Pages

Tuesday 28 September 2010

My tree story on www.treestory-seattle.com


Do you love trees? Who doesn't really? Check out this website and share your story.
This is mine....

Seattle is not my home but people I love dearly are there. And this is not really a story but TreeStory Seattle has been an inspiration and has made me realise the huge part that trees play in my life.
I am a watercolour painter, that’s my job and it’s how I spend most of my waking hours.
In a landscape that I’m painting, trees with their heroic, majestic forms invariably provide the structure, the framework. Trees give me the leaves, with their myriad colours and shapes, the fruit and the blossom that I love to paint.
Most of my working days I hold a gift from a tree in my hand, my paintbrush! This sensitive wooden tool with the soft sable at its end is the channel for the emotion, the creativity that flows on to that textured white surface which has often been provided by…a tree!
Until now, I don’t think I really knew how much I need and love TREES.

Sunday 26 September 2010

Studio workshop coming soon...Walled Garden



This is our subject for next week's workshop in the studio. It's an example of how you can jazz up a reference photo to make it more interesting. This is a lovely garden belonging to some friends. I loved the long shadows across the lawn and the foreground tree.

Saturday 25 September 2010

Burton Joyce workshop.....We had fun!




It's been a lovely day at Burton Joyce Art Group. It was, of course, quality rather than quantity today as there were just the six painters in the group which was better for them, more tuition time, and better for me, more individual contact, and better for all...more biscuits! They made some really good paintings and enjoyed themselves as well. I have their permission to show off the paintings and a group photo. I'm also uploading the doorway photo in case they would like to have another go at the subject.
Just click on any of the images to enlarge.

Friday 24 September 2010

Upcoming Workshop preparation - Sunlit Doorway




Preparing for the upcoming workshop at Burton Joyce art group. We're going to do this sunlit doorway scene. We will be painting sunshine again, or at least the effects of it which are usually cast shadows and highly contrasting surfaces.
This is from a photo of an old doorway that my sister Janet took and let me have as painting reference.
The sunlit wall standing out against the dark background and the shadows cast by the flowers growing out of the wall over the door are good fun to try and capture. They provide the wow factor that every subject should have to make it worth painting.

Sunday 19 September 2010

Seeing it in black and white...Oleander Workshop review.


We had a good time, yesterday, Margaret, Barbara, Kathy, Roger, Jean, Sue, Anne and I at the studio workshop. I don't know whether this was due to the art or the home made brownies at coffee time and the excellent lunch with wine prepared by Andrew, but everyone seemed happy!
When we got to the end and were preparing for a show of work which we usually do outside, it started raining, so I wasn't able to get a photo of the students' work. But as always the finished paintings were remarkable for their quality and variety, considering we all did exactly the same subject.

Anne had printed a black and white version of my finished painting and it was interesting. It struck me that viewing our work in black and white is something that we could all do to check out our values and whether we have achieved a good tonal range in any painting. All you have to do is put the image through photoshop and click on "remove colour".

I was quite pleased with my Oleander painting in black and white. The lightest bits are,as intended, the doorway and the dappled sunlit floor and the flowers stand out pale too.
Interesting to see how the red chairs, which stand out in colour are in fact the same tone as their surroundings and almost disappear in the non colour version.

And thus it is that you never stop learning in this business of watercolour painting!

Friday 17 September 2010

Blossom Inspiration on Redbubble


I saw an image, a photo of some cherry blossom, on Redbubble ( you'll have to have a look!) taken by Meg Hart and I was struck by its simplicity and beauty and the tonal contrast within it. On this site you can leave comments and encouragement to the artists and I duly admired Meg's image and congratulated her. I also asked permission to paint from the image as I sort of knew that I would love doing it. And here it is....I went straight off to paint it even though I should have been getting ready for tomorrow's workshop. Finished it off this morning....I'm pleased with it. I shall be looking out for cherry blossom next Spring as I love that combination of colours...the pinks and pale blues and purples and the dark brown of the bare twigs.

Saturday 4 September 2010

Upcoming workshop - 18 September Under the Oleander Tree

Here's my painting of the subject for my next studio workshop. It's from a photo of a courtyard in Crete lent to me by my wonderful friend Greta. It took quite a lot of painting! But that's because I've done a very detailed study. Apart from the chairs, which need to be carefully depicted, I think it could be rendered much more loosely. I might have a go, but at the moment I'm all "oleandered" out!
I liked the subject because of the cast shadows on the floor and the little doorway leading ....who knows where? The chairs provide a centre of interest which then, hopefully, leads the eye to the doorway. I put in the pot in the foreground.