Faded

Here's a study of a couple of roses, deadheaded from the rose plant in the front garden. I enjoyed the observational exercise; drawing and painting these small life studies is good fun.

Watercolour from life, on Daler Rowney Langton NOT paper, 12" by 9".

Year of Painting no 5

The ref pic for the Painting Friends forum Year of Painting this month was a seascape. Never having painted the sea before, this was a bit of a challenge for me!

I like the long letterbox format, which I think works well here. I like the overall colour scheme, with that greeny aqua feel. Not keen on the land mass in the top corner; it looks a bit like a big storm cloud. I’m not pleased with the figures, which I think look rubbish! I debated whether to include them or not, but they act as a good point of scale for the scene.

I would love to spend some time at the coast, watching and painting the water. Hmm, maybe a few days away are beckoning!

Acrylic on canvas, 8” by 20”

Another sad tale, another pm study

We've had another window-related casualty, which is a bit upsetting. This time it was a dunnock, which flew into a different window. I'm hoping that it's just coincidence that we've had two birds hitting windows within a couple of days - we haven't had any in the previous 6 months that we've been here...

So, another post-mortem study. These little birds can look quite drab and unassuming from a distance, but they have beautiful hues and subtle colours in their plumage close up.

Watercolour (on HP paper), quarter sheet.

Blackcap, a sad tale

Here's a study I painted on Sunday afternoon, of an unfortunate juvenile blackcap (a kind of warbler). We found it dead on the path in front of the lawn - I think it probably flew into the window.

In the spirit of one of my favourite artists, Tim Wootton, I thought I'd do a post mortem study. So, two studies of the same unfortunate bird. It was an excellent exercise in observation. 

I'd been watching this youngster only the previous day, being fed by one of its parents. I was pondering the long, long journey it was going to be making - blackcaps migrate to Africa - sadly, this one didn't make it any further than my little Cambridgeshire village. Such is the natural world, but what an amazingly fragile little creature to make that journey...

Watercolour, quarter sheet. As always, you can click the images for a closer look.

Javan Langur, at the zoo

Here's my latest effort, another zoo-based painting from my photos from Twycross Zoo.

This is a Javan Langur, who had an irresistibly wise and somewhat world-weary appearance. This was painted with no preliminary drawing, and is in watercolour. I really enjoyed this one, and it's got me itching to go back to the zoo to do some sketching... I see a day out in my near future ;-)

Watercolour, quarter sheet.

Missy

A few weeks back I went to an acrylic portrait demo, invited by fellow arty blogger Pat Elliot. As it was a bit of a drive for me and the demo was in the evening, Pat and her husband were kind enough to feed me and put me up for the night. I painted Pat's dear little dog, Missy, as a thank you.

Acrylic on paper, 14" by 10". No preliminary drawing, straight in with the paint - good fun!

YOP 4

Here's the next in the Year of Painting challenge on the Painting Friends forum.

This was from a lovely but busy reference photo from mr sandbanx on Wet Canvas.


My aim with this YOP ref was to try to imagine I was on holiday (if only!) and that I was in situ with pen and watercolours, sketching the scene. I have seen a lot of beautiful journal-type art along these lines, and I am always impressed - there's a real sense of being there, a unique capture of a moment, or an afternoon perhaps. So for this YOP I sketched in ink (no pre-drawing with pencil) and tried to capture the scene as if I was actually there...


...I think I need a holiday!


12" by 9", ink and watercolour.