Hi All, I am writing this against the soothing sound of the waves breaking here at Sovereign Harbour...they are surprisingly big waves for such a lovely sunny day, the effect of a strong easterly breeze.
I thought I would share with you the piece I wrote for the SFP quarterly newsletter. The story of the making of my DVD...
“The
instruction is excellent and very clearly explained, with good filming of all
stages (...) so that you are itching to have a go yourself”
So
runs the review in the May edition of Leisure Painter of the DVD I recently
released. I can hardly believe that what
had begun as a tentative idea sketched out on the back of an old painting was
now a reality; because, sure enough, the DVD “Watercolour Techniques by Ann
Mortimer” is out there and for sale on Amazon and on my website.
I
have been sharing my way of painting with watercolour for ten years both in
classes and on social media sites such as Facebook and my blog and people were
asking me whether I had made a video. It
seems they wanted to actually see in real time how I did things like background
washes and negative painting.
I
was lucky enough to know someone involved in the creative industry (my son
Steve) who had already filmed and edited videos. And I had my spacious studio which turned out
to be the (almost) perfect place for filming. Between us we gathered together the necessary
equipment, two cameras, tripods, microphones, lighting, laptops and video
editing software.
We
started out with the intention of filming short three minute snippets for
YouTube, but soon realised that we needed more time and that a DVD was the best
format.
We
had noticed that the painting demonstrations on the market showed artists
producing magical and masterful work but often not really explaining the theory
and the principles behind the actions. We thought that in our DVD we would try and
bring a deeper understanding while demonstrating the techniques.
We
had to map out the process and to impose a structure even before filming
started. Everyone knows that watercolour
waits for no man (or woman) and wielding this dynamic and temperamental medium
while trying to explain the whys and wherefores was a challenge. We were only interested in producing something
which would be useful and relevant and of good quality.
We
used two main ways to bring clarity. We
set up a split screen situation with me explaining as the “talking head” and
also we used an information panel where the important details about materials
were there to be read on screen.
There
were difficulties! many to do with the
sound on the DVD. With my studio not
being purpose built and sound proofed, we became very aware of our
surroundings. It seemed everyone was out
cutting their hedge or strimming their borders!
All the neighbourhood children were suddenly out in the garden, laughing
and playing!
Then I was suddenly required to become a
presenter, talking, and preferably saying something that made sense, in front
of a camera. Not my main area of
expertise! There was also the not
inconsiderable challenge of painting confidently while explaining difficult
concepts. Quite a taxing few days for
both of us, but ultimately very satisfying and the sales of the DVD and the
feedback we have received, including that great review in Leisure Painter, make us think that it was a worthwhile
undertaking.
“Watercolour
Techniques by Ann Mortimer” has three full demonstrations lasting 1 hour 55
minutes and is available from my website www.annmortimerart.com and also
from Amazon. Price £15 plus post and
packing. There are three excerpts to
watch on the website.
Hope you enjoyed reading that...
Even though I am here looking out to sea in this wonderful situation, my mind is on more land based subjects, namely one of my favourite flowers, Irises. They are floating my boat...sorry...at the moment and I 'm planning a series of paintings with them as my main subject. Starting today...
I guess this might have something to do with the fact that I sold two iris paintings at the Chichester exhibition a couple of weeks ago. Here's one of them...
I guess this might have something to do with the fact that I sold two iris paintings at the Chichester exhibition a couple of weeks ago. Here's one of them...
