Lee Weiss

Who is Lee Weiss?

Lee Weiss is an American painter.

Weiss was born in 1928 in Inglewood, California. She attended California College of Arts and Crafts for a year, studied under Nels Eric Oback, and was critiqued by Alexander Nepote. However, for the most part, Weiss is a self taught artist. She won numerous watercolor awards, as well as exhibiting in the White House Rotating Exhibition Program. She painted her impressions of a space shuttle launch in 1984, under the auspices of the NASA art program.

To achieve the specific textural qualities that she felt watercolor lacked, Weiss invented a watercolor technique in which she paints both sides of the paper, turning the paper back and forth while the paint is still wet. That way, the paint from one side transfers to the table and then to the other side of the paper, along with some of the table's texture. This process is continued until an adequate surface has been built up to suggest a subject and composition. In general, she works away from the subject matter, in the studio without sketches or slides, allowing the process of painting to guide the portrayal. She also works in a more traditional manner, foregoing the surface treatment of the paper, and starting directly with a brush and subject.