More skies

More sky exploration, using my White Nights watercolours from Crafty Studio. I worked from my large collection of photos. Phones are so handy. Anywhere I am and I find the light interesting, I can take a quick pic. Then Google Photos keeps them safe for me and I just have to search for sky, or clouds or rain, and there they pop. Ready inspiration!

PS: yes, I know that White Nights are Russian watercolours. And I have strong misgivings about that. But I bought them a year ago, and they are in my palette right now. I know nothing about the company itself. Maybe they are a small business, maybe they're run by supporters of Putin. I need to do my research on that.

Sketching while waiting

Waiting at home (for my hair colour to set!) or waiting for an appointment. Always good to have a sketchbook with me.

 

Marigold and green tea

Today, I allowed myself to play. I felt I needed it. And I am acutely aware that artists and sketchers in other parts of the world won't be able to play for we don't know how long. They probably had to abandon their homes, leaving their sketchbooks behind, along with everything else, cats most likely, maybe dogs too, boyfriends, husbands.  It's heartbreaking in little ways and in the big ways too.

Please donate what you can to agencies that will be providing assistance on the ground, like the UNHCR. 

 

Big poppies

Half sheet. Some aspects I like. It did require a good bit of rework from my original effort. But these poppies look like monsters, don't they??? Or maybe I had a premonition of an army marching and invading.

Poppies

Everything I'm painting seems pointless right now, with war raging on the European continent. 

But I painted this a few weeks ago, and I will continue to post, and paint, seeking solace in art.

Poppies make me happy. Painting them, maybe not so much, but I keep on trying!

I was working from a photo I took in Montséret in the Corbières a few years ago, in May or June, when fields that are not used for vineyards are full of them. They are much more orange than what I've painted, but it doesn't matter. I was just doodling.

This one is a quarter sheet  (Langton cold press)

The two below were done in an Etchr Perfect Sketchbook. The paint remained wet a lot longer, enabling me to paint soft hills and happy flowers. I was surprised when I moved to the single watercolour paper quarter sheet straight after, to see that my paint was drying a lot quicker. With watercolours, you have to keep your eyes open all the time!

I'm thinking of moving to a half sheet, so I took a few notes about pigments and composition and values.

National Gallery

I challenged myself to this big view inside the National Gallery. Perspective is hard for me, even when I'm sitting straight on to the view! I loved the big ceiling, the chandelier and the little dog looking up at his owner in the painting. It's all there. If felt good to be back in the National Gallery. First time in 2 years! I even saw sketchbooks by Anne Yeats, sister to the poet and the painter I guess. They were wonderful! It's so lovely to think that sketchbooks were kept and deemed significant enough to be displayed in a museum. Well, my name isn't Yeats, so I doubt that the next generation will care about my sketchbooks one bit. It's a bit sad really, as they are my most precious possession!

 

Lincoln's Inn

Winter in Ireland isn't the best time for watercolours - So I'm doing more pen work in my urban sketching these days. Still carrying everything but the kitchen sink, but really, I only use my Sailor Fude pen, an Ecoline light grey brush marker and a yellow marker for emphasis.

I was on my way to the National Gallery, and when I saw the Guinness delivery lorry in front of the Lincoln's Inn, it made me so happy, I had to stop and sketch it. Happy because it was a great active scene to sketch and also because it meant the pub had re-opened and we would have a nice warm spot to meet afterwards.

There was only one man on the lorry, but he kept moving, handing over the kegs to the guy behind the lorry (not in the sketch - I couldn't see him) every time he shouted READY!

We did meet in the pub afterwards and I sketched a little composite of the lovely celeriac soup (it wasn't that orange - celeriac is more a buff titanium colour, but I don't have a marker for that!) and the lamps and bar at the back of the pub.

Big Sky

So, it's always good when my sketchbook doodles can transfer to a painting. This sky, inspired by our stay in Inchydoney in January, was painted using the colours I tested in my sketchbook recently - Naples Yellow (DS), Moonglow (DS) and Prussian Blue (HWC). Quarter sheet.

I'm going through this debate in my head these days about whether this qualifies as a painting, or is it just a happy wash? Personally, I could put this on my wall and look at it all day. The colours and granulation make me so happy. But in all honesty, I probably wouldn't frame it, as I know most people would not find it interesting enough. I guess that I was happy while painting it, but is that enough?

Composition practise (#3)

Another composition practise. This is from a photo I took in Dalkey around the Christmas holidays, when we were varying our walks more, making the most of the light traffic in the mornings. The sky in the distance was luminous, despite the clouds, and I will definitely attempt to paint this some day! I am learning from these small drawings. And I feel like it will be easier to paint this scene now that I have worked out my shapes and values in the drawing. Why did I resist this for so long?

Sky practise

I felt in my last few paintings that my skies looked dull and forced. I used to paint skies without thinking, so this was particularly frustrating. But I don't dwell. I take action. Back to basics, going through old photos and using minimal pigments from my new colours. Jumping from warm to cool, light to dark. And a crazy sunset in the middle.

 

Sketchwalk in Bray

It was a wonderful change from the routine. Mandy, one of our sketchers, had seen that the Signal Arts Centre, a small gallery in Bray, were planning a sketchwalk on a Sunday, at the time we normally sketch. So we headed to this lovely seaside town. We normally go to Bray in the summer, but early February was cold and breezy, so the organisers decided to start in the gallery. The theme was the life of Lillian Lucy Davidson, an artist who was born in Bray in 1879. For me, of course, it was just an excuse to sketch, and being cosy indoors was an extra bonus.

After our first sketch, we moved up the town, but had to retreat to a pub, due to a heavy rain shower. Another great excuse to sketch. One of the lady organisers posed for us, and there was great banter, and talk of the suffragette movement and how women played a central role in the fight for Irish independence, only to be relegated to their homes afterwards.

And then we made it to a beautiful graveyard, right behind the main street. I worked in Bray for a number of years, but never knew about this hidden gem. After another quick sketch in the fading light, I rushed back to the seafront to catch up with the other sketchers. It was a wonderful afternoon, full of surprises and fun, and I felt a great energy enveloping me!

Letting go

I just needed to put paint on paper without a plan. Some of them look like a horse or a wolf, but really it was only about playing with pigments and water. There's some Prussian blue and Horizon blue from Holbein watercolours in there. And also some Daniel Smith Carbazole violet, and probably Cobalt blue too!

Sea and Sky

Hansa Yellow Deep, Crimson Lake, Horizon blue. Mostly. Some kinda worked. Some definitely didn't. All Quarter sheet.

Distracted by colour

This happens to me when I want to move away from a painting that's not working. My dirty secret? I have more than one palette. A few more. This is the latest, with colours I don't use often, like Naples yellow, Carmine, Indigo, Prussian blue, Horizon blue and Sepia, plus a few others.

Let's see what happens!

Rooftops

Another mixed media view done with markers, and from a photo. Markers are kind of heavy to carry around, compared to watercolours. And I have an anxiety about running out, in general, and also while I'm out sketching. Watercolours are handy that way. Even if you run out of one colour, you can use another colour. 

But markers are fun all the same. I did this one over my ink prepainted page. Using a photo I took from Sophie's Rooftop. I love these views of Dublin from above. I wish we had more of these. Unfortunately, restaurants are not the best places to sketch from, as they expect you to 1. eat and 2. move on as soon as you're finished eating!

Wetherspoon Camden Street

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I wanted to give the sense of all the layers of walls one behind the other, but I got too caught up in the detail of the clothes on the line!

hue, value, intensity

Trying to change hue, while keeping same value and intensity. This is not easy!! Great exercise, though. Reds and yellows are really hard to get right!

Composition practise

Week 2 or 3? I'm not good at practising daily. Too much going on. But once a week, I think I can do it! Came across some of my photos from Venice a few years ago. Makes me want to go back!!

I'm not sure I'm ready to paint this complex view, though!

Edges

Practising soft and hard edges. Hard edges are easy. Soft, not so much! And using different edges in the one piece is so hard!