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Celebrate World Watercolor Month
July 01, 2024
Untitled (Tulips), Rein Vanderhill, Watercolor, n.d., 2014.113.27.
Harbor #2, Rana Chalabi, Watercolor, 2011, 2012.39.9.
Untitled (Bottle Family Tree), Mike McDonnell, Watercolor on
board, n.d., 2017.97.363.
Malignant Landscape, BeiBei and Leilei Chen, Watercolor,
2016, 2018.7.1.
Paris, Louvre, Bruce McCombs, Watercolor, 1999, 2002.00110.
Did you know that July was founded as World Watercolor Month in 2016?
The celebration was founded by artist, author, social activist, and creator of Doodlewash Charlie O’Shields as a month to inspire people to paint with watercolor while raising awareness around the importance of art and creativity in the world. Anyone can join in the celebration, whether you are a master watercolorist or trying the medium out for the first time. For those seeking the ultimate challenge, World Watercolor Month encourages 31 watercolors in 31 days!
Check out other events and ways to participate in World Watercolor Month 2024.
Looking for inspiration or ideas for your own adventures with watercolor? Check out some of the watercolor artists featured below from the GVSU Art Gallery Collection!
Rein Vanderhill
In Rein Vanderhill’s large floral and fruit paintings, he uses watercolor to create high contrast and intense colors as well as subtle gradations and shadows. Vanderhill is noted for focusing on the unusual shapes of the shadows on the leaves and petals and often making the deep and dark negative shapes between the leaves and petals the most interesting part of the paintings. The paintings look almost photographic from a distance, but when viewed up close, the smooth paint strokes can be seen.
Explore more works by Rein Vanderhill.
Rana Chalabi
Rana Chalabi is a Syrian/Lebanese artist who works in Cairo, Egypt. She works within a variety of mediums, like charcoal, inks, mixed media, oils, sculptures, and printed graphics but is best known for her serene watercolor landscapes. She often does her watercolors on site, or in “plein air," but also works from photographs in her studio on the banks of the Nile. Through her use of watercolors, Chalabi can play with layers of color and light, representing both nature and architecture.
Explore more works by Rana Chalabi.
Mike McDonnell
Mike McDonnell was a Muskegon, Michigan-based artist who studied art in both Chicago and New York. Initially receiving training in classical portraiture and working primarily with oil paints, it wasn’t long before McDonnell found his own style in watercolors. He became well known for still life paintings with the most absurd arrangement of items, often precariously stacked, in dynamic colors. McDonnell would apply multiple, thin, layers of watercolor paint to achieve the rich, vibrant, and realistic images he painted. The results of his painting technique are not the typical look of watercolor. The realism of his paintings shows mastery of the use of the medium.
Explore more works by Mike McDonnell.
BeiBei and Leilei Chen
Twin sister artists, Beibei and Leilei Chen explore the relationship between culture and the natural environment. Their watercolors tell stories of life and death, science and art, and religion and politics. In their images, Leilei and Beibei use multiple methods and mediums to represent pollution in landscape as a global issue, on both macro and micro levels. By exploring how the medium of watercolor lends itself to blending colors, their images appear like an image looking into a microscope.
Explore more works by BeiBei and LeiLei Chen.
Bruce McCombs
Bruce McCombs is a local artist specializing in painting,
especially watercolor, and etching. Through his images, McCombs turns
ordinary objects and scenes into spectacular displays and colorful
reflections. His subjects include urban settings such as New York City
or his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, architecture, neon signs, planes,
trains, and vintage automobiles. The transparency of watercolor allows
McCombs to paint everyday scenes, spaces full of light and shadows, as
well as a variety of architectural elements, from shiny chrome to
translucent glass.
Explore more works by Bruce McCombs.
Explore other examples of watercolor paintings in the GVSU Collection.