Ron Hazell has been painting full time for 7 years.. (after retiring from his career in engineering). He was elected to
The Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour (CSPWC) and is the newly appointed Atlantic Director of the Society. His work featured in major collections that include: The Royal Collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle, England, the Senate Offices Ottawa, Nova Scotia Legislature and various Universities around Canada.

He has also been featured in the 2003 Spring issue of American Artist WATERCOLOR Magazine and his work has been published in the book "How Did You Paint That? 100 Ways to Paint Landscapes" by International Artist Publishing.

The article in the 2003 Spring issue of American Artist Watercolor Magazine brought my work to an international audience. I received, and still receive, inquiries about how to paint water, requests for my books, my videos, and requests to put on workshops. However, I don't have any books or videos - yet. I am hoping to produce both some day.

Plockton, a Scottish Jewel, watercolor 15" x 22"

How do you market your work ?

I have a gallery in my home, I exhibit at Lyghtesome Gallery in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and I exhibit my work at the Art Sales & Rental Gallery at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Halifax. I also exhibit nationally in the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour Open Water Exhibitions as well as Society special exhibitions for members. Finally, I have a Gallery Page on my web site at www.ronhazell.com

Do these articles in magazines help in promoting your work?

They have not led to an increase in sales, but have raised my profile as a workshop instructor. People want to know when I am going to give a painting workshop in their area.

Do you have any recommendation for those trying to get the attention of Art magazines?

The article in American Artist came about because the editor of the magazine came across my web site www.ronhazell.com, liked what he saw, and asked me if I would be interested in having my work featured in an article in American Artist Watercolor Magazine. I have also been published in International Artist "How Did You Paint That? 100 Ways to Paint Landscapes".
The International Artist Magazine advertises competitions in every issue. Enter these competitions. Even though you may not place, your work will be seen by those in the publishing business.

What advice would you give to other artists trying to increase their profile?

Design a web site featuring your work, or have a professional web designer design a site for you. Also, there are many art competitions offered by art magazines in addition to the International Artist Magazine. Keep entering your work in these competitions, and try not to be deterred by rejection.

You are the Atlantic Director of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour (CSPWC).
What are the advantages of joining the Society? How does one apply and do you have to submit any of your
work? If so, what is the standard of skill needed?

Being a member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour has four advantages:

• It tells the world that you have reached a high level of proficiency in your painting and this has been
  confirmed by your peers.
• It opens doors for you. You get the opportunity to exhibit your work both nationally and internationally.
• It provides you with credentials as a workshop instructor who is accomplished in the medium of
  transparent watercolor.
• You make lifelong friends with fellow artists right across the country.

Speaking of opening doors, because I am a member of the CSPWC, one of my paintings is hanging in Windsor Castle in the Royal Collection of Her Majesty the Queen. On the occasion of the Society's 75th Anniversary, the 250 members of the Society were invited to submit a painting, fifteen of which would be chosen for presentation to the Queen. My submission was one of those chosen. My work was also recently chosen for two very prestigious national juried exhibitions celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Society. If I was not a member, I would not have been eligible to participate in any of these exhibitions.

One applies to the CSPWC by submitting digital images, or slides, of six works to the national office in Toronto, Canada by November 1 each year. The application form can be downloaded from the Society web site at www.cspwc.com. Anybody can apply. A national jury will then decide whether or not you have demonstrated a proficiency in transparent watercolor. A second way of becoming a member is to be accepted into three Open Water Exhibitions over a ten year period. Again, the Society web site gives the details of submitting to the annual Open Water Exhibition.

     Man in a Red Tie, watercolor 15" x 22"
For artists wanting to attend your workshops. What advice would you give them to get the most out of their time.

A workshop is an opportunity to try approaches and painting techniques that you have never tried before. Approach the workshop with an open mind. There is no point in simply painting the way you have always painted in a workshop. Make up your mind beforehand that you are not going to take home some pretty pictures. What you are going to take home are some new ideas, some gems, for possibly creating new work. Try the approaches you saw the instructor use in the demonstrations. They may not work the first time but try again. Watercolor artists have to be patient, and persistent. Lots of practice in the key. Painting is like a sport. The more you practice, the better you become.

What brand of paints do you use?

I use Holbein pigments. I used Winsor & Newton in the past. Both are excellent brands. There are other excellent brands on the market as well. Make sure you purchase artist's quality pigments. Student quality are less than half the price, but contain fillers and don't go as far in a painting, so they are not a saving. Also, they are not as permanent as the artist's quality pigments, nor are they as brilliant.

What are the main colors on your palette?

Any palette should contain two of each of the primaries, one intense and one muted, or grayed. For example, my intense yellow is Aureolin and my muted yellow is Raw Sienna. My two reds are Scarlet Lake and Brown Madder. My two blues are Ultramarine Deep and Prussian. I also use Burnt Sienna and once in a while Cerulean in snow and fog mixes. It is a granular pigment and produces wonderful separation in mixes with fine grained pigments. None of these colors are intense stainers. I like to lift pigment off the paper when the wash is dry for certain lighting effects, so I avoid using strong staining colors.

What paper do you use?

I use Arches paper for most of my paintings, both 140 lb and 300 lb. I also use Winsor & Newton 140 lb. Mostly I use cold pressed, and once in a while rough or hot pressed, depending on the subject matter.

       Evening at Melville Cove, watercolor : Click to enlarge

What are your favorite/most used brushes?

My one word answer to this question is "big". I find most students use brushes that are way too small for the task at hand. In fact most students suffer from a "too small" syndrome. Their brushes are too small, their water containers are too small and the amount of pigment squeezed out is too small.

To answer your question directly, I use 2", 1 1/2", and 1" flats for most of my work as well as a #30 round and a #10 rigger. The brand that I like best is Robert Simmons white sable. They are synthetic brushes. I never use natural hair brushes. They are too expensive and wear out too quickly. I bought some of my nylon brushes 30 years ago and they still perform the same as the day I bought them.

What steps do you follow when developing a painting?

Whatever subject I paint, it is the lighting effect that is most important to me. So my first step is to do several small value sketches in soft pencil. I rearrange the light and dark shapes until I get a pleasing juxtaposition of light and dark shapes, in other words, the best composition I can come up with. Then I do the painting using the value sketch as a guide. I never paint directly from a photograph, because I don't want my paintings to look like a photograph. I want a sense of mystery in my work which gives the viewer a chance to participate in the painting. In other words, I don't want to cross all the t's and dot all the i's for them. Painting from a value sketch also gives me the freedom to invent my colors, to pursue complementary pairs in a painting, and entertain the viewer.

Do you work mainly outdoors or in studio?

I prefer painting on site. But we have such lousy weather in Nova Scotia, that I find myself painting in my studio more often than not. We have what I call "too" weather. It's either too cold, too wet, too foggy, or too windy. The only months I get outside to paint is July and August. The other months I do sketches in my car, either in pencil or pen. Of course, I take photographs as well. They are a valuable resource, but as I mentioned, I never paint directly from the photos.

Pounding Surf, watercolor 15" x 22"

You do a lot of paintings involving the sea. What are the techniques you use for creating the different moods of water? And how do you "Freeze" the ever moving water?

I grew up by the sea and have lived most of my life by the sea. Artists paint what they know. I know the sea. The sea has many states, from very calm, to chop, to breaking waves, to crashing walls of water on the shoreline. I approach each of these sea states differently. The very calm water starts out as wet-in-wet washes. While still damp, I brush in ripples with the same paint mix to create soft edges to the ripples. Then I paint reflected shapes over parts of those washes after they are dry.
Choppy water is painted on dry paper so that I can suggest hard edged waves. Breaking waves are rendered with initial washes leaving white shapes for the foam, then putting in some hard edged waves.
The crashing seas involve wet-in-wet washes and leaving lots of foam shapes. Foam is entrapped air so it is soft edged and light in value. Because the sea is ever moving, photographs are extremely useful for studying the shapes of waves and recording the sequence involved in a breaking wave.

The sea is a very difficult subject, always changing with complex reflections. What is your attraction to painting this?

I find the sea mysterious and ever changing. It displays a symphony of light and colour. Yes, there is a tremendous amount of color in the sea, sometimes very subtle, sometimes intense, depending on the location of the sun, the amount of moisture in the air, and the location.

It seems that the oil medium has a higher prestige and price-point over the watercolor medium when it comes to selling work. What are the points you would make to bring more justice to watercolor paintings?

I paint in both oils and watercolors. I give workshops in both mediums as well. Watercolors are a harder sell compared to oils for a number of reasons, even though watercolor paintings have been around a lot longer than oils. Because watercolors are painted on "paper", the public often assumes they will degrade in a relatively short time. I put the word "paper" here in quotation marks because the support is not a wood product. Watercolor paper is made of cotton or linen, exactly the same product that oil painters have traditionally used, except the cotton or linen is not traditionally woven. If it were, it would be called canvas. However, canvas for watercolor artists has recently come on the market but I haven't tried it yet so I am unable to comment on this new product.
Another reason watercolors are not in favor as much as oils in certain circles is that watercolor paintings are framed under glass because the surface of a watercolor is more fragile than an oil painting surface. As a result, the locations for hanging a watercolor are limited. For example, hanging a watercolor painting opposite a window can result in awkward reflections. Having said all that, I believe that oils cannot match watercolors for a feeling of light in the painting. I will purchase a good watercolor over an oil any day, even though I enjoy oils immensely.

In closing, I would like to emphasize the need for aspiring watercolor artists to practice their medium. Watercolor is technique intensive. Mastery takes patience and practice - and the self discipline to try again when the painting is going downhill, so to speak. But the rewards are definitely worth the effort.

Click to enlarge : Fog Bound, watercolor 15" x 22"

Ron regularly gives workshops and painting courses in watercolour painting to groups throughout Atlantic Canada. He also has outdoor excursions focusing on rendering water, boats and the shoreline.

For more information about his classes, visit the Events page on Ron's web site at www.ronhazell.com