The title of today's post is taken from a 1939 composition by jazz musicians Sy Oliver and Trummy Young. The verse that reads: "You can try hard, it don't mean a thing...take it easy, greasy, then your jive will swing" could well apply to painting in watercolour. In other words, it's not what you put in but what you leave out that matters.
In my book Notes on the Nude I have this to say about leaving out.
When asked what I first look for in a model, without
hesitation I can answer, it is the face that attracts my attention. This holds
true even though in my paintings the face is secondary to the figure and
sometimes it is not shown at all. Nevertheless, the spirit of my muse is
personified in her fleeting glance. Here lie her subtle moods and changes.
The above picture is a detail from a painting I made of Naomi and which was featured in my last post. Had I have left out more face there wouldn't be any face at all. Nevertheless, what's there is enough to capture her likeness - and I might add, her fetching beauty and charm. To add more would be less.
Beyond the face it is the hands of a potential model that attracts my attention. They speak volumes. When painting I put the hand and arm down at a glance and leave others to interpret it as they see best. The secrete of a successful painting is not how much you can put in but how much you can leave out.
The detail below is taken from the second painting of Naomi that was featured in my last post.
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