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Adin Shade has been painting for over forty-five years. By the time Adin Shade finished high school he had accumulated many awards for his art. Adin Shade enrolled in The Kachina School of Art in Phoenix, studying under the direction of Jay Datus. After an absence of quite a few years, Adin Shade returned to school. This time attending Eastern Arizona College in Thatcher, Arizona. This is when Adin Shade developed his love for watercolors. Adin is a member of the Southwestern Watercolor Society, the Arizona Artist's Guild, an associate member of the National Watercolor Society, and a signature member of the Knickerbocker Association.

Watercolor Technique
Adin Shade uses a hot-pressed watercolor paper that is a smooth paper with an extremely tight finish. Adin Shade does not predraw or sketch his work; instead he begins a painting by spraying the central area of the paper with water. The droplets of water are effected by the distance in which they are sprayed. The weather plays a great part in achieving the final result due to humidity or dryness in the air. The weather causes the water and the pigment combination to evaporate at a different rate; thus creating a texture that is always unique. It is never necessary to use salt, as a resist, as most watercolorists find necessary. Adin chooses three to five complementary colors, mixes very concentrated solutions of these, and begins applying them to the dampened paper one color at a time, dripping color onto the dampened surface of the paper from a large brush. As the concentrated color comes into contact with the large water droplets, Adin Shade sprayed on first, the color begins to dilute and disperse. If any areas remain uncolored, Adin Shade can overspray or touch in with a wet brush. Once he has the background laid in, he allows everything to dry. Adin Shade may study the paper for several days, looking at it periodically until he gets a sense of what lies within. At the appropriate moment a decision is reached and Adin Shade picks up his brush. Adin Shade now has the image that will become his painting.