Isolated mitt

 One of these versions no longer exists. For better or for worse.

Another cloud in the sky

 Bold and Sensitive? Let's explore this a little further.

Rain from kitchen towel

I'm really not sure how this one came about, except that I was using hot press paper and pulled the paint around with a painting knife and with kitchen roll paper. Something here that I really like. An energy that is bold and sensitive at the same time.  

Exploring techniques versus exploring feelings

Lately, I have been trying to figure out how I want to paint clouds. But I've been focussing on techniques, rather than feelings. It's led me down a few rabbit holes. All part of the journey!

Art and the Outdoors

It was a few weeks ago. The Hugh Lane Gallery had an outdoors event, mostly aimed at kids. But we turned up and sketched it all.  

I started in watercolour, then added ink and colour pencil. It was a bit all over the place, but I had fun.

Then, in the last few minutes left before we were going to the pub, I did a pen sketch, focussing on the entertainers. I added a little colour pencil, and I was done.

Sennelier Grey and Warm Grey

Sennelier Grey and Warm Grey. With some Ultramarine Blue added. Some look like an octopus. That's the fun of experimenting. You never know what's going to appear.

Clouds in watercolour and some white gouache

The shapes are still clunky, but I am somewhat happier with the process. Same blues as in the earlier version, but this time, I used my watercolour grey mix (UB + TRO, maybe a little bit of pink PV19 and some Buff Titanium) as the base of the clouds, And I added some white gouache, trying to find the right consistency, not too liquid, but not as heavy as the previous experiment. But after all that, I think that this is not how I want to paint. These clouds are just not me. They lack energy and passion. Why is it that I know these things deep inside, but I still feel the need to go on tangents?

 

Fixing a cloud in gouache

The good thing with gouache is that you can fix it. Up to a point, anyway. I was so unhappy with that brutalist, Darth Vader, spaceship of a cloud that I had to go back. It's not exactly what I had in mind, but it doesn't hurt to look at it quite as much as the original version. I had to use some Cobalt Blue gouache in the sky to reshape it, then some softer greys.

Pine cone (done at the hairdresser's)

I was at the hairdresser's recently. I didn't sketch a self-portrait. I picked up a pine cone on the way, and drew it, twice. Very relaxing. 

Heavy clouds with gouache

It's a journey. Sometimes, I take a few wrong turns. Like this monster cloud in gouache. The second version has Neocolor II added. It did not help!

But I do like my background sky, painted in watercolour. From the top, Cobalt blue, Cerulean blue, and the aptly-named Horizon blue.

 

Warm greys for clouds?

I felt many of my clouds were too blue or too purple. I wanted a better neutral grey, maybe even a warm grey. After lots of swatching, the answer is ... Ultramarine Blue and Transparent Red Oxide. I knew that already, didn't I? Two other ingredients that I introduced in the mix: Buff Titanium and Horizon Blue. They both contain white (PW6), so it's no surprise.  Sorry for the poorly lit photo. And also other attempts, including gouache. I really need to learn how to use gouache better!

 

Playing with ink and an Asian brush

Not clouds today. Because I had done some exploration with an Asian brush, it felt like some calligraphy was called for. Done with an old bottle of Indian ink. Two layers. Glad I got it out of my system.

Happy in Greystones

Strictly speaking, we were in County Wicklow. But Greystones still feels very much like a suburb of Dublin. And it's not too far from home. We were sketching there on a gloriously warm and sunny day. We don't have many of those in Ireland. I even got to paint shadows! What a novelty! Liked it so much that I persuaded Brendan to go there with me a few days later just to try the food. We had the Buddha Bowl. It was delicious.

I still had a little energy for a second sketch!

Sketchbook flipthrough - Nantes

Sketches done in Nantes in May. You've seen all of these in individual pictures, but I think it's always lovely to see the full sketchbook.

Sketchbook Flipthrough - Japan 2024

Sketches from our trip to Japan in April. Since I had the tripod set up, I decided to film this sketchbook too. 

An afternoon in Dun Laoghaire

This was the last Sunday in July. It was a perfect day. Weather was good, sketching buddies were fun. I was sitting comfortably on a bench with lots of interesting views. So, here is my story of Dun Laoghaire on a sunny summer's day, in four sketchbook spreads.

First, the food trucks. Fish and Chips and Coffee. These are permanently parked at the entrance to the pier. At least now they have a queuing system so people are not blocking the footpath quite so much, But their diesel generator is noisy and smelly. They should not be there. But Irish people love their takeaway coffee. And a day at the seaside without fish and chips is not quite the same!

I got a bench partly in the shade. Perfect location to watch the world go by. And to listen to people's conversations as they walked by. Also a lovely Victorian shelter on the side of the road. It's locked now, because it would get vandalised, which is such a shame.

A big cloud appeared in the West, but it stayed there and didn't spoil our lovely day. The Maritime Museum (in an old church), terrace of Georgian houses and the Dun Laoghaire Lexicon library. And a few seagulls. We were chatting with some lovely people. The lady sounded British, her partner Dutch. Thankfully the seagull who pooped on the poor man's tshirt did not hit my sketchbook! It's always a risk.

I had to draw the crowd, of course. The pier was mobbed. And I also had to capture the colour of the sea and the fog on the horizon. So that's it. The full story of my afternoon at the seaside in Dun Laoghaire!

Sketchbook flip-through - Impressions of Beara

 Impressions of Beara, from the sketches I did on location earlier this year.

Dark Clouds

I do tend to go a bit too dark. But I like the Monte Amiata Natural Sienna light wash I did before the clouds. Do you see clouds like these in your skies?

 

Gouache colour mixing

For the days when I don't have time to paint... 

And I really want to get to know how to sketch in gouache. Every time I try, I end up with heavy, dry, paintings. But colour mixing is so soothing!

Love the right-hand column in particular.

Little sketches from Airfield

We live near Airfield farm and gardens. When I don't have the energy to go further afield, it's lovely to go there for a stroll. If you can ignore all the families and children climbing trees. Which I did, ignore them, when sketching there recently. 

Turkish coffee

This sketch was done from photos and a video that Suhita Shirodkar shared with her Substack subscribers. We all work from the same set of images, and it's always fascinating to see how we figure out how to approach the same subject in so many different ways. All in the space of half an hour!

I just picked one blue and one orange colour pencil. And added a little bit of watercolour for the coffee-making instruments.

Isolated shower. One more

I keep coming back to these big single clouds. Not at all the kind of clouds we have in Ireland. Just like the other two in the same style, I was exploring the theme of isolation, but I ended up strongly connecting it to the ground. I always find it fascinating when I listen to my authentic voice, rather than trying to imitate how I think I should be painting.

Threatening clouds over Trentemoult

Used a similar mix from the previous attempt, but I applied a Monte Amiata Natural Sienna wash first, very diluted. And I waited and waited until the first layer was just the right amount of damp but not wet and not dry before I applied the second layer.

The landscape below is a bit twee. But I felt the need to anchor the sky. And I was inspired by a photo I took from the Navibus as we were leaving Trentemoult across from Nantes.

How to do these puffy clouds?

I am not very patient. That's why these clouds are not puffy. They are running down the page. I did enjoy the first layer with Moonglow pigment. But I went too purply-blue for the second layer.  (Can't remember what pigments I used. Hopefully I wrote it down somewhere). And I applied that second layer when the first layer was still too wet. Paint takes a long time to dry here. We'll try again.

 

Heavy sky (Airfield)

I revisited this big sky over Airfield farm, working from one of my graphite thumbnails. I know the cloud on the left went too dark and heavy and it's all a bit too symetrical. But there's something I like about it. Is it the sky on the right, where I'm using hard edges, which I love? Or the trees on the right? Or the golden colour of the field?