you I can comment everything in English)
10_Thierry Duval. L'Académie française et la Passerelle des Arts. 80x53
THE JURY OF THE 3. INTERNATIONAL WATERCOLOR CONTEST OF IWS -Robert Wade
(Australia), OAM AWI (LM)., FVAS.,
FRSA (Lon), PWS (Lon) AWS (USA), KA. (USA), ISMP.(USA), MHSMA.(Mexico)
Painter-Teacher-Lecturer -Prof. Liu
Shouxiang (PRC, China) , Deputy Director of Watercolor Art Committee of Chinese
Artists Association, Professor and Director of Watercolor Department of Hubei
Academy of Fine Arts -Prof. Chin-Lung
Huang (Taiwan), President of Taiwan International Watercolor Society; Chinese-
Asia-Pasific Watercolor Association -Ong Kim Seng
(Singapore), Honorary President of Singapore Watercolor Society -Takashi Akasaka
(Japan), Professional Artist, Member of Japan Watercolor Society - Stan Miller
(USA), Professional Artist, Signature Member of the American Watercolor Society -Konstantin
Sterkhov ( Russian Federation), Art instructor, Member of St.Petersburg and Finnish WS -Keith Hornblower
(Great Britain), Freelance Artist-Illustrator -Assist. Prof. Syed
Ali Abbas Jaffri (Pakistan), Head of the Department of Fine Arts CEAD MUED,
Jamshoro -Samir Mondal
(India), Professional Artist -Anita Bentley
(Australia), Professional Artist-Illustrator -Will Yu (Taiwan),
Chief Executive-Taiwan International Watercolor Society -Javid Tabatabaii
(Iran), Professional Artist -Dario Ortiz
Robledo (Colombia), Professional Artist, President of Museo de Arte del Tolima -Joel Tenzin
(France), EWA-European Watercolor Association -George Politis
(Greece), Painter-Teacher, Signature Member of the Amerikan Watercolor Society -Janine Gallizia
(Belgium-France), Professional Artist, Art Director of The Art of Watercolour
Magazine -Angela Barbi
(Spain), General Manager of EPC Art Courses -Orlando Buccino
(Uruguay), Freelance Artist-Illustrator - Sue Dickinson
(South Africa), Professional Artist -Atanur Doğan
(Canada-Turkey), Professional Artist, Founder of IWS -Canip Taşkıran
(Turkey), Art Instructor, Vice President of IWS -Musa Balan
(Turkey), Professional Artist, Board Member of IWS -Orhan Gürel
(Turkey), Professional Artist, IWS Ankara -Burhan Özer
(Turkey), ProfessionaI Artist, IWS Istanbul
In my version of TOP 10 would be also
5_Kudalaya Hiremath_Race
6_WangShukai_LightTea_38x57
7_Zhang Yang-China_WaitFor_90x70
8_Rui Song Qiu_Northland Winter_54x73
9_Zhou Tianya_Tibetan Bride 41x31
10_Pablo Ruben Lopez Sanz_Taxi_Stop_100x100
I am glad that first 3 places I voted were the same by the majority of the Jury Board, also Murfiaz Musawir has even higher rating in my version of top 10. Generally it was extremely hard to drop someone, I had about 40 favorite paintings in that contest, all of them worthy of top 10)
