Artist addresses Order of the Golden Brush
After lunch last Tuesday, the Order of the Golden Brush assembled at St. James City Civic Association for a workshop with Florida watercolor artist Roy John Fuller. He is one of the Internet’s top ranked watercolor artists and founder of www.InternationalWatercolors.com.
Fuller is a native of Virginia and has lived in the Matlacha area for the past 28 years. His watercolor workshops focus on the principles and elements of design. The former engineer stresses principles of alternation, balance, contrast, dominance, harmony, unity and gradation, with elements of color, line, action or direction, shape, size, texture and value.
After distributing supplies to the sold-out class of 20, Linda Selleck introduced Fuller, who began with a detailed description of his style of big brush watercolor painting.
Fuller’s painting style in watercolors can be described as loose, fresh, transparent, spontaneous and luminous.
“I only use three basic colors: red, blue and yellow, but I use a cool and warm,” Fuller said. “Whenever you put down a cool, next you put down a warm always creating a variety of temperatures.”
Fuller always starts with a “value sketch.”
“I may only spend a minute to create my ‘value sketch,'” Fuller said. “‘Value’ is the relative lightness and darkness of a given color and by sketching it out, will allow you to better plan your painting. Planning your painting will make for a better painting and the drawing is the foundation.”
Painting your backgrounds – land, sky and horizon – and then over-painting gives perspective to your paintings.
“Three is the magic number: three houses, three trees, three rocks, three anything is all you need,” Fuller said.
Pat Van Kampen came all the way from Fort Lauderdale to attend the class.
“I teach art in Fort Lauderdale and I had heard about Mr. Fuller’s art,” Van Kampen said. “I did a Google search and came up with his website. The site included a video lesson of Mr. Fuller’s art. It is a wonderful lesson. It included each color blend, every step, a truly wonderful lesson. When I called him he said he was having a workshop here at Golden Brush on Pine Island and my reason for coming is to take what I learn here today back to Fort Lauderdale. We have a great community center at Lauderdale by the Sea.”
“All of the information is on the website and I have a video workshop lesson available from the website for $30,” Fuller said. “
“The Order of the Golden Brush has been meeting for many years,” Linda Selleck said. “Keeping with the intent of the early members, we welcome those who wish to explore their inner artist capabilities. Whether you are in your golden, or not quite, golden years, we encourage you to bring your favorite medium and discover a supportive and inviting atmosphere to play with brushes and paints.”
The Order of the Golden Brush meets every Tuesday morning from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the St. James City Civic Association at 4th Avenue and Lemon Street in St. James City.