Kim Ward's Inspiration
My main inspiration comes
from what people I meet say they enjoy and from my own experiences in travels.
I realize that each of us needs a moment to escape this busy world we live in.
That is why my beach paintings and giclee prints are so popular. They are almost
like being right there on the sand. The only thing missing is the sound. My original
watercolor paintings and giclee prints can be enjoyed away from the painting or giclee which makes it nice
to be able to sit and relax and not have to be right up on the piece for the full
effect. My original watercolor paintings have been collected in the south, along
the coastline as well as inland, so that shows that my paintings are calming
everywhere I travel. One thing I do not do is paint everything a standard size , but I just recently started cropping some of my scanned images to make them fit standard size mats and frames for my special customers. I will not crop a giclee if it destroys the effect of the painting.
Kim’s Influence
I had the good fortune of having the best high school art teacher who taught
me the important techniques to achieve the paintings I do today. The thing
lacking in most artist is the ability to see what is before them. My concentration
is fine tuned so much so that I may spend an entire day in one small area of
one of my original watercolor paintings. I also have a BS degree in art education, but have become a full time artist.
Kim’s Production
My watercolor originals are ALL painted on 300 pound hot-pressed
watercolor paper. The smooth surface allows me a deeper way of
over painting the paints as I put them down on the paper. This heavier paper
also allows a better way of holding everything in place as I paints. I take all
of my own photographs and spend sometimes up to a year just preparing for a
painting with the idea coming in to my head first and then producing it as if a
movie were taking place. Traveling to the beach and taking the photos is my
favorite thing to do because I also get to interact with the people I meet
there.
Kim Ward's Fine Art Giclees
I also do my own giclee printing, scanning each original using the
highest dpi possible to produce the detail I work so hard to paint. No
lithograph has ever come even close to one of my own printed giclees. I digitally
correct and prepare the images and then print on my large format Epson 10000CF archival printer using
all archival papers and water resistant inks so that my giclees match as close as
possible the watercolor originals I have taken so long to paint.
