A Study in Sargent's Watercolour Technique by Catherine King

Miss Eliza Wedgewood and Miss Sargent Sketching by John Singer Sargent

I chose a piece by Sargent, It is one of the many watercolours he painted en plein air after 1900 escaping the constraints of potraiture work. His wonderful use of colour attracted me to conceive my own watercolour painting of my father in the garden reading on a sunny day.
Sargent used his figures in his landscapes celebrating the pleasures of nature in the sun, reading, painting, sketching, dreaming, enjoying life.
Most of the sitters were his friends and family who accompanied him on painting trips abroad. His use of broad confident brushstrokes with emphasise on achieving coloured highlights, shadow and reflections, to set the scene in a light-filled moment in time. This was his main passion in his watercolour sketches and he certainly achieved this with his masterly techniques and confidence. They are as fresh and alive today as when they were painted over a hundred years ago.

Study of my Father by Catherine King

Catherine King

Catherine King received her diploma from Trinity College in 1992 in the history of European Painting specialising in Impressionism.  She also studied illustration at Dun Laoghaire school of Art and completed drawing courses at NCAD.

Catherine works mainly with oils and watercolours in an impressionistic style.  The colours of nature in the form of flowers gardens; the colour and life on a beach are where she gets inspiration to paint her subjects.

A number of limited edition prints were chosen from her watercolours and earlier in her career she designed greeting cards.  Four of her paintings were purchased by the Office of Public Works.  Her paintings have been exhibited in galleries in Dublin and Countrywide.  Presently her paintings are exhibited in the Village Art gallery, Skerries, and the Frameworks Gallery, Dun Laoghaire.  You can contact Catherine by email here or visit her website. www.ckingartist.ie