The character and individuality of birds have fascinated and inspired some of art history’s greatest minds. John James Audubon sought to meticulously categorize all the birds of America, while Leonardo da Vinci was nearly obsessed with how birds take flight. For watercolor artist Pat Holscher, the maritime birds native to eastern North Carolina have provided endless enjoyment and artistic inspiration.
Immediately noticeable in Holscher’s work is the fluidity of the watercolor’s application, which displays a vibrancy and vivid saturation of blended, runny color. Holscher prefers working on gessoed paper, which allows her to achieve this desired effect. The gesso, in addition to reducing the absorbency of the paper, allows the colors to sit on the surface, resulting in stronger hues. The gesso also leaves a textured finish on the paper, a feature Holscher loves to use to enhance her subjects’ naturalism.
For Holscher, a watercolor painting begins with a connection. Using photography as a means to capture a bustling flock of birds, Holscher selects one bird that displays a certain individuality of character and pose, whom she calls “the show stopper.” This bird could be used a number of times in different pictures, but typically forms a vital part of the composition, inviting the viewer into the piece. Holscher also includes a number of other birds in her paintings, creating a rhythmic play and kinetic movement that adds vitality and visual interest. One truly gets a sense of the coordinated movements birds can make as they eagerly await the next fish or piece of bread to come their way.
Although the birds within paintings such as “Geese Headed South” and “Heads Up” haven’t always been her subjects, they have gripped the regional market and earned Holscher national and international recognition.
Birds and animals have fascinated some of art history’s greatest minds. In Pet Portraits in Watercolor, Shelley Prior helps you solve some of the biggest challenges artists face when painting animal portraits. She’ll show you how to soften your edges, balance texture with detail, utilize the white space of the paper to your advantage, and control your watercolor while letting it do what it does so beautifully.
