Saturday, April 12, 2014

Can three artists work simultaneously on one picture?

This Australian street scene was painted on one giant piece of paper by three master watercolorists: Joseph Zbukvic, Alvaro Castagnet, and Herman Pekel, who call themselves The Three Caballeros The Three Amigos.


Fortunately the fun was captured on 24 minutes of mesmerizing video. (Direct link to video) They switch back and forth between big and little brushes, spritzers, and scrapers. They constantly trade places, with one guy diving into a wet area that another guy started. Their uproarious good humor and utter fearlessness is an inspiration to any painter.

Colourinyourlife
Books:
Zbukvic, Mastering Atmosphere & Mood in Watercolor
Castagnet, Watercolor Painting with Passion!
Video: My Vision in Watercolour DVD
Another great YouTube video showing J. Zbukvic painting a rainy street scene.

17 comments:

  1. I can't wait to watch the video. The painting, on its own, is full of great energy and vitality. The joy that went into the painting is visible.

    Thanks for turning up another gem, James! I know I'd have missed this otherwise!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Apart from a learning experience it was such a delight listening to them banter and watching them play. They are SO fun!!!!! Thanks a million for sharing this. I shall be grinning as I go about my day thinking of them splashing and dribbling.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The video is great! It's such a delight to see the fun that those three amigos have painting together. It's a good reminder of why we all got into painting in the first place: it's fun!

    Thanks again.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've got DVD's by both Alvaro Castagnet and Joseph Zbukvic, which are very inspirational to watch. There's a great quote by Mr Z, which rings true for a lot of artists... 'every painting which is ruined is preceded by the words 'I'll just do this bit'.'
    Yep.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm being a stinker here but I have to make a tiny correction to James' post.(I guess I listen to too much NPR) The guys actually call themselves "The Three Amigos". Beautiful imagery, that. I wonder which one is supposed to be Martin Short?

    ReplyDelete
  7. What fun! But I have another question: Can a painter really paint while wearing sunglasses?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I used to paint a fair amount of outdoor murals in the 90s, and the guy I worked with and I both learned to mix color and paint wearing sunglasses. It was either that or get your eyes blasted out by the sun. Minor adaptation and move on.......

    ReplyDelete
  9. That was great fun to watch! I love their fearless confidence, and the idea that it wasn't about being too precious with every mark, but it was about having fun and making an expressive statement.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh my god - these guys are in Melbourne!? I'm totally going to stalk them...err politely ask to watch them work. So cool!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Fantastic painting, and really nice painters.
    One question: when they spray water on a wet color, why don't they get the so called "cauliflower effect" (the water digging a hole in the paint)?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Mario, I think the reason is that they only spray while the area is still wet, the object being to apply the mist before the area dries. Spraying after the area dried would produce the effect you describe. Also, it's notable that the water is misted, not sprayed.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yes, Tom, the water is being misted, that's important, of course.
    According to my experience, the cauliflower effect happens even if the area is still wet: it happens every time the new stoke is wetter than the paper. But if the area is very wet, you can probably avoid it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. You get cauliflowers if the new wetness is denser than the existing wetness with paint - so if you put down a was then go into it with a brush that contains more water than the wash contained, you will disrupt the existing wash. However, you can go into a wash with thicker paint than was used in the wash, and you won't disrupt the still wet wash. (Interestingly, Joseph Zbukvic details this quite a lot in his book - which is now as rare as hens teeth! But both he and Herman talk about it quite a bit in their DVD's and in person.)

    ReplyDelete
  15. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  17. "You get cauliflowers if the new wetness is denser than the existing wetness with paint"
    desembrey, I guess you meant the opposite, as you explain in the last part of your comment.
    But, in this case, when you spray/mist pure water on a wash, you shold always get cauliflowers, because pure water is always less dense than any other wash... hence my question.
    It's a pity Zbukvic's book is out of print.

    ReplyDelete

Due to a high level of spam we must moderate comments. Please identify yourself by name or social media handle so we know you're not a 'bot.'