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Hard to imagine, but Christmas is not that far away. This year's Christmas card has a very local theme, Brighton Beach huts and seagull... -
Here in the UK, we have had one of the coolest summers since 1993. The sun was an infrequent visitor to our shores, and my courgettes refus... -
I am working on a series of flower/design miniatures measuring no more than 3 inches square. I aim to do seven in all with a feature flowe... -
Sometimes it's nice to forget colour for a change and go for monochrome - for me, that has to be the Pencil. The softness, the hardnes... -
It's All in the Head!: preparation sketches/paintings for November/Decemb... : Hard to imagine, but Christmas is not that far away. Thi...
Saturday, 8 October 2011
It's All in the Head!: preparation sketches/paintings for November/Decemb...
It's All in the Head!: preparation sketches/paintings for November/Decemb...: Hard to imagine, but Christmas is not that far away. This year's Christmas card has a very local theme, Brighton Beach huts and seagulls! ...
preparation sketches/paintings for November/December Exhibitions
Hard to imagine, but Christmas is not that far away. This year's Christmas card has a very local theme, Brighton Beach huts and seagulls! The finished product is at the printers at the moment, but don't have a copy to show as yet.
Allotment holding in Steyning thrives and continues to provide some wonderful sketching opportunities. I am especially fascinated by old sheds and have produced the following quick sketches:
and below is the watercolour I have made of my sketch, interpreting freely those things I remember being there and putting in, naturally, items which seem to go well just to enhance the composition:
I am working on another very small picture of a simple stable door. There were chickens roaming around but I did not have time to sketch them, or in reality, they did not stay still long enough. The old stable is one of several old stone/brick buildings which make up Saddlescombe Farm near Devil's Dyke in East Sussex, which is a National Trust Property (you can be a member or pay to go in).
I haven't finished the painting yet, but have photocopied it and done preliminary colours for the door and chickens - this is how I do most of my watercolours, useful when sorting out complementary colours and possible clashes of colour:
Rough draft 1 - with greenish door
Rough draft 2 - with blue/grey door
This is the original piece of work. I may blend a few more colours into the door, but the real stars are the chickens I suppose so I do not want the door to be overpowering. I will put in the finished piece next time.
Allotment holding in Steyning thrives and continues to provide some wonderful sketching opportunities. I am especially fascinated by old sheds and have produced the following quick sketches:
and below is the watercolour I have made of my sketch, interpreting freely those things I remember being there and putting in, naturally, items which seem to go well just to enhance the composition:
I am working on another very small picture of a simple stable door. There were chickens roaming around but I did not have time to sketch them, or in reality, they did not stay still long enough. The old stable is one of several old stone/brick buildings which make up Saddlescombe Farm near Devil's Dyke in East Sussex, which is a National Trust Property (you can be a member or pay to go in).
I haven't finished the painting yet, but have photocopied it and done preliminary colours for the door and chickens - this is how I do most of my watercolours, useful when sorting out complementary colours and possible clashes of colour:
Rough draft 1 - with greenish door
Rough draft 2 - with blue/grey door
This is the original piece of work. I may blend a few more colours into the door, but the real stars are the chickens I suppose so I do not want the door to be overpowering. I will put in the finished piece next time.
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Autumn is almost upon us - time to dust off pens and brushes
Here in the UK, we have had one of the coolest summers since 1993. The sun was an infrequent visitor to our shores, and my courgettes refused to ripen,just fell off because of lack of sun and warmth. Not to mention the rain.
My daughter starts a new course, new college next week, my son will be in his second year at Manchester. Husband working on a few consultancies to keep the wolf from the door. As for me, I have gained a bit more energy and have started work on a few pieces which I hope will be ready for our group's exhibition in November. The Christmas card this year will have a bit more of a home-grown theme, ie Sussex, beach huts etc. I sold one of my floral works at the Steyning Arts and am working on another painting - this one will take me hours, but I seem to like doing detailed works. Not sure it will be ready for November, but will give it a try.
My daughter starts a new course, new college next week, my son will be in his second year at Manchester. Husband working on a few consultancies to keep the wolf from the door. As for me, I have gained a bit more energy and have started work on a few pieces which I hope will be ready for our group's exhibition in November. The Christmas card this year will have a bit more of a home-grown theme, ie Sussex, beach huts etc. I sold one of my floral works at the Steyning Arts and am working on another painting - this one will take me hours, but I seem to like doing detailed works. Not sure it will be ready for November, but will give it a try.
Monday, 18 April 2011
Fruit, flowers and leaves - latest work
I am working on a series of flower/design miniatures measuring no more than 3 inches square. I aim to do seven in all with a feature flower in the middle and designed border. I have finished the first three of seven:
This one is of clematis montana. I did this one in pen and watercolour on very smooth Bristol board paper - even used a magnifying glass to save my eyesight.
Here is another example of how I can play around with colour and design while keeping everything tonally correct with the Rudbeckias shining through.
This is a picture of echinacea - one of my favourite cone flower varieties which I try to grow in the garden without much success.
For all my small paintings I use very small brushes from a size 0 to 2 - I try to paint during the day time as the natural light coming into my window is at its brightest. My lamp at night is not too great. I sometimes need to use a magnifying glass, but try not to rely on it. I will be posting another 4 paintings when I get them done.
The above painting has been done on a scrap of mount board using pencil crayons - usually caran d'ache because they are the softest - and pen.
When I was visiting my mother in Shaftesbury, Dorset I decided to take some close up shots of different leaves I found in her garden as they provided a rich source of design for future work I may want to do:
I love the shapes in each of these photos - it is easy to see that these could be incorporated into pictures/designs which would be very pleasing to the eye. As an example, below I have an unfinished picture of a smoke bush, taken from a photo I took a while ago - I have referenced the photo, but interpreted the lines and details my own way.
This is clearly a work in progress, but one I hope to finish when I can
This one is of clematis montana. I did this one in pen and watercolour on very smooth Bristol board paper - even used a magnifying glass to save my eyesight.
Here is another example of how I can play around with colour and design while keeping everything tonally correct with the Rudbeckias shining through.
This is a picture of echinacea - one of my favourite cone flower varieties which I try to grow in the garden without much success.
For all my small paintings I use very small brushes from a size 0 to 2 - I try to paint during the day time as the natural light coming into my window is at its brightest. My lamp at night is not too great. I sometimes need to use a magnifying glass, but try not to rely on it. I will be posting another 4 paintings when I get them done.
When I was visiting my mother in Shaftesbury, Dorset I decided to take some close up shots of different leaves I found in her garden as they provided a rich source of design for future work I may want to do:
I love the shapes in each of these photos - it is easy to see that these could be incorporated into pictures/designs which would be very pleasing to the eye. As an example, below I have an unfinished picture of a smoke bush, taken from a photo I took a while ago - I have referenced the photo, but interpreted the lines and details my own way.
This is clearly a work in progress, but one I hope to finish when I can
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Pencils, pencils...
After my completion of the Rudbeckias, I had some mount board left so thought I would get my pencils out - three to be exact (Daler-Rowney 5B, Daler-Rowney 9B, and an ordinary HB 2 pencil) - and do a version of Rudbeckias in different tints of grey, black, smooth, hard....whatever I felt like doing. One thing, I sharpen the pencils constantly to create different textures. It was a bit of a dawdle/ doodle:
This is giving me satisfaction because I can see it developing randomly as I go along - don't really know how it will turn out. I can also pick it up whenever I like - there is no rush, just experimenting with how the pencils work in my fingers.
Pencils are the sketcher's tools to take down what he/she observes. I use them for portraits, quick studies of animals, objects....well, anything really.....:
A sketch a day keeps boredom at bay! Always handy to be doing something in between the constant laundry, housework or dishes!
Thursday, 3 March 2011
Think I have got this right now….not sure.
This is my first blog on “It’s all in the head”!. Why that title? – perhaps it sums up how I see and observe objects/people..anything around me before making a piece of art work. Most of what I paint and draw comes from my own imagination, probably using references from my surrounding area, where I have been, or what I have seen. Creativity comes from the head as well as the heart – but a little imagination can go a long way to creating something unique.
I suppose art is a very subjective, always developing ‘thing’ – but I still hold sway with the idea of talent, skill, mastery of a craft. Not too keen on the box on the floor at the Tate Gallery in London at the moment which is heralded as ‘art’. Other people will tell you that because you have a ‘feeling’ of either dislike, or like, or in someway feel emotional about it, then the ‘box’ has about as much right to be art as a Van Gogh. Sorry, I don’t buy that.
My blogs will be essentially about different projects I am doing, how I got there I suppose. They may be boring, they may be good – but at least they are expressive.
The piece I have just finished is of Gold Rudbeckias – I visited Wisley Gardens, Surrey (I live at the foot of the South Downs in Sussex) and was amazed by the beauty of these lovely flowers. This piece was made as a present for a friend of mine who went to Wisley with me – this is for her 50th birthday
In this picture, I used quite a bit of pattern with a fine pen – this probably took several hours to complete and was not user-friendly to my eyes.
I belong to a couple of societies here and did a quick watercolour of some pears today at one society. I had a scrap of mount board with me, so painted on that (always one to save money) – was not very absorbent and could do with painting again on proper watercolour paper
This next piece is my first attempt after many years with limited pastel use – white, pale brown and charcoal on brown pastel paper. He was an interesting character – a myriad of wrinkles and planes in his face, with the added injury to his bottom lip! This made for a very interesting face to draw:
I hope this is a successfully published post, because either I am dim, or am missing a link in trying to get the thing on my blog. So let’s see what happens.
This is my first blog on “It’s all in the head”!. Why that title? – perhaps it sums up how I see and observe objects/people..anything around me before making a piece of art work. Most of what I paint and draw comes from my own imagination, probably using references from my surrounding area, where I have been, or what I have seen. Creativity comes from the head as well as the heart – but a little imagination can go a long way to creating something unique.
I suppose art is a very subjective, always developing ‘thing’ – but I still hold sway with the idea of talent, skill, mastery of a craft. Not too keen on the box on the floor at the Tate Gallery in London at the moment which is heralded as ‘art’. Other people will tell you that because you have a ‘feeling’ of either dislike, or like, or in someway feel emotional about it, then the ‘box’ has about as much right to be art as a Van Gogh. Sorry, I don’t buy that.
My blogs will be essentially about different projects I am doing, how I got there I suppose. They may be boring, they may be good – but at least they are expressive.
The piece I have just finished is of Gold Rudbeckias – I visited Wisley Gardens, Surrey (I live at the foot of the South Downs in Sussex) and was amazed by the beauty of these lovely flowers. This piece was made as a present for a friend of mine who went to Wisley with me – this is for her 50th birthday
In this picture, I used quite a bit of pattern with a fine pen – this probably took several hours to complete and was not user-friendly to my eyes.
I belong to a couple of societies here and did a quick watercolour of some pears today at one society. I had a scrap of mount board with me, so painted on that (always one to save money) – was not very absorbent and could do with painting again on proper watercolour paper
This next piece is my first attempt after many years with limited pastel use – white, pale brown and charcoal on brown pastel paper. He was an interesting character – a myriad of wrinkles and planes in his face, with the added injury to his bottom lip! This made for a very interesting face to draw:
I hope this is a successfully published post, because either I am dim, or am missing a link in trying to get the thing on my blog. So let’s see what happens.
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