An Artist’s Journey into American Tonalsim

The History of American Tonalism

1880-1920

Crucible of American Modernism

By David A. Cleveland

Hi! My name is Dori and I am a watercolor artist.

If that sounds a bit like an introduction at a 12 step addiction treatment group, well, that sounds about right. I am a watercolor addict. Going on 5 years now, the “hobby” I took up during the pandemic to save me from losing my mind, has, in essence, infected my soul. That said, I am entirely self taught other than a couple of classes I have taken at the local Arts Council. So, if you came here expecting a professional watercolorist, you should know that I make many many many mistakes. And I’m going to share them with you. This is my journey into learning Tonalism, that moody, dark, twilight style of painting that swept across the country at the turn of the last century and then faded into the night of the roaring twenties.

Certainly, I’ve seen the works of Tonalist painters in the many art museums I have visited over the years. But I don’t recall actually hearing about the movement. Enter in Christopher Stephen’s youtube tutorial ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d0QOhFna_E&t=270s ) where he used ink to define the darks of his painting and then used watercolor to fill in the rest. He described it as a Tonalist painting. What is Tonalism? Why had I never heard of it? I was mesmerized. It was reminiscent of the old daguerrotype photos of my ancestors: stoic, serious, and romantic. I fell right down the rabbit hole.

My first stop on the journey was the website dedicated to classic and modern Tonalists, The American Tonalist Society ( https://www.americantonalistsociety.com/what-is-tonalism ). According to the site there are 12 Elements of Tonalism. I won’t even try to go over them right now, but I will be researching each one to see how it influences the work. Admittedly, a few of them are concepts completely foreign to me so this will really challenge my brain! Second stop was the book pictured above, The History of American Tonalism by David A Cleveland. It was my Christmas present. Just over 600 pages. I had expected a book with some commentary but mostly with photos of artwork. What I got was something akin to a Human Anatomy course, but in art. Unexpected, lengthy descriptions of artists and their works. This is going to take a bit. And then the idea started to form…what if, as I work my way through this book, this movement, I record my journey? What if I go piece by piece though the art, try to recreate in my own way? And so this project was born, An Artist’s Journey into American Tonalism.

The journey starts with a palette, and while I have a typical palette I use for most of my paintings, I think this will require some extra thought which I look forward to sharing in my next post.