Watercolor Batik: An Artist’S Guide to Watercolor Batik on Rice Paper

By Martha C.S. Heppard

Watercolor Batik: An Artist's Guide to Watercolor Batik on Rice Paper, by award winning artist Martha Heppard is the first book published worldwide devoted entirely to watercolor batik known to exist. She takes an artist through the history of batik and introduces them to the batik technique for watercolor on rice paper in a very clear and concise manner. She includes four demonstrations with step by step instructions. This book is written for the beginning artist as well as the more advanced painter looking to enhance their skills and take their watercolor to a new level.

Martha's paintings are extraordinary because of how she uses multiple layers of paint to build up rich strong colors. The realm of batik is expanded by this book, for the technique of watercolor batik is similar but yet different from that of textile batik (and there is a different aesthetic experience in looking at the two). This book has 50 photos in 84 pages, allowing the reader to visualize, as well as read about, the process of watercolor batik on rice paper.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9781499080926

Martha C.S. Heppard

Martha Heppard, an award winning artist, provides clear and concise instruction on how to create a beautiful watercolor batik on rice paper in the first book ever completely devoted to this subject. Martha shows nationally, and teaches workshops on this unique technique. She is a Harvard University graduate and excellent communicator.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Martha C.S. Heppard. 674459

ISBN:   Softcover     978-1-4990-8091-9

             Hardcover   978-1-4990-8090-2

             EBook         978-1-4990-8092-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 01/19/2015

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: History of Batik

Chapter 3: Tools of the Trade

Chapter 4: Sketch Your Inspiration

Chapter 5:Transferring Your Sketch to Rice Paper

Chapter 6: Ready to Batik!

Chapter 7: Touch-Ups

Chapter 8: Demonstrations

Chapter 9: Conclusion

Glossary of Painting Terminology

List of Photographs:

About the Author

Watercolor Batik

An Artist’s Guide to Watercolor Batik on Rice Paper

By Martha C.S. Heppard

Colorado Watercolor Society, Signature Member

Centennial, Colorado

www.martha.gallery

Photo-2%20%20_American%20Avocets_%237F8F.tif

Photo-2: American Avocets (23 x 18 inches) by Martha Heppard

I dedicate this book to my husband, Kurt.

I want to thank the numerous friends, family members and instructors who have encouraged me in art and writing this book. Special thanks to Kathy Hadsall for her digital expertise and Kristi Sansonetti for her editing skills.

Preface

Painting is an art as well as a language. It allows the artist a form for self-expression and development of society. Artists take great pains and effort to go beyond what they know in order to continuously develop their art as they grow as an individual artist.

I always loved art as child and adolescent, and I still possess a few items I made from clay, as well as a ring of silver I made in a jewelry class in high school. Instead of pursuing a career in art, I followed my passion for the healing sciences in the field of medicine. I am a trained physician and surgeon who always felt surgery was an art form. By a twist of fate, I retired early from medicine and thanks to encouragement from my husband, Kurt, enrolled in a drawing and an oil painting class. I studied first at the Art Student’s League of Denver (ASLD), and later at the Curtis Arts and Humanities Center (Curtis Center) in Greenwood Village, Colorado, and then at the Mizel Museum in Denver, Colorado.

My first oil painting was of a purple iris in my backyard. Molly Davis was my oil instructor for two years and we worked from the studio at the ASLD. Subsequently, I transitioned to plein air oil painting with Doug Dawson for five years, and during this time, I also took studio oil painting with Kevin Weckbach at the Curtis Center for two years.

After my first year of drawing and oil painting, I discovered my drawing instructor, Rick Brogan, also taught watercolor at the Curtis Center which was much closer to my home. I concurrently studied watercolor with him for six years while studying oil with other instructors (mentioned in the paragraph above). Rick taught me all of the ground work for watercolor for which I am so thankful. He is an outstanding illustrative and impressionistic watercolorist (and also oil painter). In trying to loosen up my style of painting (both in oil and watercolor), I was introduced to Boris Shoshensky, a Russian artist, and he taught me how to create softer, looser paintings in both mediums.

After working in watercolor for a number of years, I attended an art show with an artist friend and came across a beautiful watercolor that appeared to be a batik on rice paper. The artist shared her methods with me and since then I have continued to paint traditionally in oil and watercolor but I specialize in watercolor batik on rice paper. I joined a gallery in the greater Denver area a few years ago and began showing my work publicly as well as teaching workshops in this technique.

I limit my workshops to about six to eight artists because I teach in a very hands on way. This is a new technique for most of my students and this seems to be the right number of artists to whom I can give the appropriate amount of attention. My teaching spans from the beginner watercolorists to very advanced professional artists. Although they have all learned the technique, I feel those who previously worked in watercolor gain the most from the workshop. It is a four hour class where each person works on a quarter sheet of rice paper (approximately 12 x 18 inches) and all of my students finish their paintings by the end of the workshop.

I currently exhibit in Denver area galleries and art venues for specific shows. While painting in batik, I developed my method for watercolor on rice paper as each painting evolved. With this book, I hope to inspire many other artists to try this novel technique.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Watercolor, as a medium for batik, is a relatively new phenomenon. Artists began working in this medium by at least the millennium and I was introduced to it shortly thereafter. While not initially familiar with watercolor batiking, I first learned of the traditional batiking of textiles when I was 12 years old. I grew up in Honolulu, Hawai’i and attended Hawai’i School for Girls (now known as La Pietra) for junior high school, and my first two years of high school (I then attended Punahou Schools my junior and senior years of high school). Because of the strong Asian influence in Hawai’i, Asian art and textile techniques were an integral part of my school’s art