Friday Painting …

A combination of watercolour paints, watercolour pencil and soft pastels were used, followed by a bit of editing with ‘afterlight’ on my ipad:

I may edit it some more but for now, I think I’m happy with it.

Going Round in Circles …

 

 

I’ve been inspired by the ‘Sketchbook Challenge’ by Sue Bleiweiss. I have a watercolour book which will serve as my sketch book as I intend to watercolour my way through her challenges. The first challenge is entitled ‘Circles’ and I decided to begin with some simple flowers made with circles:

I also had a go at something similar on ‘artboard’ :

Whilst I do prefer the more random nature of the freehand watercolour, I enjoyed using artboard as it enabled me to try a variety of colour palettes  – it was only once I had finished my trial run on artboard that I drew and subsequently painted the watercolour above.

Matador on a Monday …

Recently I saw an image of the back view of a matador, the colours used were striking and the image as a whole inspired me to try my own version.

I used watercolour paints, oil pastels (I really like the gold) and gold ink with a flower stamp:

Top Heavy Tulip …

Just a quick picture today, using pastels. I decided to go for a top-heavy tulip using a limited colour range. I quite like the result but think I’ll be back to watercolours tomorrow!

Teardrop Explodes …

Well, it’s almost teardrop shape and it has given me an idea for my painting tomorrow. My painting today began as an abstract flame, I then added various colours and ‘extras’ to it so that it now no longer looks very flame shaped at all. I’m quite pleased with the result but tomorrow will use a much smaller colour palette and I think I’ll keep the to my initial shape more:

I used watercolour paints, white oil pastel, chalk pastels and watercolour pencils!

 

Tree – mendous …

I’m loving painting at the moment. I can paint outside, in the sunshine and the paint dries quickly enough for me to not have to wait too impatiently!! I hadn’t intended to use a similar colour scheme to my birdhouse that I painted yesterday but as the colours mixed on the paper, it turned out that way:

I used watercolour pencil for the tree, white oil pastel for the swirls and watercolour paint for the rest of the painting. I painted this on A5 paper – I think this style would lend itself well to larger paper for a bigger impact. That may well be tomorrow’s painting sorted.

 

Place des Vosges, Paris …

This square is one of my favourite places in Paris. When I was a student, spending a year living in Paris, I used to come here to read on a bench or to simply watch the world go by. It is a real oasis of calm within this beautiful capital city. The fine art shops that line this square make window shopping a real joy.

So far as my painting today is concerned, I was not totally convinced that I liked it. I’m not great at perspective and I think I tried too hard to make it look like my photograph (see below) whilst trying to make it abstract at the same time. I thought there was a definite confusion here. I decided therefore to have a quick go over the right hand side of my painting, with pastels. I’m now happier with the result. There may be some further pastel additions tomorrow but for now I’m quite content:

 

Here’s my original photo:

 

Pastel in Purple …

I’d forgotten how much I like using pastels. It’s been a while since I’ve used them to create a complete image. I resorted to an old favourite, the tulip, and this is how it turned out:

Pastels will I think, be a great way for me to do quick drawings prior to recreating them in watercolour – I need to be much better organised if I’m going to create all the images that I’ve got in my head!!

A Final Touch …

There was something missing from my painting today, it took me a while, but then I realised what it was … a sailing boat, battling bravely against the wave:

Making a Splash …

The sun is out, the birds are singing, there are definite signs of summer being somewhere out there. Deciding to make the most of it, I painted in the garden this afternoon. It was lovely!

As I’m not by the sea enjoying this surprisingly lovely weather, I painted some sea instead:

I used a combination of watercolour and chalk pastels. I waited for the paint to dry before I went over the waves with different shades of pastels. It’s the first time I’ve really mixed watercolour and chalk pastels and I quite like the end result.