Ideas

Looking at my Pinterest board of art I like, I did think about themes that appeal to me. Yes, I do want to paint big skies, big seas, big horizons. But there was also this idea of mountains and the cracks that appear in the rocks on the bare hills of the West of Ireland. All of a sudden, I felt the urge to express this through these quick thumbnails in my studio book. They won't all evolve into paintings. Well, not yet anyway. But a few of these do call to me. 

Drawing the landscape of Beara

I can feel the urge to draw coming back into my hands! Even if it's from a photo, it feels good. This is from a photo I took on the Beara peninsula at some point. What interested me was the fissures in the stones right in front of me. Wondering if the rocks on the mountain across the bay are the same? 

Drawn with my Kakimori bullet nib. Added a tiny bit of watercolour afterwards - Schmincke super-granulating pigments - Glacier Green, Desert Yellow and Shire Grey. I do love the simplicity of limited tools and palette.

Where I start

I've been thinking a lot about my process since that silly statement of mine a few weeks ago. So the final painting may well feel like it's coming from pure instinct, but actually, it's muscle memory and lots of work spent working on composition, values, colours and drawing.

I have this photo I took while on holidays in France last September. When the sun was shining, I became obsessed with observing the light bouncing across the streets. Let's face it, we're not getting much light in Ireland in January. And even in the summer, we rarely get sunshine intense enough to create strong shadows and reflections.

My main struggle is always to figure out what it is that I want to paint - is it the contrast between the sunny side and the shady side, the white car against the white house, the beautiful wooden shutters, the shadow under the shutters - it looks like an upside-down sail, or is it just the light? If you ask me, I would say it's all about the light. But how do I paint that? 

When I looked at my grid lines, I felt I needed more of the buildings on the left and right and some of the sky, so I went back to the original full-sized photo. PS: I've only just recently started using Procreate to figure out composition and how I want to lead the eye around the picture. And when I look at it now, it's all pointing to the car. Cars are hard to draw and paint. But a white car against a white building, even in the shade, how am I going to do that?

There's no way around it, so I move onto thumbnails, drawing so I understand shapes, values and get to know what I'm looking at. This is where I look at all my questions, and try to answer some! But even after all this, I can't decide if I'm more interested in the car or the inverted sailboat shadows under the shutters!

Next, colour thumbnails. They normally make me happy, but on this occasion, they're just showing me how much I still need to figure out!

Then, I need to practise the weak points, the shutters, the electric cables, the car, all along getting to know what I want to paint better. At this stage, it could go either way. I might go to quarter sheet direct watercolour, or I might decide that I've bitten more than I can chew and move on to something else! No matter what, I'm learning along the way, so it's all good!

Cars are so frustrating!

But then, if I add a silhouette beside the car, that might help, except I have to be super-careful about scale! And see, I have come back to the cropped view, mostly in the shade.

Saint André de Roquelongue

After a few days of procrastination, I just opened a random photo from our holidays. Lots to explore before I can get to the painting stage! Roofs, reflected light, gate, door, vegetation. And I really need to think about my composition. Maybe the small house on the left doesn't need all that vegetation? I actually like my first drawing under the thumbnails the best. Just the barn and the trees.

Art that speaks to me

 To learn more about how to design a painting. And just because.

Loose painting inspiration

I must try and copy this painting. I think there is a lot for me to learn here!

Wise words

Roz Stendhal is an artist who inspires me - I love her human and dog portraits. I love her approach to art. And I love the 'Fake Journal Month' challenge she sets every April - always a good way to get into my creative gear as I emerge from winter!

This article she wrote a while back caught my eye, as her wise words are very relevant to me in my current pursuit of a better focus in my art.

It's a long article (I get the feeling she speaks fast, draws fast and writes fast!), but well worth the read:

https://rozwoundup.com/2018/07/limited-choices-lead-to-successful-projects.html

The side streets of Kyoto

We found Kyoto too full of tourists - and we didn't even go to Arashiyama, Higashiyama or the Golden temple! One thing I did love about the city though is its back streets. The city is very easy to navigate - it's built on a grid system, with mountains to the west, north and east, and the main river in the city centre to the east too. Once you have a fair idea where you are in relation to these, you can leave the main streets and criss-cross the little back alleys and minor roads - and leave the noise and the tourists behind. You will find a different world, full of little shops, workshops and residents' houses, all with plenty of overhead wires and vending machines at regular intervals!

Walking through the maze of side streets, I felt strangely free, but also felt like I belonged - no longer a tourist, but someone who knew the city well enough to take turns without having to check my map!

 This little shop was a lantern maker, and I actually saw the artist with a brush, hard at work.

 No tourists here, just businessmen, mothers on their way to the market, overhead wires (lots and lots of them) and a vending machine

Watch out for bicycles!

It wasn't the brightest of days, but I would have loved to go back on a better day at sunset, turn to the West and take photos of a beautiful urban sunset!

Watercolors with Uma Kelkar

This is a really old video, but Uma Kelkar is an artist that I really admire, so I thought I'd share this from YouTube! I love how she paints. Next Urban Sketchers Symposium, I must go to her workshop! I really want to paint loosely like she does!

PS: I'm also the lucky (or persistent?) person who won the bidding war for her painting at the Porto Urban Sketchers Symposium. The painting is currently at the framers and I can't wait to have it back home!

Another inspiration video by Anne-Laure - Chasing the White Rabbit

This is yummy in so many ways!

More from Anne-Laure

I loved this little video and I must definitely try to paint more freely!

Killiney beach

I was going to post a few photos, but this short video is all that's needed, I think. Killiney Beach - the best place in the world for a winter walk!

On mature reflection, I can't resist adding a few photos. If I don't put them up here, they'll just disappear in my Pictures folder, never to be looked at again. And they deserve a better fate. Plus I might want to paint some of these scenes!

New Year's Day walk - Dun Laoghaire and Sandycove

A few pictures from our walk on New Year's Day. Easterly wind, choppy seas, b***y cold. It didn't stop the swimmers! Apparently, ten minutes is as much as you should stay in the water when it's cold. Probably less if it's really cold, like in Russia. Here, the temperatures rarely go below zero celsius. But it's the wind!

Killiney beach in September

Now that the day trippers and swimmers are gone, us dog owners can reclaim Killiney Beach! I've missed going there in the summer months, but I fully intend taking our Sunday morning walks there as much as possible over the winter. Last Sunday, I overslept a bit - I actually got to listen to World Report on RTE1 radio, a program I hadn't heard in years. But we still managed to make it. I had to cut short my weekly Skype call with Shinobu, but we'd had a good chat the previous week, so I didn't feel too bad.

And of course, Timber loves the beach. Actually, I should say he LOVES the beach! A big open space to run around. Plenty of other dogs. Seaweed (he's not allowed to eat it, but he can trade any bit he picks up for a piece of kibble by responding to the Drop command, and he probably still gets to eat a little bit of it anyway). The chance of a piece of crab, or fish, or, on one occasion a sheep carcass. There is one thing he doesn't like, though. And that's the water. He might be ok with getting his paws wet, but there is no way he will go in swimming. That's the half Malamute in him, definitely. And probably confirmation that the other half is not Labrador.

And I love the sea. One of the reasons why I couldn't live anywhere else. I can drive to Killiney beach in 12 minutes (at the weekend, early in the day), and walk the beach, feel the breeze, smell the air, chat with my husband. And then go home and start my day.

What else would I be doing on a Sunday morning? And every week it's different. So much inspiration for paintings. Not enough hours in the day, not enough years to live!! But I'll keep collecting the memories.

Three watercolour artists working together

Amazing stuff! I want to try to paint like that! A strong drawing as a foundation, of course.

Gelli printing idea!

This is so cool! I want to try it now!!

Continuous line drawing for urban sketching

I love this little demonstration of a continuous line drawing!