I know I mention colour in virtually every blog I write but thought a full blog on colour where I tie everything together would be useful. I get asked a lot about colour on all my workshops and I find as I progress I get more and more specific about what I want from a particular colour. Anyone new to my blog might be interested to read about the colour planets I do before starting a painting especially if I want to find a new interesting combination or I am looking for something specific which I feel will compliment the subject. What I am not necessarily looking for is to find exact colours to match my subject although I do that as well. I am looking for colours which may not immediately be what you might choose but because of the way I mix them will still look attractive.
I also choose a dark colour so that I have something which will give me a good deep tone... it isn't colour which defines a subject it is shape, and tonal value is what helps to give you the shape of a subject. My dark may be a blue, a purple, brown or sometimes a red but it has to be a colour which will give a full range of value so for example a palette with lemon yellow, permanent rose and cobalt blue doesn't have the very darkest values and so I would either swap a colour or add in another to give me the range.
I have spent a lot of time studying colour and am still learning and as you will have read do not keep my colours to a limited palette although for any one painting I rarely use more than 6 colours... I love having a good choice and enjoy all the different colours and particularly those which can't be mixed... W&N opera rose is a prime example... a vibrant almost fluorescent pink which is unlike any other colour and impossible to mix at least not with the colours I have. Schmincke Translucent Orange is another.... impossible to get from any red or yellow at least any that I have in my palette!!
I have listed the colours in my palette here, and I think I have only added a small number since, perylene green would be one, a lovely silver green, and interestingly I am realising that the more adventurous colour combinations come when I am painting animals....with flowers I tend to stick with matching the colour to the flower and maybe adding something a bit more adventurous for the backgrounds though invariably the bg will have some of the flower colour mixed with it. With animals I either see potential colour mixes or if don't see them, I make them up testing them on a planet. I often work from B&W images for animals so I am not bound by the colour I see ... I find I can be a bit more inventive and creative if I'm not viewing the subject in full colour feeling freer to experiment with anything I think might look different and interesting.
Four colours I have been using a lot recently are UB, Permanent Aliz Crimson, Burnt Sienna and Raw Sienna... I seem to have been drawn to them for a number of paintings recently, I sometimes add in a prussian blue as well and a cad yellow for some brightness but am going to start experimenting again with some of the other colours. I really like Turquoise but don't seem to have used much of it recently so for no other reason I might introduce it into the next painting I do.... scientific eh?
One thing I do really want to emphasise is that although I really believe there are no rules for painting, there is no substitute for getting to know the colours you have in your palette, get to understand the tonal value they will give you, learn how they interact with other colours, and it can only be done with practice... it's fine to read all about them, about analagous, harmonious, complimentary colours, opaque colours, transparents, staining but reading and doing are two different things and the only thing which will give you a understanding of your colours is to use them!!
One example to illustrate the point is a colour called Winsor Red... a rich red, veering slighty more towards pink than cad red... I have used it to paint the red shoes both for the shoes and bg. When I come to add it on the paper to mix with the prussian blue or indigo, whichever blue I am using it explodes and takes over, pushing the blue away quite significantly. For that reason I now know I have to go easy with it when mixing with other colours if I don't want it to take over, other colours do this but non as pronounced as the Winsor Red. Granulation is also another property colours may have but it is so much easier to remember it when you see it happening rather than just reading about it, easier to see how an opaque colour can both lift or dull a painting depending on how and when you use it, easier to see how much livelier colour can be when mixed and mingled on the paper rather than in the palette... seeing is believing!! So get your paints out and play!!
Monday, 30 June 2014
Saturday, 28 June 2014
She must be a Contortionist!!
I have had this photo for a while (Freda Austin Nichols on PMP) and have kept looking at it wondering how to go about it and decided to have a try this afternoon. I wanted to stick to the wet in wet process but this caused me some difficulty as there were certain things I wanted to capture in this image, mainly the light (or dark) and I found I was keeping most of the edges as they all seemed to have a purpose which in my mind enhanced the painting... it may be that in the future I will try a completely different approach, but a more literal one seemed the way forward for this particular piece...
As always I used a limited palette
UB
Prussian blue
Aliz Crimson
Burnt sienna
Raw Sienna
This palette seems to be one I am using a lot at the moment, unless I am doing flowers, I do like the way both blues interact with Burnt Sienna and I find the addition of Aliz Crimson and Raw Sienna make for a more colourful feel.
I did a drawing first, as you can see it is not a pose many of us could ever have struck or even contemplated so I wasn't at all convinced I would get it right without some guidelines!! I do love ballerinas and enjoy painting them and the wet in wet approach seems to really suit them.
When I thought this might be finished and I looked at it for a while, I decided maybe, wrongly that it needed some shafts of light from the left... now I am not sure about them but I still prefer with than without
When you work with the paper so wet, it is very difficult getting the timing right and I am finding I am going in too soon... the paper was still very damp after about 45 minutes this afternoon and as I wanted to add some harder edges, I eventually dried it with the hairdryer. This degree of wetness isn't like just doing a sky wet in wet and dropping some paint in, the whole paper is sopping wet and water and paint dribble from it. I wet the front, back then front again as if I was preparing the paper for stretching and then of course more water is added as I start to apply the paint. How wet the paper is, determines what concentration of paint you need to use, depending on what effect you want to achieve... if that makes sense!! Those of you who follow my blog will know that I am trying to understand how this works and put it into words so that I can eventually teach it. At the moment I rely on having a "feel" for when is the right time to go in but that isn't something I can easily convey to other people so a bit of understanding of exactly what is happening needs to crystallize in my head happen so that I can explain it... phew!!!
In the meantime here is another wet in wet I did a few days ago from photo by Rob on PMP, another atmospheric piece with the same palette and an intent of capturing light. I went in far too much before the paper was dry enough so the paint kept bleeding into areas I wanted to keep sharp and even though at this stage lifting out is still possible it sets the painting back and of course means you are working on it unnecessarily... never a good thing!!
I think this needs a bit more blending of the bg both into the yellow area to the left and into the water as I feel there is too strong a division between the bg and the water but that is easily done and in actual fact only became clear as I viewed it here!! Amazing what becomes so obvious when you see on the screen!!
As always I used a limited palette
UB
Prussian blue
Aliz Crimson
Burnt sienna
Raw Sienna
This palette seems to be one I am using a lot at the moment, unless I am doing flowers, I do like the way both blues interact with Burnt Sienna and I find the addition of Aliz Crimson and Raw Sienna make for a more colourful feel.
I did a drawing first, as you can see it is not a pose many of us could ever have struck or even contemplated so I wasn't at all convinced I would get it right without some guidelines!! I do love ballerinas and enjoy painting them and the wet in wet approach seems to really suit them.
When I thought this might be finished and I looked at it for a while, I decided maybe, wrongly that it needed some shafts of light from the left... now I am not sure about them but I still prefer with than without
When you work with the paper so wet, it is very difficult getting the timing right and I am finding I am going in too soon... the paper was still very damp after about 45 minutes this afternoon and as I wanted to add some harder edges, I eventually dried it with the hairdryer. This degree of wetness isn't like just doing a sky wet in wet and dropping some paint in, the whole paper is sopping wet and water and paint dribble from it. I wet the front, back then front again as if I was preparing the paper for stretching and then of course more water is added as I start to apply the paint. How wet the paper is, determines what concentration of paint you need to use, depending on what effect you want to achieve... if that makes sense!! Those of you who follow my blog will know that I am trying to understand how this works and put it into words so that I can eventually teach it. At the moment I rely on having a "feel" for when is the right time to go in but that isn't something I can easily convey to other people so a bit of understanding of exactly what is happening needs to crystallize in my head happen so that I can explain it... phew!!!
In the meantime here is another wet in wet I did a few days ago from photo by Rob on PMP, another atmospheric piece with the same palette and an intent of capturing light. I went in far too much before the paper was dry enough so the paint kept bleeding into areas I wanted to keep sharp and even though at this stage lifting out is still possible it sets the painting back and of course means you are working on it unnecessarily... never a good thing!!
Saturday, 14 June 2014
New Challenge.....Another Black and White Image!!
I have had this image stored for a while from PMP (am afraid I can't find the photographer to credit so have asked on the site if anyone knows who it is). I saw a graphite drawing of it and thought it would translate really well to watercolour... this is the original reference. Black and white images are so good for seeing tonal value and if you have trouble in this area I would advise you all to get into the habit of transposing images to black and white...it also helps you choose your own palette without influences from a colour image.
So, here is another example of not having to be a slave to the reference, what we need is to look at is tones.... the colours can be whatever we want so we need to choose something which will give us a really good dark and the rest depends on how colourful we want it to be.
Two of my favourite colours mixed together on the paper are Burnt Sienna and Prussian Blue so a I decided on those for the coat and a mix of Cobalt Blue and Indigo for the jeans. I used a touch of Alizarin Crimson for the bag but apart from that used only the blues and brown. I could have used any colours at all, I was only looking at lights and darks not colour and maybe on a different day I would have chosen an entirely different palette.
With an image like this it is a good idea to keep the lightest lights white even though we can see there are no real white areas. Keeping a few whites really enhances a painting and lifts it so you will see there are a few whites left on his hat and jeans and odd little sparkles around the painting.
Two of my favourite colours mixed together on the paper are Burnt Sienna and Prussian Blue so a I decided on those for the coat and a mix of Cobalt Blue and Indigo for the jeans. I used a touch of Alizarin Crimson for the bag but apart from that used only the blues and brown. I could have used any colours at all, I was only looking at lights and darks not colour and maybe on a different day I would have chosen an entirely different palette.
With an image like this it is a good idea to keep the lightest lights white even though we can see there are no real white areas. Keeping a few whites really enhances a painting and lifts it so you will see there are a few whites left on his hat and jeans and odd little sparkles around the painting.
Monday, 9 June 2014
The Wet Ballerina
So, still trying hard with my wet in wet and have had a desire to paint a ballerina as I feel this method really lends itself to that subject and of course there are some wonderful Chinese painters who do some superb ballerina studies and who I am guessing also use this method (not that this is remotely like theirs!!)
This image is loosely taken from a photo by Bronwyn Chelius on PMP and I loved the compostion and unusual position of the ballerina... I did try this without drawing and though it was close, the paper had had enough!! Here is the first attempt..... one or two at the all day workshop at Sunshine House preferred this to the second piece, so who knows!!! Used mainly Prussian Blue add Aliz Crimson on this
The next one had a few pencil lines to give me a bit more guidance....I wanted to use some soft colours so experimented with my planets and used
Alizarin Crimson
UB
Raw sienna
I did add some burnt sienna at the start but didn't like how that was looking and in the end used mainly Aliz Crimson and UB adding a touch of raw sienna for the skin areas. Again this was just an experiment (all my paintings start as experiments and if they turn out great and if not it was just an experiment!!) but I like it even though that wonderful husband of mine asked the dreaded question "What is it?!?!?" Arrgghhhh. Then he said "Ahh it's a flower!" I didn't have the inclination to continue this guessing game any further so irritably pointed out the head to which he said "Oh yes can see it all now... hmm parts of it are very good!!!" What would I do without him?!?!
I think both these pieces have their good points and certainly the first has an added freedom the second doesn't have. It is difficult trying to make sure the drawing is good enough all the time making sure the paint is moving and flowing and of course this wasn't an easy angle to start with!! Obviously the second piece is a better drawing and as such is tighter, I do like the hair and the intensity of colour and darks around her head... would be interested to hear which you prefer?
This image is loosely taken from a photo by Bronwyn Chelius on PMP and I loved the compostion and unusual position of the ballerina... I did try this without drawing and though it was close, the paper had had enough!! Here is the first attempt..... one or two at the all day workshop at Sunshine House preferred this to the second piece, so who knows!!! Used mainly Prussian Blue add Aliz Crimson on this
The next one had a few pencil lines to give me a bit more guidance....I wanted to use some soft colours so experimented with my planets and used
Alizarin Crimson
UB
Raw sienna
I did add some burnt sienna at the start but didn't like how that was looking and in the end used mainly Aliz Crimson and UB adding a touch of raw sienna for the skin areas. Again this was just an experiment (all my paintings start as experiments and if they turn out great and if not it was just an experiment!!) but I like it even though that wonderful husband of mine asked the dreaded question "What is it?!?!?" Arrgghhhh. Then he said "Ahh it's a flower!" I didn't have the inclination to continue this guessing game any further so irritably pointed out the head to which he said "Oh yes can see it all now... hmm parts of it are very good!!!" What would I do without him?!?!
Friday, 6 June 2014
Latest Commission
Have not been able to show this as it was a joint birthday gift for the grandparents of these 2 gorgeous children. I had several photos to choose from and for me this composition was the best, not only because it was a really good photo of them but more importantly from an artist's point of view, only one lot of teeth!!
But for future reference need to make sure I get the mouths done first as I had great difficulty with the little girl's mouth... I worried it to death, used my magic sponge and even tried some Daniel Smith Watercolour ground, but knew fairly early on that is was all a waste of time and I would have to do the whole thing again if I was going to ever be happy, but this time working on the mouth sooner rather than later!!
When I paint a portrait I work around the whole thing, I know a lot of artists work on one area at a time but I like to move around so that everywhere has a chance to dry. I used a very limited palette
UB
Burnt Sienna
Raw Sienna
Alizarin Crimson
Touch of Cob Blue
Skin tones need the three primaries and as usual I find limiting the palette makes for a good harmonious balance of colour. I think I have kept this fresh and bright and am quite happy with it.
Some of you may remember from a previous post about how tricky commissions can be and this was commissioned by a friend of the recipients, and although I knew what style the friend would like I didn't know about the recipients so have played safe with this one concentrating on the likeness and choosing fairly conservative colours. It is certainly my aim to work more on portraits, concentrating on tone not colour and working more with shape in an effort to keep a loose spontaneity. When you are painting a portrait it is easy to be caught up in trying so hard to achieve a likeness, you lose the way you paint so I am going to work more on them in the future.... have another to be done fairly soon, so not sure I will be able to practice on that!!
But for future reference need to make sure I get the mouths done first as I had great difficulty with the little girl's mouth... I worried it to death, used my magic sponge and even tried some Daniel Smith Watercolour ground, but knew fairly early on that is was all a waste of time and I would have to do the whole thing again if I was going to ever be happy, but this time working on the mouth sooner rather than later!!
When I paint a portrait I work around the whole thing, I know a lot of artists work on one area at a time but I like to move around so that everywhere has a chance to dry. I used a very limited palette
UB
Burnt Sienna
Raw Sienna
Alizarin Crimson
Touch of Cob Blue
Skin tones need the three primaries and as usual I find limiting the palette makes for a good harmonious balance of colour. I think I have kept this fresh and bright and am quite happy with it.
Some of you may remember from a previous post about how tricky commissions can be and this was commissioned by a friend of the recipients, and although I knew what style the friend would like I didn't know about the recipients so have played safe with this one concentrating on the likeness and choosing fairly conservative colours. It is certainly my aim to work more on portraits, concentrating on tone not colour and working more with shape in an effort to keep a loose spontaneity. When you are painting a portrait it is easy to be caught up in trying so hard to achieve a likeness, you lose the way you paint so I am going to work more on them in the future.... have another to be done fairly soon, so not sure I will be able to practice on that!!
Friday, 30 May 2014
Plein Air in Rhodes
I came back from a weeks holiday in Rhodes last week, lovely hotel ( the Atrium Prestige), food and beds but rather isolated location.....a bit like an oasis with nowhere to go and very little to do outside the hotel grounds which might seem ideal for someone wanting to do some plein air but actually nothing much to paint either!! Now I do think someone with a little more "en plein air " experience might have been inspired and found more to paint but it wasn't happening for me as I was a bit stumped for subjects apart from the plant life round the pool and an odd rock or two!!
So I read 4 books, we ate, drank and slept, we lazed in the sun and managed one walk along the top of the beach (am using the term very loosely here as it was more of a dirt track which actually led nowhere) and in between times I managed a few painting sessions.
I had taken my newly acquired sketch books... I am so delighted with these I can barely contain my excitement and I had backed 2 with mount card to take away with me... I show them to everyone at my workshops, they are so easy and economical and solve all my sketch book problems!!
For my kit I just took a couple of brushes and some tube paints which I could use as I needed them... note to self, took the wrong colours as I wanted to stay minimal (doesn't work for me in any capacity, be it food, clothes etc) and I got bored of the colours I had and should have thought more carefully about which ones to take, ie cool and warm options of the 3 primaries whereas I took some tubes I've had for a while and really wanted to get rid of....not even my usual make either. So have learned from that, and for when I go to Anglesey in July, will make sure I choose my colours better.
Here is a selection of what I did
Flowers all over the place, little pink heads, dark green spiky foliage
One of the many palm trees scattered around
More palm trees!!
And more!! Quite like this one, nice loose feel....
Scattered amongst the pink flowers, pretty heads on rigid green stalks
The proverbial parasol... used them quite a bit as the weather was glorious and quite warm for the time of year
A view of the type of accommodation, very nice, balcony, sea view, have I mentioned the very comfy beds and squishy feather pillows? Sofa, easy chair, desk, dressing table and jacuzzi bath with double sink, no complaints there then. Our main problem was that we had forgotten driving licences and a car it seemed was essential at this resort... taxis were extremely expensive and buses very infrequent only running to the nearest resort of Lindos (45 minutes away) once a day.... so we put our feet up and and accepted our destiny!!!
So still haven't really had a proper go at plein air but will keep trying!!
So I read 4 books, we ate, drank and slept, we lazed in the sun and managed one walk along the top of the beach (am using the term very loosely here as it was more of a dirt track which actually led nowhere) and in between times I managed a few painting sessions.
I had taken my newly acquired sketch books... I am so delighted with these I can barely contain my excitement and I had backed 2 with mount card to take away with me... I show them to everyone at my workshops, they are so easy and economical and solve all my sketch book problems!!
For my kit I just took a couple of brushes and some tube paints which I could use as I needed them... note to self, took the wrong colours as I wanted to stay minimal (doesn't work for me in any capacity, be it food, clothes etc) and I got bored of the colours I had and should have thought more carefully about which ones to take, ie cool and warm options of the 3 primaries whereas I took some tubes I've had for a while and really wanted to get rid of....not even my usual make either. So have learned from that, and for when I go to Anglesey in July, will make sure I choose my colours better.
Here is a selection of what I did
So still haven't really had a proper go at plein air but will keep trying!!
Wednesday, 28 May 2014
Inspiration
I have just spent a lovely week in Rhodes, lovely hotel, weather, food, beds and pillows (they get so important as you get older) so this post is a little late. I was featured in a blog by Carmen. Whoopidoo...ing is her very entertaining blog, one I always take time out to read and she has asked me would I agree to be featured in her blog as one of the three artists she was choosing who had inspired her. This felt different to the "blog awards" I have been involved in previously and feeling very honoured to have been in her chosen 3, I was delighted to say yes.
First there are some questions we are invited to answer
I had been painting for a good few years (about 10) and had made little or no progress when I went on a painting holiday to Umbria, led by a tutor named Robert Newcombe. Until that point although I had attended years of local adult education art classes, I had never seen anyone demonstrate, quite a crucial issue when I am a visual learner!!! I loved the holiday and though the standard of my work was poor at best, Robert was very encouraging and voted me the most improved on the holiday!! Here is his website
Once I had started to get somewhere I was introduced to Jean Haines and like many of you fell in love with her work. On a whim I travelled to the Mall galleries where I heard she was demonstrating... it was a memorable visit in more ways than one as my introduction to her involved me knocking her easel over and having her running around looking for a man while I held the collapsing easel up in front of an audience of dozens of people... quite unintentionally she wasn't going to forget me in a hurry!! I then attended one of her workshops which in hindsight was a touch too advanced for me but she taught me such a lot in that session and, what a lot of you won't realise, gave me encouragement and help behind the scenes. She taught me that a lot of my work wasn't finished, she pushed me on, she challenged me and made me think hard about what more I should do and how a piece needed working on. Jean continues to inspire me and has offered lots of advice, to get offline ( I was very involved in running an online painting group), start mixing with real life artists, join a local art group, and go to see other artists either by seeing them demonstrate or attend their workshops. I have a lot to be grateful to her for and I know I am not the only one who she encourages either.... no mean feat when you know how busy she is!!
This is where my third inspiration comes from... the lovely Joanne Boon Thomas. I saw a couple of years ago that she was running her first ever series of Brusho workshops which I was lucky enough to attend. Joanne has a very easy style, she is very generous in her teaching and wants to "spread the love" of watercolour to whoever wants to listen. She is very encouraging and is herself a superb artist. She has that uncanny knack of adding those superb finishing touches... maybe only a slight mark, but she just stands back, takes a view and then adds an odd stroke here and there and hey presto... a transformation!! But Joanne like Jean has been much more to me than just a painting teacher she has helped me in all sorts of other ways not least of which is giving me the opportunity to run workshops at her gallery and has also recommended me to numerous groups in our area who have been looking for tutors. She has been such a good friend when I have needed someone to chat to about arty things (and others too) and I am very lucky to know her!!
So there you have the 3 people who have inspired me the most. I am so grateful for the part they have all played and feel privileged to have them in my life.
If you have stayed the course with this epic.... never fear I will be adding another blog soon with a few of my plein air efforts from my holiday and a few other bits and pieces which have been going on over the last few days!!
First there are some questions we are invited to answer
- What am I working on? Now that's a tricky one.... I seem to be working on a variety of things which are for different areas of my arty life. First I am working on improving my plein air painting. It is something I have played with for a few years but have never quite mastered. Although it isn't an absolute requirement I would like it as another string to my bow for when I may run painting holidays. The next thing I am working on is an all day workshop which I am running at the Boonric Gallery in August. The workshop is about Loosening Up and I am working on a few pieces which I feel will help the class understand some of the ways we have of keeping our work fresh, unexpected and exciting without telling the whole story. And finally I am always working on perfecting some area of my work and have just started working very wet in wet. I love the effects and have written a couple of blogs about my progress.
- How does my work differ from others of its genre? Phew this is a tricky one too!!! Mainly because I'm not really sure what my genre is? If I am in the category of loose watercolourists (where I would like to be) then I guess my work differs by the very nature of my brush strokes and possibly the colour palettes to which I am drawn. I was compared not long ago to Jean Haines and though I more than admire her work... our brush stroke, like our handwriting is unique and my brush stroke is quite different from Jean's who has a very delicate touch with her brush, having been taught by a Chinese mentor. My work though tonal depends very much on brushstroke especially with my animals and while I work on being more subtle there is a raw naivety to it which I'm not sure whether I need to encourage or rein in!!
- Why do I create what I do? This is a little less tricky... as most of us who are driven to create it is not so much a choice but a need? I am always thinking about painting and most of what I do is about me learning, improving and enjoying the process and that is actually what drives me... not sales, not teaching, not seeking approval just a simple need to have the brush in my hand and be painting. Obviously if I have a commission or a workshop to prepare for I will be driven to paint but it is watching the paint and water mixing and doing it's magic that is the start for me and everything else follows. I am always looking to create something unique and attractive at least to me and even if it is only a small part of the painting it will be something I can take to something else. If what I do then leads on to a painting worth framing and even selling then all the better but if I never sold another painting it wouldn't stop me painting and I guess that is the point.. it is the painting first, anything else after......
- How does your creating process work? An interesting one!! I find I am drawn to certain subjects or images but have yet to learn why!!! Sometimes I will just see what colours I can use, what edges I can keep or lose (this also become more evident as the painting progresses), where I need to keep the darkest tones and lights..... these are brilliant paintings where they just seem to work and my brush seems to know where it needs to go and it happens mostly with animals. Other times it all needs working out and I will need several attempts at something to get what I am looking for. I am also learning that often I can leave something overnight and it will be clear the following day what is needed... that little extra touch here or there which will finish the piece. All these things however have become much easier now I have the skills and "feel" for the medium. From a practical perspective especially with watercolour, I believe the skills and techniques need to be learned and grasped and then the creating process is much easier.... once we have mastered the paint and water we are in a much better position to concentrate on other elements of creation. Finally, the more creative we are, the more creative we become!!
I had been painting for a good few years (about 10) and had made little or no progress when I went on a painting holiday to Umbria, led by a tutor named Robert Newcombe. Until that point although I had attended years of local adult education art classes, I had never seen anyone demonstrate, quite a crucial issue when I am a visual learner!!! I loved the holiday and though the standard of my work was poor at best, Robert was very encouraging and voted me the most improved on the holiday!! Here is his website
Once I had started to get somewhere I was introduced to Jean Haines and like many of you fell in love with her work. On a whim I travelled to the Mall galleries where I heard she was demonstrating... it was a memorable visit in more ways than one as my introduction to her involved me knocking her easel over and having her running around looking for a man while I held the collapsing easel up in front of an audience of dozens of people... quite unintentionally she wasn't going to forget me in a hurry!! I then attended one of her workshops which in hindsight was a touch too advanced for me but she taught me such a lot in that session and, what a lot of you won't realise, gave me encouragement and help behind the scenes. She taught me that a lot of my work wasn't finished, she pushed me on, she challenged me and made me think hard about what more I should do and how a piece needed working on. Jean continues to inspire me and has offered lots of advice, to get offline ( I was very involved in running an online painting group), start mixing with real life artists, join a local art group, and go to see other artists either by seeing them demonstrate or attend their workshops. I have a lot to be grateful to her for and I know I am not the only one who she encourages either.... no mean feat when you know how busy she is!!
This is where my third inspiration comes from... the lovely Joanne Boon Thomas. I saw a couple of years ago that she was running her first ever series of Brusho workshops which I was lucky enough to attend. Joanne has a very easy style, she is very generous in her teaching and wants to "spread the love" of watercolour to whoever wants to listen. She is very encouraging and is herself a superb artist. She has that uncanny knack of adding those superb finishing touches... maybe only a slight mark, but she just stands back, takes a view and then adds an odd stroke here and there and hey presto... a transformation!! But Joanne like Jean has been much more to me than just a painting teacher she has helped me in all sorts of other ways not least of which is giving me the opportunity to run workshops at her gallery and has also recommended me to numerous groups in our area who have been looking for tutors. She has been such a good friend when I have needed someone to chat to about arty things (and others too) and I am very lucky to know her!!
So there you have the 3 people who have inspired me the most. I am so grateful for the part they have all played and feel privileged to have them in my life.
If you have stayed the course with this epic.... never fear I will be adding another blog soon with a few of my plein air efforts from my holiday and a few other bits and pieces which have been going on over the last few days!!
Thursday, 8 May 2014
En Plein Air Trail
My lovely Dad has taken our family away for the last 4 years and this year we booked a lovely cottage in Anglesey for the bank holiday weekend. We had a bit of a disastrous start as we found we needed two new tyres as we were leaving on Friday morning. They had to be specially ordered and delayed us setting off and as they were being fitted I decided to take our little Grandpup, Archie for a walk. It was a lovely morning and there were a few fields close by where he had a wonderful time running and jumping but as we returned, he started coughing and seemed to be having breathing difficulties, either like hayfever or an asthma attack.... obviously we were concerned and I felt as we were taking him with us we needed to get him checked out so instead of setting off to North Wales we ended up at the vets!! Thankfully they saw us very quickly and the vet suggested he had something maybe like a grass seed stuck in the back of his throat which was causing an irritation... we finally got on our way a couple of hours later than planned with some doggy anti inflammatories and painkillers. The weather had deteriorated by then so the picnic we had planned at Colwyn Bay with our smoked salmon quiche made by my own fair hands the night before had to be eaten in the car.
Still buoyed by the weekend ahead we made our way across the Brittania Bridge, onto the Island and on to the lovely cottage in Dulas Bay. My sons and partners were due to arrive later that evening so once we had dropped off our luggage we had a little recce round, hubby and Dad looking for suitable hostelries and me for painting opportunities. We returned for supper and to the rest of the family arriving at about 10.00.
The following morning I woke early and was greeted as I went downstairs by my father, dressed, holding his arm and saying he thought he had broken his wrist!! Apparently he had fallen as he went to bed trying to find the light in his room and hadn't wanted to disturb us until morning. So by 7.15 we were back on the road, back over the bridge and off to Bangor Hospital! I had stopped him having anything to eat or drink in case he needed any surgery or had to be anaesthetised to have it manipulated but thank goodness it was a compress fracture and didn't need any intervention. We were back in our accommodation with a half plaster by about 10.00 having breakfast and wondering how he was going to manage every day living!!
So.... an eventful start to the short break to say the least!! We went for a walk on one of the many beaches in Anglesey but to tell the truth it was pretty chilly and, back to the point of this blog, I only really had one opportunity to paint.....as we returned from our day out I sat at the front of the cottage with a gin and tonic and painted my worst two nightmares..a plein air landscape!! This was the view.....
cropped to represent what I had in mind to paint. I had taken one of my home made sketch books and this was across the first two pages
Looks like I could add a bit more foliage in the foreground and far too much water showing, but I suppose if I hadn't shown the view none of you would be any the wiser!! I have to admit I am not too displeased with this as a sketch, and though it isn't what I would have chosen to paint, I think I would have preferred to have a building around somewhere, it really was Hobson's choice!!
We visited Beaumaris and then took a road trip around the top of the Island which, being Sunday was closed and a bit bleak and unfortunately the weather was rather dull, the best part of the day being late afternoon when we went for a walk. We got pretty lost, nearly got caught on the rocks by the tide and ended up sneaking through some private estate and what was meant to be a short walk turned into a 2 hour trek!! Little puppy was absolutely shattered!!
We left Monday morning and back to Bangor Hospital for completion of the plaster and I have to say we had super attention from all the staff there!! As for my Dad... well, he's managing ok... it would of course have to be his right hand.... he is resourceful and finding ways of adapting but at 88 it isn't easy!!
I have been very busy with workshops this week too, 3 in the last 3 days and a fourth all day session about 2 hours away on Saturday. We go to the fracture clinic at our local hospital tomorrow then am hoping to get a bit of practice done in the afternoon in preparation for Saturday...finally out for dinner at a friend's house Saturday evening... and that's been my week!! Phew.... and still only one plein air painting!!
I'm returning to Anglesey in the summer for a 3 day painting break with Joanne Boon Thomas and some of her friends where I will be able to get a bit more painting done, will be able to watch Joanne at work... her plein air painting is fabulous and where I hope I will be able to progress a bit more!!
Still buoyed by the weekend ahead we made our way across the Brittania Bridge, onto the Island and on to the lovely cottage in Dulas Bay. My sons and partners were due to arrive later that evening so once we had dropped off our luggage we had a little recce round, hubby and Dad looking for suitable hostelries and me for painting opportunities. We returned for supper and to the rest of the family arriving at about 10.00.
The following morning I woke early and was greeted as I went downstairs by my father, dressed, holding his arm and saying he thought he had broken his wrist!! Apparently he had fallen as he went to bed trying to find the light in his room and hadn't wanted to disturb us until morning. So by 7.15 we were back on the road, back over the bridge and off to Bangor Hospital! I had stopped him having anything to eat or drink in case he needed any surgery or had to be anaesthetised to have it manipulated but thank goodness it was a compress fracture and didn't need any intervention. We were back in our accommodation with a half plaster by about 10.00 having breakfast and wondering how he was going to manage every day living!!
So.... an eventful start to the short break to say the least!! We went for a walk on one of the many beaches in Anglesey but to tell the truth it was pretty chilly and, back to the point of this blog, I only really had one opportunity to paint.....as we returned from our day out I sat at the front of the cottage with a gin and tonic and painted my worst two nightmares..a plein air landscape!! This was the view.....
We visited Beaumaris and then took a road trip around the top of the Island which, being Sunday was closed and a bit bleak and unfortunately the weather was rather dull, the best part of the day being late afternoon when we went for a walk. We got pretty lost, nearly got caught on the rocks by the tide and ended up sneaking through some private estate and what was meant to be a short walk turned into a 2 hour trek!! Little puppy was absolutely shattered!!
We left Monday morning and back to Bangor Hospital for completion of the plaster and I have to say we had super attention from all the staff there!! As for my Dad... well, he's managing ok... it would of course have to be his right hand.... he is resourceful and finding ways of adapting but at 88 it isn't easy!!
I have been very busy with workshops this week too, 3 in the last 3 days and a fourth all day session about 2 hours away on Saturday. We go to the fracture clinic at our local hospital tomorrow then am hoping to get a bit of practice done in the afternoon in preparation for Saturday...finally out for dinner at a friend's house Saturday evening... and that's been my week!! Phew.... and still only one plein air painting!!
I'm returning to Anglesey in the summer for a 3 day painting break with Joanne Boon Thomas and some of her friends where I will be able to get a bit more painting done, will be able to watch Joanne at work... her plein air painting is fabulous and where I hope I will be able to progress a bit more!!
Monday, 28 April 2014
Drawn to Water!!
In the meantime I was being drawn all the time to soak the paper and paint completely wet in wet as I did with the painting "Moving On." I don't know whether it is the challenge of working like this but wet in wet has never been how I paint... this isn't just like adding the sky wet in wet or painting small areas which I have done before, it is a whole new way for me at least... knowing just when the paper is at the right moment during the various stages of drying and then knowing how wet I need the paint to be to either to keep it flowing or get it to stay and in the meantime trying to manage a whole piece of wet paper!! Techniques such as lifting off, to keep the whites, all the time trying to get the shape of my subject as in both cases I didn't draw, all different ways of working to my normal methods.
I had an image of a small white jug, and I used
Prussian blue
Alizarin Crimson
Burnt Sienna
Raw Sienna
I thoroughly soaked the whole page then started by dropping in a mix of colours to the bg and defining bits of the jug but didn't like what was happening so sprayed it all and started again...this is much more possible while the paper is soaking wet and the strange thing is that while everything is so wet, working in with the brush(though not too much) is also possible without getting mud....so again I slowly added the darks and lifted out the lights..... the wetter the paper the stronger the paint needs to be to have the slightest chance of "staying put" and blue tends to move and run less than other colours. Likewise as the paper dries, the concentration of paint can be slightly less to stay so these are things I am learning and trying to analyse...I am at the stage where I have a good idea as to just how wet or dry the paint needs to be and the more you practice the more instinctive it becomes. I find I am drying the brush to various degrees depending on what I am looking to do and it is now a sort of inbuilt knowledge which if I am ever going to teach this way of painting I need to understand and be able to verbalise what is happening and why!!
Sunday, 27 April 2014
Working Hard!!
It's a long time since I actually spent all afternoon painting and have really just played. I have a commission I'm working on which I am finding tricky... 2 children... got him fine but struggling with his sister's mouth.... am hoping I don't have to start the whole thing again as there is so much I like about it but if I haven't captured her properly I might have to!!! So I left it alone, finished off a giraffe I had done a short while ago and did some practice looking at landscapes....it's one of my aims to get to grips with them this year and I am going on a short painting break to Anglesey with Joanne Boon Thomas (Joanne loves to paint en plein air and we will be doing a fair bit of that weather permitting) and a party of her friends who go each year and I am also going with my family as well to Anglesey for a long weekend... have never been before and now I'm going twice in one year!!
I have seen a demo online about how to make a sketch book, no sewing, just a bit of folding and cutting so suits me perfectly as one of the reasons I don't use a sketch book is I hate the cartridge paper in the cheaper ones and the watercolour paper ones are so expensive.... I've used half imperial and it makes a book slightly smaller than A5 size which is fine and because of the way it is folded all sides can be used...for this size it makes 16 sheets, so I will be making a few more to take with me. I know Joanne does quite a lot of charcoal sketching en plein air so I will be taking a leaf out of her book!!
So for now here is the giraffe, am image from PMP by George J Pateman. I really must get to Chester Zoo... my family took me there for my 50th as I love it and it's an excellent zoo but I haven't been since so could do with checking out my new camera there.
Very limited palette here... couple of blues and burnt sienna, no drawing.....still trying for most of the time to go straight in with the paint, not always easy but I don't usually find animals too tricky and all good practice!!
I have seen a demo online about how to make a sketch book, no sewing, just a bit of folding and cutting so suits me perfectly as one of the reasons I don't use a sketch book is I hate the cartridge paper in the cheaper ones and the watercolour paper ones are so expensive.... I've used half imperial and it makes a book slightly smaller than A5 size which is fine and because of the way it is folded all sides can be used...for this size it makes 16 sheets, so I will be making a few more to take with me. I know Joanne does quite a lot of charcoal sketching en plein air so I will be taking a leaf out of her book!!
So for now here is the giraffe, am image from PMP by George J Pateman. I really must get to Chester Zoo... my family took me there for my 50th as I love it and it's an excellent zoo but I haven't been since so could do with checking out my new camera there.
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