Kasper Zier

Today, November 18th, 2024, artist Kasper Zier joined the G.A.G. members in the Kilcoole Community Centre to brighten up a very wet and cold Monday morning with a watercolour demonstration.

Kasper, a trained graphic designer from Aarhus in Denmark, moved to Ireland in 2001 and started painting about 10 years ago. Painting was not of course a new skill to Kasper, but painting for the sake of it, rather than for work, gave him a newfound freedom. 10 years on, he has exhibited in both Denmark and Ireland and has won several awards. He is an exhibiting member of the Water Colour Society of Ireland, (group exhibitions) and won the Presidents Prize this year for his painting ‘Morning Light’.

His work is exhibited on an ongoing basis in 2 galleries: Duke Street Gallery and the Open Window Gallery.

Kasper paints street scenes, landscapes and interior settings. He works from his studio and plein-air. He uses oils from time to time but prefers watercolours. That’s partially due to the simplicity of watercolours when on location, but also because it is incredibly versatile and allows for many styles, from photorealism to impressionism. His passion lies with representation of the light, which could be in an urban street scene, a landscape or the interiors of an old workshop. If working from photographs, Kasper prefers to use his own. He will take different elements from photographs with the same scene but taken under different lighting conditions.

For the G.A.G. demo, Kasper used 2 photographs of the same setting, one taken in daylight with strong blue hues, the other basking in a golden evening glow.

Kasper roughly outlined the various elements of the painting for which he uses a soft pencil. He then proceeds to mix the main colours he intends to use. As watercolour dries quickly, it’s the best way not to have to stop to mix midway and to be consistent for large areas, such as sky.

On this painting, he started with the sky, a large mop brush loaded with a fairly light mix of burnt sienna, some red, a dab of blue cobalt and titanium white. Using white was quite new to us, pretty much any watercolour instruction will tell you to use the white of the paper instead of using paint. And there, we discovered, is where Kasper differs from most watercolourists. He paints all of the paper and does not leave white areas. Using gentle, muted colours that sit beautifully side by side and never jar. He applies the paint in the same manner, calm, fully concentrating, almost mindful. It’s an exercise in relaxation to watch Kasper paint.

The paper used is Arches Cold Pressed watercolour paper, 300gsm. Normally the larger size is used, but due to time constraints, this time the paper was somewhat smaller. Paints are mostly Holbein, although Winsor Newton is not ruled out either.

Next to the sky comes the horizon and the mountains, for which Kasper used a muted mix of blue and red, and with a splayed brush gently pulled it across the paper, dragging some of the paint down to shape the landmass. The lower half of the painting received a coat of clear water, before another layer of slightly darker paint was applied. At this stage the paper was very wet, perfectly timed for the all-important coffee break.

Once dried, the more detailed parts such as the house, the trees and boat, were painted with a creamier version of watercolour. But still using those wonderfully muted colours.

Time for the final touches such as reflections and seaweeds. Kasper uses a spray bottle to mist the paper where more flow is needed and makes subtle adjustments across all areas. When at home, he would finish the painting up to about a 95% finish and then walks away from it. With fresh eyes, it’s easier to see what needs amendment, where more paint is needed or where it needs to be lifted.

And lastly the masking tape is removed, revealing a beautiful landscape in a very relaxed, impressionistic style. Fascinating demo!

You can see Kasper’s art and workshop dates on his website: kasperzier.com and on Instagram.