Speaking with Janece Latham I had the distinct impression that anything she didn’t know about art wasn’t worth knowing even though she insisted that she was on a continual learning curve.

She works in all media but I was keen to find out more about the most difficult of all: watercolours.

Janece initially trained and worked professionally as a commercial illustrator and although her basic grounding in drawing, layout and design from this period has stood her in good stead ever since, she felt the routine nature of the job was stifling the passion and individuality needed for inspirational works.

Janece Latham

“You need to be passionate about what you’re doing. Your best work comes from the heart and when someone looks at a painting they should feel that passion.

Drawing and sketching Drawing and sketching are essential for good watercolour work. One needs to develop a good sense of proportion and to attain this, practise is essential. Carry a small sketchbook and sketch every day if you can. However having said that, some people may have a gift for colour and are able to produce wonderful abstract works which don’t require any sketching at all.

The paper makes a huge difference to the end result. It’s important to use the best possible. Cold pressed 300gsm is best because it absorbs

the paint more readily and the heavier weight doesn’t buckle when wet. Hot pressed paper is smooth and shiny and much less absorbent.

Water paint flows and is difficult to control so it’s a good idea to plan your painting before you start. Sometimes a wonderful accident will happen. But don’t count on it.

Always start with the lighter colours and then move onto the darker colours once the first layer has dried, unless you’re going for fuzzy edges or washy sky effects. And remember a hair dryer is a useful tool to arrest the flow of paint.

Gum Arabic is a useful way of ensuring paint doesn’t get on the places you want to stay “white”. Simply paint freely over the top and then when it’s dry peel it off to expose the clean paper highlights.

The degree of wetness is an important factor in watercolour painting. The paper can be soaked prior to painting, completely dry or anything in between. Sometimes it’s a good idea, as in the “Lord Howe Golf Club” exercise to have half and half. The upper sky area was soaked first to get the wet on wet cloud-mist effect and the lower tree area left dry for better definition and avoiding having to use Gum Arabic.”

To see more of Janece Latham’s work send an e-mail to; Jhuntley@bigpond.net.au or call her on (02) 6456 1353.