Carl G. Evers

(C) 2016 Photograph by Dale DiMauro of Carl G. Evers painting

For many years I have had this little book of paintings by Carl G. Evers on my nightstand. I consider him to be one of the best ever water-based painters. The book is titled The Marine Paintings of Carl G. Evers with an introduction by Ian Ballantine. It was printed in 1975 and is less than fifty pages in its entirety.

I know very little about his paintings (techniques, materials, etc.). What I do know is that he was a master in depicting the sea and and all its many moods. Sometimes before turning the light off and falling asleep, I study his skies, which he seemed to master equally well. 

I suspect most of the pictures featured in his book were primarily painted in watercolor with some white gouache. Areas where there is a strong white feature, such as in the whitecaps of cresting waves, are difficult to achieve with transparent watercolor pigment. In his day, I do not believe Evers would have used masking to preserve the white of the paper, as is readily done these days. First I don't think it was as available, but also it may have been a custom that was frowned upon. Gouache is opaque and when applied on paper it blocks the passage of light.