Understanding Herman Pekel's approach

A while back, I purchased a ton of DVDs for my students.
I decided to do the leg work and share with everyone the important tips shared by these Artists in their DVDs. This is not a replacement and I highly urge you to purchase the real disc to pick up everything shared in their videos.


Herman Pekel is a famous watercolorists from Australia.
Amazing talent with a great sense of humor.  I love this guy and particularly love the looseness found in his work.  Its an absolute joy to see someone so free, so successful and so happy. I aspire to be the same.

Brushes:
He used only one Sable Kolinsky most of the time.

Palette:
His palette is quite limited and he adjust accordingly
Some of his staple colors.

Ultramarine Blue
Indian yellow
Cad Yellow
Burn Sienna
Turquoise
Viridian
Gouache white

Important tip: He doesn't clean his palette and leave only 1 compartment totally clean. He takes opportunity in the neutral greys left behind by his contaminated plates. It is important to note he uses fresh paint for most of his techniques. This is important for thick coverage

utilizing the unclean palette for complex greys

Signature move by Herman. He likes to scratch on thick opaque paint for lights. Do not scratch on thin paint

A familiar trick. Warm under washes, charge with thicker paint to cover. Important to let the paint does its own thing in watercolor.

He uses water spray and even his own spit to break up the colors. This allow watercolor to do its own thing and form subtleties/ complexity. He took advantage of transparency

Familiar trick in Alla Prima. Plan the structure of warm and cool and cover as much as possible through its relationship. 

Exaggerate the light to intensify drama and take advantage of watercolor's transparency to cover for cool versus warm underneath

He broke things up more with a spray of gouache.  This makes the painting more interesting/ Complex

An important technique in his work. Dry Brush strokes to retain sparkles of white for lights.

Hermans' Tips & Tricks:

• Utilized underlying washes to create color complexities/complementary . This reduces the reliance on mixing too much and helps with color harmony as well as speed of coverage..
• Let watercolor do its thing.
• Complete with less layers. To compensate for that, you need fresh and thick paint on top.
• Use dry brush strokes to suggest broken lights. Broken lights are everywhere and is key to mood.
• Break things up with spray. ( He used saliva and spit at it for exquisite control)
• Scratch for high light only on thick opaque paint. Scratch on washes damages the paper
• All there is to watercolor painting is Mood and Drama. To do that, you must suggest lights and you need to dramatize its existence and effect to be successful. 
• Take advantage of planning your color structure. E.g Use a warm undertone and cover with thick cool colors , so it renders complexity.