In most art classes the time spent in class is used to sit and work on projects for the entire period. But a few weeks ago, students in Terry Sherman’s VHS art classes got to take a break from their current work in watercolor still life painting.  For untrained artists, this skill can be very tricky but students had the opportunity to watch and learn from an actual watercolor artist Marilyn Rose.

Marilyn Rose is a well-known professional watercolor artist. She graduated from Washington University as a Fred Conway Fine Arts Fellow. Her paintings have won many awards and have been displayed in multiple exhibitions. She is also a member of the New Jersey Watercolor Society, and the Baltimore Watercolor Society. Ms. Rose also visited art classes last year during the class’s unit on watercolor painting.

She taught the classes methods of working with watercolors and explained how to work with the paints so it is not as difficult to get the desired effect. As she spoke, she painted a scene for us from the still life setup Ms. Sherman had created in the middle of the room. Students in Ms. Sherman’s Drawing and Painting classes, as well as her Advanced Art classes are currently working from this same still life; they choose an angle of it they like, and create a watercolor painting from it. The setup contains various items, including statues of people or faces, a Charlie Chaplin puppet, and pieces of patterned cloth.

As she painted, Ms. Rose explained her use of contrasting colors to create value and shadow, and her use of white space on the paper to create light. She explained how she works by using blank spaces of the paper to create light and shapes and paint to create the shadows, as supposed to painting lighter colors on top of already painted- on areas, which does not create the same effect and becomes muddy. She also taught the class how to layer the paints to create values and texture, which are very important in making the painting flow and look more realistic.

Having an acclaimed artist such as Marilyn Rose visit VHS was a wonderful opportunity for students. She shared many insightful and helpful tips for creating amazing paintings, tips that Mrs. Sherman’s’ classes will try to incorporate into their own work our classes in this challenging medium as they try to create their own beautiful still life paintings.