Empty Room

I was trying to play with light in this painting... The girl could have been a lot darker as the light  was coming in through the window behind her but I was afraid of over working the darks on her body, so I left her as she was. Will have to work on achieving darker skin tones for these slightly silhouetted Paintings with strong light.

Venice Afternoon.... amended

After looking at this painting on the screen, I could see something was missing. I have gone and done some amendments on it which have helped a bit.

The blue wall above the middle doorway was really bugging me as well as the tone of the water. I added a window to the blue wall and created a balcony. I also darkened the water a bit more with Cobalt Turquoise. Hope this does the trick and makes it more balanced.

BTW.... this is the first Architectural watercolour I have done. Painting buildings have always scared me!!!!!!

Venice Afternoon..... completed!

I have to admit the texture of this paper (Saunders 200lbs)
was so different to work with. I normally work in Bockingfords
or Fabriano or if I'm feeling generous, Arches. This paper is very
spongy and handles paint well. You have to add a lot of pigment to
the paper to get dark effects and tone.But it has wonderful flow,
I loved working with this quality! I might have to splurge out and
invest in some on-line sometime as we don't get it here in South Africa.!

Anyway here is the final painting..........

Venice Afternoon

I was scrummaging through my old washes I had done some time
back on a workshop I did when I was in the UK earlier this year,
and came across this wash I did, I had obviously had something
in mind with it, but couldn't remember what. I was in the mood
for trying out paper I don't use often and found this sheet with
washes on it just begging to be finished! I have never been to
Venice but have seen some wonderful pictures of the beautiful
canals from friends. After studying the washes I had laid out
on the sheet I saw a 'Venice' scene, so started making up as
I went along.

I should have taken a photo of the sheet with just the washes
on to show you where the inspiration came from, but I got a
bit carried away and managed to only take the photo halfway
through!

 You can see some of the washes on the left and bottom

of the painting.

I'm Late, I'm late!!!!!

I have just realised that the end of the month has arrived, Gosh, where has the year gone! I can't believe how quickly this month has flown by.... I was looking at the WSSA calendar the other day and realised that I need to submit 3 paintings by next Tuesday.....OMG!!!!! I also have another exhibition coming up too which I need to paint for as well. Best I get a move on and paint up a storm!!!!! Isn't it strange that human nature allows us to wait until the last minute! Or is it just me. I always put myself unwittingly under such pressure!!!!

In the mean time I painted a fun painting of penguins. I thought it would make a lovely painting for a child's bedroom. The colours are so fresh and suitable for that. I'm not entirely happy with the way it turned out as I wanted a softer approach, but this will have to do for now until I do another. I need to study the subject more before I just attack the paper I think!

Anyway here is the first attempt........

Have a great Sunday tomorrow!

Till then......

Reflective Moments

Think I can call this completed...... I quite like the way the the soft transparent wrap around her hips turned out, giving enough to detail to the eye.

I've finally got my brushes wet today. After a lovely tranquil morning painting and a short dog walk later this afternoon, I finally got another painting finished. This is a painting of my niece Sam in Mozambique..... she was in a reflective mood and seemed distant in her own thoughts. (24 x 34cm) on Bockingfords paper. I couldn't resist taking this photo at the time. This is a WIP for now.....

Till tomorrow...

This week was not very productive painting wise... I had a few distractions which kept me away from my easel. But in the evenings when the family were in dreamland I managed to dabble in a few small watercolours 18 x 13cm. Thought they would look good either as a series on a kitchen wall or as a triptych.

Artichoke

Pears

  Pomegranate

 

  Cherry Tomatoes

 I painted Elephants last night.... With great enthusiasm and determination I thought I'd end up with a result that made the viewer think........ WOW!... but alas, it was no where near that.... in fact it landed in the bin.! I am not totally upset about this though... I know I can try it again. I am determined to get this right.  I live in South Africa,  you would have thought I'd have these animals tapped.  With my best intentions... I just can't seem to get it right!!!!! I found some interesting thoughts on transparent watercolours written by Jim Kosvanec........http://www.kosvanec.com/controllingtranswc.html  he wrote......."You can only master transparent watercolor by disciplined study. Knowledge frees the soul to express its creativity. Ultimately, however, the medium cannot be mastered...only handled masterfully."
So seems like I need to go and paint all the hundreds of photos I've taken of Elephants, to master to fluidity of transparent watercolours...... watch this space.......................................

Tails of the sea ... revisited!

This is the re-do of the old fisherman I painted

the other day!!!! It's not exactly how I pictured

it in my mind's eye, but thought Id share it with you.

This one had initial pencil lines to get proportions

right. I'ts amazing to see the differences between

just going in with a brush (as the one below) and

doing a general outline first!

Child Of Innocence

 
Child of Innocence was inspired by a photograph
taken by photographer John Spies, with thanks.
It portrays a little Black Lahu girl captured in a pensive
mood. When I saw this I just had to paint her. Her
captivating eyes grabbed me and the light and shadows
showed a very haunting story of an Opium smoking
village in Thailand where the unborn children were so
addicted to Opium from their mothers that the mothers
had to blow Opium smoke into their faces after they
were born, to calm them down.
Apparently the laws there have changed since then!
But the need to paint this powerful photo of her runs
deeper than just the story behind those eyes!
A watercolour, painted wet on wet and dry brush detail
at the end.

Tails of the Sea...

 I did manage to paint a portrait of a Fisherman.
Went in straight with a brush, no initial pencil.
He could do with loosening up a bit...... so I'll
redo it at some stage.

First Post..... Spring!

Hello, 3 days into spring, here in the Southern hemisphere. I have been in my garden for 3 full solid days now. My gardener was expected back from is yearly leave on Tuesday....... but... didn't pitch. So I put on my garden gloves, hauled the 20 bags of lawn dressing onto the lawn and raked it in.... all alone. Well! as expected the next day I could hardly move. My arm muscles and back took quite a hammering, not to mention my nails which could do with a manicure now as a result! Wonder if I can pick up a brush to paint tonight?