Land O’ Lakes watercolorist Bob McAnespie doesn’t like to refer to himself as an artist.
He calls himself a painter.
In his view, an artist is to a painter, what a chef is to a cook.
The Land O’ Lakes man teaches a watercolor class for beginners at the Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex. The three-hour sessions are held Thursdays and cost $10 each. Supplies for the class cost about $50.
McAnespie encourages anyone who is interested in creating watercolor paintings to give it a try.
“The only way you can fail in watercolor is if you quit. If you stick with it and have any talent at all, you’re going to get somewhere,” said McAnespie, who is a signature member of the National Watercolor Society and the Florida Watercolor Society.
He enjoys painting landscapes or cityscapes, particularly with people in them.
“A lot of painters, especially beginners, they avoid people because they’re afraid of them. I tell them: ‘Don’t be afraid. People aren’t hard, once you learn a few tricks.’
“You know, when you put a person in a painting, that becomes the center of interest,” said McAnespie, who is primarily self-taught.
Over the years, he’s honed his skills by taking classes and workshops, reading books and watching instructional art programs on television.
Courtesy of Bob McAnespie
“I own 126 books on watercolor. I’ve read some of them two or three times,” said McAnespie, the former president of the Brandon League of Fine Arts and a former member of the Zephyrhills Art Club.
After painting for decades, McAnespie decided to begin teaching several years ago. He said he saw that as a way to deepen his knowledge.
Creating watercolor paintings requires both patience and courage, he said.
It’s also good to relax a little, he said.
He said he tells his students: “Don’t try too hard.”
Being too obsessed about results can yield paintings that are tight and have hard edges, he explained.
He teaches his courses indoors, but he recommends going out on location to get superior results.
“Mother Nature is the best teacher of all,” he said.
“The light is better.
“If you paint from a photograph, there are a lot places on photographs, in fact, they look black. But inside that black, there are a lot of colors that you don’t see. But when you are on location, you can see them.”
Time of day is important, too.
“The best time is 10 in the morning, or 3 o’clock in the afternoon because the shadows are better. If you go at noontime, there’s not much shadow at all. The sun is right above your head,” he said.
Courtesy of Bob McAnespie
Developing a trained eye takes practice, he added.
“You have to work on your observation technique. There’s a difference between looking and observing,” he said.
During his classes, McAnespie brings in five paintings and students vote on which one they’d like to create.
He demonstrates, while students observe. Then they paint and he observes.
The back-and-forth process seems to work well, said McAnespie, who has shown at many local art shows and will have works on display at the upcoming Lutz Arts & Crafts Festival at Lake Park and at the Suncoast Arts Fest at The Shops at Wiregrass.
McAnespie said he typically paints for an hour, or a bit longer, each day. Then he relaxes by playing piano.
Music and art have many similarities, he said.
“They both contain the principles of design and composition — like repetition and variation, balance, contrast, gradation, harmony and unity,” McAnespie said.
Watercolor lessons
When: Thursdays, from 9 a.m. until noon
Where: Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex, 3032 Collier Parkway, Land O’ Lakes
How much: Classes are $10
Who: Bob McAnespie, a signature member of the National Watercolor Society and the Florida Watercolor Society, teaches the class. Beginners are welcome.
For information: Call (813) 388-2766.
Published October 28, 2015
