The Batavia Society of Artist is hosting artist Michael Killelea from 7 to 9 p.m. on April 9th at GO ART! inside Seymour Place, 201 E. Main St., Batavia
Killelea is going to demonstrate how at add a figure or animal in a completed watercolor painting to add interest and help the composition.
Non-members welcome for a $5 fee.
"Painting en plein air has some obvious drawbacks. One problem is that compositional flaws sometimes aren't clear until some time has passed. Since landscapes or buildings rarely move they make great still life subjects.
"But they can sometimes seem a bit lifeless, so adding some live thing often makes sense. I try to keep the “add life” idea in mind as I paint, even if I don’t incorporate it as I paint. I do that by adding an animated figure of some kind, even after the painting is done.
"I look for a place to add that figure in the composition like birds, animals or people. In watercolor that might mean scrubbing out a particular area to add a figure, or adding a darker figure into a light area.Obviously the figure can be positioned anywhere for maximum impact, and that’s what I’ll demonstrate."
He is an artist, author, teacher and traveler whose "exquisite watercolors" from a trip to China were featured in American Artist's "Watercolor" magazine.
This Long Island native currently lives among the cows, cornfields and farms of Western New York where he divides his time between painting, teaching and lecturing. But he paints anywhere and everywhere, at home and around the world.
