Welcome to California Watercolors (The Blog)

Hi and welcome to California Watercolors (The Blog). My name is John Norman Stewart and since I've been a California watercolor artist since the 1960's , I thought it might be fun to create a blog that featured some of my favorite early California water media artists. Each post would tell a brief bio about each artist, along with a picture of one of their paintings, plus a link to possible sources to finding their works online. I've been fortunate to meet some of these artists during my art pursuits, so there is in some cases a personal connection. I hope that viewing this water media art might stimulate young artists to pursue this medium and keep alive this vital art form. Thanks for stopping by the blog and checking it out, JNS





    



top: Emile Kosa Jr.  "Skyline Patterns"
middle:  John Norman Stewart  "View of the Bridge"
bottom right:  Emile Kosa Jr.  "Bunker Hill" (1940s)

Hardie Gramatky - Forever Young -

My personal connection with Hardy Gramatky happened in 2003 when Chouinard Art Institute was having a fund raising auction and one of Gramatky's works became available.  It was a large watercolor painting titled "Martinique Harbor" and I bid  on it and became it's new owner.  A few years later I sold it to Michael Johnson and you can see it in his great collection online at California Watercolor.  

  

Hardie Gramatky bio:

       Artist/Illustrator Hardie Gramatky was born in Dallas, Texas on the 12th of April 1907.  His father was Bernard August Gramatky and his mother was Blanche (Gunner) Gramatky.   His schooling was split between two years at Stanford University and two years at Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles.  

 He became a head animator at  Walt Disney Productions in Burbank, California during the period of 1930 through 1936.  Later he became a pictorial reporter for Fortune  Magazine in New York City from 1937 til 1940.   

During World War II (1942 - 1944) he became a supervisor of military training films for the U.S. Military and later from 1944 tip 1979 he became a free lance writer and artist.  His most popular series of books from this period were the "Little Toot" stories, which were a great commercial success. 

Renowned for his watercolor skills he won many top water media awards.  Among these were the Chicago International Award in 1942, The AWS (American Watercolor Society) High Winds Medal in 1979.  His work is included in scores of public and private collections: The Chicago Art Institute, Brooklyn Museum, Toledo Museum of Art, Frye Museum, Marietta College in Ohio, and many others.  

He belonged to the NAD (National Academy of Design), AWS (American Watercolor Society), Society of Illustrators, The Salmagundi Club of New York, and The Westport Artists.  

Hardy Gramatky died on the 29th of April, 1979 at Westport, Connecticut.  

Click here to see Gramatky original watercolors and giclees.  

   

- Rex Brandt - A Heavy Influence -

My first brush with this artist was through a book that I got as a teen in Glendale, CA.  I believe it was called "Ways With Watercolor" by Rex Brandt.   I was immediately taken with his strong sense of design and simplicity of strokes that he used to convey his ideas.   I saw a correlation between his work and that of Phil Dike's but I think that Rex's works inspired me to try watercolor at an early age.  On to the artist:

Rex Brandt - A Short Bio:

Rex Brandt was born in 1914 in San Diego, California.  His schooling was provided at Chouinard Art Institute, Riverside Junior College and UC Berkeley.   He belonged to quite a few organizations:  The National Academy of Design, Philadelphia Water Color Club, and The California Watercolor Society.  

While he was at UC Berkeley he studied with John Haley.  Returning to Southern California he was accepted into the core group of California watercolor artists, who were in the process of organizing at the time.  When they saw Rex's obvious talents they were happy to usher him into the group.  Within a few years he was winning prizes in shows all over the Western states.   

Art instruction had always been an important part of Brandt's career and in the early 40's he did extensive workshops in the San Diego area.  After the second World War he and Phil Dike created the Brandt-Dike Summer School of Painting in Corona Del Mar, just south of the art colony of Laguna Beach.  This school was extremely successful, especially during the 1950's.   At the same time he taught composition and watercolor classes at Chouinard Art Institute.  He also wrote eleven instructional books on painting in watercolor which he used in conjunction with his classes.  A lot of watercolor artists were inspired and emerged due to Brandt's influence.  

He also produced murals, educational films, and did a number of architectural illustrations.  HIs illustrations have appeared in Fortune, Life and Westways magazines.  He was a president of The California Watercolor Society in 1948.  

Some of His Works:  

 

Phil Dike - The Innovator -

Let's begin with watercolorist Phil Dike:  Classically trained, he later made innovative journeys into abstraction and experimentation that is rarely seen.  

Here is his biography:

Phil Dike was born in 1906 in Redlands, California.  He studied art at The Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, The Art Students League in New York,  and The American Academy in France.  He was a member of various prestigious art groups, i.e: The American Watercolor Society, The National Academy of Design, The California Watercolor Society, and The Philadelphia Watercolor Club.  He won a Chouinard Art Institute scholarship in 1923.  He also studied with George Bridgman, George Luks, and Frank Vincent DuMond in New York City.  He ended up teaching at Chouinard on his return in 1929.  He was one of the forerunners of "The California Style" of painting in watercolor. 

He connected with Walt Disney in 1935, where he taught color theory while working on "Snow White", Fantasia, and The Three Caballeros.  He became president of The California Watercolor Society in 1938.  Around 1946 Dike left Disney Studios and returned to painting full time and teaching art.   He joined forces with watercolorist Rex Brandt and together they started the Brandt-Dike Summer School of Painting, which became very successful.  In the off/summer months he taught at Chouinard.  

1950s-1960s: Phil became a professor of art at Scripps College and Claremont Graduate School in Clairmont, California.  He was well loved as a teacher and was considered a major innovator in the development of The California Watercolor movement.   He passed in 1990.  

Here is one of my favorite paintings of his titled "Wash Day":

Click Here to See More of Phil Dike's work.....