Artist Pat Weaver wrote Watercolor Simplified to teach students her bold style.
By CHASE SQUIRES
Published February 9, 2004
DADE CITY - After decades of creating images, artist Pat Weaver turned to the written word.
Her first book, Watercolor Simplified, came out last year and quickly found success as January's featured selection of the monthly North Light artists' book club. Weaver's artwork dominates the cover of the book club's magazine, as well as the first six pages inside.
Making the jump from painting and lecturing to writing was hard work, Weaver said.
"It took about a year to write it, and it was a slow process," she said of the book. "I'd write a chapter, they'd edit it, send it back, and I'd make some changes. Back and forth, it was an ongoing thing. Then you get into the graphics and design process, and then it goes off to be printed."
Weaver said the goal was to share her style of bold brush strokes and impressionistic imagery under the constraints of writing, which demands a direct, succinct style.
"This is a no-frills book," Weaver wrote in her introduction. "I've tried to write it in a way that simplifies painting. ... This book is pure, unadulterated painting in transparent color using your brain and your brush."
Step by step, Weaver walks students through the basics of drawing and the art of adding color. The book is packed with Weaver's art, depicting works as they emerge from their earliest stages. She also produced an accompanying video.
"I tried to write the book exactly as I teach," she said. "I want to give my students great building blocks."
She said the first reports on the book's sales haven't come in yet, but she said she has received comments via e-mail from readers across the country.
Weaver, 61, grew up in Dade City and has been a serious artist for more than 30 years. Along the way, she also founded the Downtown Dade City Main Street program, aimed at reviving the business district, and she served as Dade City's mayor.
She lives on a farm, complete with cows, just outside the city but spends months every year teaching art classes throughout the United States and Europe.
In recommending her book, North Light wrote, "Her classes cut to the heart of what makes a painting work, foolproof concepts that have served great artists for centuries."
Weaver continues to work on her own art, recently producing a limited series print of an alligator dubbed Gator Growl, that has proven popular with University of Florida graduates.
Weaver is also active among a group of Florida artists called the ARTPack. The group recently toured Dade City, planning to produce a series of works for the March Affair on the Square art and flower show March 27.
