Juror Geoff Allen
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General Comments from Juror
One of the things that I always think about and which is alluring to me about other people’s work, is that I wish I did that, or I wish I could find that place. Maybe there’s something in it that I can’t even do or haven’t imagined. So, that always grabs my imagination or my appreciation. It draws me in and makes me look at it even more. I guess that it’s always being attracted to something different than yourself.
Honorable Mentions
“Day at Island Marina” by Shuang Li
What I love about this piece is that I’ve painted a harbor like this before. But what’s amazing here is the softness of it that shows in the composition, the abstraction within areas that are soft, and their complexity. And I love the areas of light that I can see from across the room, especially the little light on the hull that pops out.
“Gone Fishing” by Svetlin Sofroniev
In this one, I always think of watercolor as a drawing medium. Before we paint, we draw. Drawing is features in the layout of this, all the calligraphy aspects of it, the sharpness, the spray. There are so many extraordinary little things happening here in some of the little areas that I love. I also love the playfulness and variety of how they put the paint on.
“Around the Bend” by Thomas Franco
On this painting, what struck me is the composition of it. See how one section is left plain, and how one area is cool, and another warm. It is how it is all sort of tiled together, with the little pinks in the foreground. I love the variety of greens. It’s difficult to get all that stuff in one painting, plus this nice composition. The pole in the middle separating it doesn’t bother me at all. I think it’s really nicely done.
“Mission Sunset Stroll” by Keiko Tanabe
This is what watercolor does the best, a really soft merging in this foreground area, against the complexity of hues mixing as they come down in the wash. And that strong feeling of light and the fresh marks express a feeling of that day.
Best San Diego Image
“Point Loma Lighthouse” by Fan Li
This feels like San Diego, with the softness and a feel of light and feel of the atmosphere. It feels like a San Diego overcast morning, and this painting really captures it so well. I love all the activity and the diagonal composition. The focus area in the lighthouse with the feeling of light barely hitting it – such light happens in San Diego. This piece has a lot of presence of the place.
Third Place
“High Noon Under the Pier” by Cindy Tanner
There are so many times I’ve been underneath places like this, and I’ve never seen this perspective captured. So, they really had to reimagine what it’s like underneath a pier. They upped the value. It’s a high key because it’s dark under there. So that means there’s reflected light. And I think of all the fun colors going on in this, the green and the darks. There’s a color harmony in this, with a reduced palette. I think it is hard to take anything from real life and transform it like that. I love the light patterns. There is a nice scale of shapes and a feeling of perspective. I haven’t seen this done before, and that gets my attention.
Second Place
“Laying the Foundation at Gloucester Marine Railways” by Dylan McKnight
I was really attracted to the strong shapes and strong watercolor technique. I love the throw of paint into the hull of the boat. To me it denotes the spontaneity of the medium. You can just throw something in there and something happens. I love the merging of the shape and the separation of light and shadow in the foreground and the sky. And then there’s a complex area of people and machinery there in the foreground. I love the lost and found edges of all that’s going on there.
First Place
“Main Street Tustin” by Hyun Kim
I feel that what is powerful about the piece I chose for First Place is that it has a really strong sense of light, really strong dynamics. There are all sorts of shapes and there’s a lot of freshness to it. When I get up close it sort of melts a little bit. It’s not the traditional washy watercolor. There are parts like that, but there’s hue shifting, each stroke has a sense of color, showing what the artist observed from the place. All those pieces help form a strong sense of dynamics and light. It has the most impact as I’m walking around the gallery. I keep going back there. Even though it’s complex, it really holds together because of that separation of light and shadow.
