My week with Hazel Soan - Day I

What a fabulous week I've had! I attended a watercolour workshop with Hazel Soan, international artist and author. To say that the enthusiasm and energy from Hazel is electric, would be an understatement. She is bubbling with knowledge and a wonderful person to meet.

Sitting anxiously in my first session, watching as she explained that we are not creating a picture on paper but  a whole array of 'brush strokes'. Shapes are what we must be looking at, not the object that we see. It's all about light and brush strokes!!!

When painting, we need to be looking at tone and light not exact colours.... 'Watercolour' is the reason we paint a subject not the subject wanting to be painted. Do you get my jist? You can take the dullest photo and make it alive with watercolour, as long as the tones and lights are there. Even when sitting out in the fresh air painting a scene,one must look for relative tone. We need not copy the exact colours we see, but paint to entertain the eye!

Leaves: They are not leaves but 'brush strokes'. By adding colour to the leaves brings in life as colour changes according to surrounding and light.

 

 1 stroke 'brush stoke leaves'

 2 or multiple brush stroke leaves

Flowers: They are not flowers but splashes of beautiful colour!

Practising flowers with just brushstrokes 

 Sunflowers using Indian Yellow, Burnt Sienna and Prussian Blue with Aureolin for leaves

Limit your colour palette and keep it simple, "watercolour is perfect".... less is more as they say in the classics.

Learning wonderful tips from Hazel was so exciting. She taught us about which useful colours we should keep on our palettes, the size of our waterpots...hers were surprisingly small!.... and she doesn't use much pigment when mixing either. Pigment is precious and I was amazed to find how much I was wasting by rinsing my bushes so often.

We also learnt wet in wet work with brush strokes. By adding enough pigment strength on the brush will determine how far your colour bleeds back into the wet background, Fascinating!!!!!

 Backlit  Reeds

You can see the different strengths of pigment by the size of the bleed (middle), as the background dried so the strokes became more crisp (right). But one is able to achieve incredibly thin lines in wet paper if your pigment is strong.

One very valuable lesson I learned was that paper is of utmost  importance. The first few studies were done on really grotty quality paper and it shows. I eventually succumbed to using Arches rough 300gsm for my studies! Sounds incredibly extravagant, but found that you can't achieve the right results if you use poor quality paper.


Thanks Hazel for a wonderful first day!!!

I will be back to fill you in on the rest of the week.

Hazel Soan * Watercolour Workshop

Just a quick note before retiring after a full day at Hazel Soan's workshop. Which by the way, is so enlightening and wonderfully informative. I'm taking the easy route for now with an insight from a fellow blogger and wonderful artist Cathy Gatland taken from her blog 'A sketch in Time".

I promise to update you all on her workshop through the eyes of Debbie Schiff soon. But for now.... it's long past my bedtime and I need to be all refreshed for another session of Hazel's workshop tomorrow.

Night night!

Scorched Earth

I'm really enjoying my landscapes at the moment. It's always good to try out new things and subjects, in fact it's quite refreshing.Landscapes have never been my strong point, but I've recived wonderful positive feedback regarding the few that I've done.

This one is a light sketch of  the Namib desert in Namibia, north of South Africa. With it's vast open thirsty plains and dunes, it's surprising how much life lives there. The rains frequent only every 10 years or so, but the flora and fauna which thrive there are all accustomed to the scorching heat.

Game is plentyful, from the little speckly patina (lizard) and meercats to big cats like the leopard and lion. Each has their use and purpose in the dusty plains of Namibia.

The plant, Welwitschia grows quite easily there, and is considered to be a Fossil. It has a 20m (60ft) taproot burying into the ground. Most of it's moisture is derived from the early morning dew or mist coming in from the coast. Two long leaves grow constantly and fray at the ends from the wind. They are quite spectacular to see! Welwitschia. Camelthorn trees and some acacias are also inhabitants of this arid thirstland.

          The Welwitschias growing in the thirstland of the Namib desert

'The Berg'

While sifting through all my 'binners' or paintings I don't intend on finishing, I stumbled across a sheet of paper with a Diox and Aliz Crim wash on it. I think I started this as an experiment.... It was a sheet of Artist canvas (with Acrylic finish). You will notice on the enlarged version, the woven texture of the canvas.

I remember at the time thinking that the colours were a bit washed out and the pigment didn't run like it does on ordinary watercolour paper but gave it a try anyway. Seeing though it was an experiment I put it aside until I felt need to do something with it at some later stage. Needless to say.... 12 months later, I found it and this morning, through more colours in it. At first I had no idea what the washes represented and hadn't a clue on what I was to do with it, but after staring at it for some time..... a picture appeared in my mind.!

This is called 'The Berg' because it looks a lot like the Drakensberg mountains and terrain here in South Africa. Looking at the finished product now, makes me long to go back and just breath that wonderful crisp fresh air.

The Drakensberg mountains range is a  200-kilometre-long mountainous wonderland and world heritage site Aptly named 'Ukhahlamba', pronounced (ooka -lumba) (Barrier of Spears) by the Zulu people, and the Dutch Voortrekkers 'The Dragon Mountain'. The Drakensberg Mountains, with their awe-inspiring basalt cliffs, snowcapped in winter, tower over riverine bush, lush yellowwood forests and cascading waterfalls, form a massive barrier separating KwaZulu-Natal from the Kingdom of Lesotho, and are the tallest mountains in South Africa. The San bushmen were the original inhabitants of the Drakensberg mountains and they left behind the most beautiful paintings in caves throughout the region. The Drakensberg region include hiking trails, bird watching, game viewing, horse trails and safaris, guided tours, 4x4 trails, quad bikes, golfing, trout / fly fishing, white water rafting, rock climbing and many an artist has portrayed their versions of this splendour on canvas and paper.

This is my attempt at creating an imaginary Drakensberg landscape as I remember on our hikes across the hills and mountains.....

True reflection.

On Looking closely at the painting of my Impala's Soul on my screen, I  was drawn to his eye, I noticed that his eye had a bit of magic in it. Although this painting was a little too detailed and tight for what I had set out to do, I was so excited to see what had appeared in the reflections of his eye. If you look closely, you are able to see the blue sky and some distant shrubs and bushes.

This made me stop for a moment and contemplate what my dear impala was looking at. Was it his alert instinctive nature that was just searching into the distance or had he seen something that caught his astute eye and was alerted to danger? That's the life of an antelope unfortunately... always on its guard! Hence the quote in my earlier post.

Whether in a painting or in real life, the eye speaks volumes. This eye is saying so much to me somehow and  although a bit tight for me, I love this painting and I feel a connection to it in so many ways.

 

Wishing you all a wonderful Sunday!

Impala's Soul

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle; when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."
~Herb Caen~

Animals are wonderful to paint... not only do they show character and expression, love and energy but they have the ability to creep into the hearts of all that know them. 

The juvenile Impala that were prounching and pronking around at Jejane Nature Reserve were a delight to watch. We were in hysterics at their antics, I just had to capture these lovely graceful little creatures with my camera. The Impala are very common in South African Game Reserves and are often overlooked as they seem to be grazing around every corner and hill. One starts becoming complacent every time we see them. It's such a shame! We take it for granted as we know there are more herds over the next rise and just drive straight past them.   Meanwhile, they have the most wonderful markings and colouring and have gorgeous big eyes, I think that's where the expression 'doe eyed' comes from........ I also love this quote........

An animal's eyes have the power to speak a great language. ~ Martin Buber

I did a watercolour of a male ram I captured as he looked on, totally bemused by his offspring's 'race day'. This expression was a delight to paint...... hope you love his expression too!

 Male Impala

This is the study sketch I did to get his colouring...

 

My 'Gift'

This weekend we spent the most wonderful time at a private nature reserve called Jejane in the eastern part of South Africa just outside Hoedspruit.  Our friends have a wonderful holiday home there and are blessed to be able to enjoy nature at her best.

I am at peace in the 'bush' and find my soul when I'm there, I ditch the heels and make-up and throw on the casual bush attire and comfy hiking shoes. A paint brush and camera are never far at hand. This little quote reminded me of why the bush gives my heart pleasure and brings contentment to my restless spirit.

"The human spirit needs a place where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man." ~Unknown



Although I took all my paints with me, I  didn't get the opportunity to sketch, let alone paint anything, but took loads of photographs. We spent most of the day on the game drive and then retired to the 'boma' (an outside deck or reed/wooden enclosed area) where we set up a braai (barbecue). We sat chatting about the day or just caught up on 'life' over a few glasses of wine. We retired early as we were sapped from the exhilarating adventures in the bush.  The evenings were wonderfully warm and the stars tried very hard for us, although the clouds where giving signals of it bringing overcast weather for the day ahead. In most cases this is wonderful for game viewing as the animals don't tend to hide under trees for shelter from the scorching sun and are easily visible in the veld.

                                            


As a thank you gift to our friends, I painted a scene of one of the roads in the reserve. They were thrilled with it. Hopefully, next time we're invited, I'll be able to see this painting framed and adorning one of the walls in their lovely home.......

Sunshine Award

THIS AWARD IS GIVEN TO BLOGGERS FOR SHARING THEIR POSITIVITY AND
CREATIVITY

I'm Honoured to be receiving this Sunshine Award from Jane Minter of Jane Minter's Sketchbook.What a lovely surprise. Thank you Jane!

As a nominee of this Award, I have to follow the rules by choosing 12 artists or blogs I think deserve to have a bit of sunshine too, 12 blogs I admire and enjoy following. Please take time to view their amazing work. I know of many more inspiring painting friends whom I follow and would love to share their work with you, but the rules are only 12.

Maree

Jean

Marie

Carol

Melissa

Adie

Fernando

Vickie

Annelein

Sandy

Michele

Cathy

The rules for accepting this award are simply to:

1. Post the Sunshine Award logo on your blog, on your post or both.

2. Pass this onto 12 bloggers who you admire.

3. Inform them of the award.

4. Link the person who awarded you in the first place.

 

Evening Rest

I have been painting this week, if only for the bin...... been practising the way colour merges on the paper without first mixing the desired colour in my palette. Done studies of cockerels as well as my "gift' I'm doing for a friend. I'll post it once I have given it to her!

One I did this afternoon without a preliminary sketch was quite fun to do, but I feel I could have chosen a better composition. Not all that thrilled with it......!. I was trying to create an evening glow on a lake with a heron settling down for the evening.

 

Evening Rest

I'm off to a private Nature Reserve for the weekend so I'll be a bit scarce till Sunday. Hopefully I'll be able to take wonderful photographs of the wonderful wildlife that roam around in the Reserve..... always waiting for 'that' special moment to capture 'that' ultimate pose, which is not always easy in the wild. But I'll take my sketchbook with too, to record notable moments of light and scenery.

Till then..........

My Garden is my Sactuary

Finding my muse at the moment and not being able to get into the swing of things...... so, to treat myself I took 6 paintings to the framers on Monday..... just because I wanted to see my work enhanced by frames and not just lying around getting grubby, also I thought it might give me the inspiration to paint something worth sending to the framers and.........just because I can!!!

So unfortunately dear friends, all I have to offer today is a study of an Amaryllis flower which flowered so beautifully for me earlier this year.It's the most glorious pink - one which isn't in my paintbox. That was the challenge - trying to find the right colour to portray this beautiful flower. I think I have made a lovely pink using Quin. Magenta and a touch of Indian Yellow. This is a study for a larger painting I'm thinking of painting....... this is minus a preliminary sketch, on really crappy paper. I have a lovely piece of Archers I want to do this on!

 

Amaryllis Study

A Beauty in my Garden

What a wonderful sight in my garden at the moment... I was thinking a few months back of taking it out or at least chopping it back as it's quite an encroaching plant and it was getting in the way of  my pathway to my indigenous garden.

 

Delicious Monster

This is a Delicious Monster (Monstera Deliciosa) or Swiss Cheese Plant, native to tropical rain forests of Mexico. This particular specimen of mine has never flowered, and this year it has been so prolific and graced me with the most amazing cone shaped flowers or fruit as some would say. Apparently the fruit of the Delicious Monster is edible, but I wouldn't want to try it, as one man reported Here. But I have read that the fruit tastes like a cross between a pineapple and a banana. The fruit may be ripened by cutting the fruit when the first scales begin to lift up and the fruit begins to exude a pungent odour, then wrapping it in a paper bag and setting aside until the kernels begin popping off. The kernels are then brushed off; they fall away to reveal the edible flesh underneath. The flesh, which is approximately like that of pineapple in texture, is then cut away from the core and eaten. It has a fruity taste similar to jackfruit and pineapple. Eating fruit which has not matured and still has the kernels firmly attached, exposes the throat to the oxalic acid and is dangerous...

 

Close-up of the Delicious Monster

I'm still not fond of this plant but look at it now with renewed eyes, it's no longer a hindrance and a 'common' space filler in my garden but something of unique beauty albeit only for a few months of the year. I will however keep it in shape and hopefully it flowers again next year!

  A little friend also had to see what this 

   wonder was that sprung up in his garden.

Wild Flowers

Another of one of my indigenous flower paintings. I'm not too sure of it's name, but is very simmilar to the Hog-weed. I would love feedback if anyone does know. I came across it flowering beautifully in the Eastern Cape in December last year.

I found myself up at two am this morning so decided to make use of the time and finish this painting which I had started yesterday morning. This was one aimed at the bin  as I was playing with background colours only and tried to experiment.... think it should still be aimed at the bin! Today I remembered that I have a book by Ann Blockley - Watercolour Textures. She did an interesting exercise with something simmilar, so I think I'll redo this with some advice she gave.

 

The inspiration of the wild flower painting

Thank you Maree for enlightening me on its name...

It's Queen Anne's Lace

 

Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do. ~ Edgar Degas

Painting our indigenous Flora!

 

Limestone Sugarbush Protea

A Rose - LOVE

Today I painted roses......
This month being Valentines month and today being my anniversary, I thought I'd paint roses (purely from my head)..... the symbol of love and and peace.

Antique roses

Artichoke and Gerbers studies

My cousin's artichokes in her veggie garden had gone to flower so she picked a few for a vase in her kitchen. They were huge and I fell in love with the lovely fluffy purple tops against the glorious green hard spikes, so she gave them to me to paint.

 

Artichoke Flower Studies 

  

The inspiration

The flower store was offering 3 pots of Gerber's on special so I purchased a baby pink one, a cerise pink and a lovely orange pot. Here are a couple of studies of the orange one I did..... I have studied the sketches and there is definitely some room for improvement here, I'd like to do others with more lost edges around the petals.

 

Gerber Studies

Practice, Practice, Practice

That is what top artists will say to you if you want to improve your skills in painting. "A painting a day" is another..... Basically, you need to just paint, paint, paint, even if it's just playing with 'colour mixes', 'shadows', trying tonal values, sketching etc. But we all know that..... don't we? It's not the only way we learn, but it's the best way...... Remember, It's a journey of growth, so enjoy it!

How many of us actually do paint daily?... I'm blushing here, as I fall into the 'non-daily' painters camp! Life just seems to get in the way sometimes and I forget that painting is or should be part of my daily therapy. And boy, do I need therapy! However I do feel terribly guilty if,  by the end of the day I haven't picked up a brush or pencil. 2010however does look promising as I find myself with more time on my hands and less daily interruptions.

I have a few commitments this early this year with 2 wonderful workshops coming up so I really need to practice and get my brushes flowing. The first workshop is with Hazel Soan, who will be visiting South Africa soon - Hazel is an internationally renowned artist and is the author of seven books on painting in watercolours. The other 2 exciting workshops I'll attend are in the UK with renowned artist Jean Haines. http://www.jeanhaines.com/ Jean has been my mentor and inspiration for a number of years now, she has a unique loose style of painting which I admire and is in the process of having her first book published.I have had the fortune of meeting Ms Haines last year at a workshop she ran on 'Watercolours with Life' and although, exhausting, enjoyed my self immensely.

Here are a few sketches I was practicing using Hazel Soan's 'African African Watercolours'.

Sketches from Hazel's book...using my moleskin.

And one using my own photo... minus preliminary sketch.

This painting was from a photo I took at the Rhino and Lion Park last year. 

This ewe was actually feeding.....hence her looking away from the camera,

  I left the young Springbok out of the painting....

I plan to do flowers next.....(Jean style). I have hundreds and hundreds of photos of flower studies.....

so best I get cracking......

Have a lovely weekend all... till next time.....

Phoebe the Allens Hummingbird

This is Phoebe the little hummingbird. I to have jumped on the bandwagon to sketch her.
Two Blogger friends, Maree  http://naturesketchers.blogspot.com/2010/01/allens-hummingbird-maree.html. and Vickie  http://vickiehenderson.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html. have also painted sketches of her sitting on her eggs.

 PHOEBE

Sketched from a live video-cam link http://www.ustream.tv/channel/Hummingbird-Nest-Cam. set up next to a house near a rosebush in a yard in Orange County California. It was quite easy sketching her as she ignores the camera lens on her and I had the opportunity to really study her. One can see her from different angles and get to see her markings quite well as she turns around to settle in the opposite direction.

This little hummingbird is sitting on two eggs at the moment and are expected to hatch any day now. So follow this link if you are keen to get a good sighting of Phoebe and the hatching of her eggs. The eggs were laid on the 2nd & 4th of Jan and are incubated for about 17 days. Apparently this is her 5th clutch laid in the same yard.  It's so exciting watching the live feed of this busy little lady who flits in and out of her nest and wriggles around re-arranging her eggs. I must admit, I do get carried away with watching her... it's addictive.

We do not have hummingbirds here in South Africa, but they are similar to our Sugarbirds and Sunbirds.

Till later.......

Face in the Shadows II

I should have painted this whilst working on the other Face in the Shadows. I wanted to create another painting to compliment the first one, but it went horribly wrong..... I think I was trying too hard to get the mystical background to match the first painting. I ended up overworking the background and the top section of her head should not have been so pronounced but should have just faded away into the background. She does not look like she is coming out of the shadows at all! Oh Well! Thought I'd add this in just to show you that I did try and do a follow-up! I do like the way her face turned out though as I did not use a preliminary sketch as a guide.

I am enjoying my painting at the moment and have a mountain of subjects to try and experiment with. But that I'll will be tomorrow's task.

Till then..................

Playing with Washes

I add this little sketch with trepidation. I feel it is not worth the viewing but I thought, for prosperity's sake I'd add it to my blog as I do plan to take this further. I'll enjoy coming back in about a year's time to view how my painting style as evolved. This is a little sketch, playing with a 'first wash'. Minus pencil.  I was challenging myself with the encouragement from a friend to work in a loose style. Watch this space.................

Face in the Shadows - DONE!

I am calling this done!

FACE IN THE SHADOWS

I will have to do another now........ perhaps his partner or wife!