Watching the tutorial on Edges by Paul Talbot-Greaves. This is a view of Glendalough which I attempted before. I am quite happy with how this one turned out. We must go back to Glendalough some day. It's such a beautiful spot. I don't know if it's post pandemic ennui, but we don't seem to find the time to go exploring around Ireland anymore? The last time we were there, Timber was still with us.
What does everybody in Dublin do on a wet Sunday? Go to the archeology museum, apparently. The museum was packed. Still a lot of tourists about, trying to stay dry.
I found a good spot at the entrance to the Vikings room, at the top of the steps. I was even able to place my sketchbook on the balustrade and stand comfortably. After a while, my eyes got tired in the dark room, however, and I then headed to the café for our meetup. I wasn't the only one there early.
Back to Watercolour on Location with Liz Steel. I need to bring her prompt sheet with me next time I go sketching! Because every time I go sketching, it's the same - I jump right in without thinking about the story I want to sketch. Yes, there is always something that catches my eye, and I feel a compulsion to sketch it, but most of the time, I can't articulate what it is. And that means that I sometimes add too much detail away from my focus, or I forget to paint strong values. The usual stuff! You'd think I'd remember it all by now!!
It's a good idea to keep a little notebook to reflect on sketches and identify trends in my work. I do that for paintings and find it really useful.
Zooming in on my Wild Atlantic Way waves. Most people think of the Atlantic as cold and dark. Well, cold it probably is. I am not a sea swimmer, not unless I'm in the Maldives at least, so I can't tell you how cold the Atlantic is to swim in. But dark it's not - even on stormy days with no sunshine, there are all sorts of bright greens and golds shining through. And the power of those waves crashing when they reach the coast is something to be heard as well as seen. I never tire of it.
College Green. And a reminder that precise drawing is not something I enjoy. I stared so much across the road, into the light, as I was facing South, that I got the start of a migraine. Thankfully it didn't develop into the full-blown thing. And I don't like the drawing. It's just not me. Much happier with the direct watercolour of the two ladies, mother and daughter, that I painted afterwards, to take my mind off the drawing I didn't like. I talked to them afterwards. They were Spanish I think. The daughter got a job in Dublin, but she can't find any accommodation - apparently there's even people who end up sharing a bed with a friend, because that's all they can get! It's a very real problem in Dublin, for students, young people who come here to work, for refugees, and for nurses, teachers, gardai, who are not earning enough to afford the crazy rents, let alone save for a mortgage. I was even reading that many young Irish people go and live in Barcelona, Brussels and even London where they can afford more reasonable accommodation and where the cost of living is not so crazy. Apparently, rents here are now higher than Paris and the French embassy has a warning on its website to French people who are thinking of moving to Ireland.
So anyway, all this to say that I was much more interested in the human story than in the beautiful architecture. I think it shows in how I sketch.
Not much inspiration today. So I just draw some of the pens on my desk. The shark pen cheered me up!
And drawing some collected flotsam and jetsam items that I keep near my desk for days like this. With my Kakimori brass nib.
Going off on a tangent again. Someone I know in New York mentioned Paul Talbot-Greaves to me, and now I'm immersed in beautiful shadows, greens and stone walls!! He has online tutorials on his website for only 15 pounds each. And they're full of useful tips, including a full demo, some are nearly an hour long! I'm going to have to restrain myself and focus on what I can learn, one thing at a time!!
Mixing colourful tints, with Sap Green and Quin Gold as bases. I don't use Sap Green much at all. I find it too brash, but having done this exercise, I see how versatile it is when using colours that cut its brassiness. Same with Quin Gold, it doesn't have to be all strong and strident! I might have to add Sap Green to my palette now!!
I was tempted to paint clouds, or trees, but I had made a promise to myself that I would stick to one thing, hands, and I did. All done from photos I took of my own hands. I must ask a friend if I can take pictures of their hands. My hands are quite short and square. I would like to practise with more elegant hands! I must also try with holding pens, cup, and I should definitely take pictures of people holding their phones!
Direct watercolour, with a dab of gouache. Back to more photos of Clogher. Now I really want to go back and paint there! And experience the Atlantic ocean in all kinds of weathers! I need to paint a lot more of these sea scenes to get to a stage where I can make them more abstract, while still telling the story of these whopper waves and those crazy rocks. And also, I want to move to half sheet. These waves need more space than quarter sheet!
I have more seas I want to paint. But I needed a little cloud interlude, trying different methods. Inspired by Virginia Hein and Gail Wong's book. It's something I've been doing for years, but sometimes, I feel inspired to revisit the subject and find out if I have learned new skills since I last tried! When I search for "cloud" on my blog, I'm finding watercolour musings back to 2017 and even pastel comments in 2012.
Above wet in wet in wet. The paper was quite wet when I started, so things were a bit softer than I wanted.
Below Wet on wet on dry. I applied the yellow on dry paper, then the dark cloud shadow straight away, so it's a little softer. But as you can see, I used fresh paint for that part, and got a stronger contrast. I painted the blue around everything, so it's a little too much of hard edges.
Ideally I'd like an in-between effect. That said, the paper dried quicker than I expected in the top one, and by the time I was working on the little clouds, the paper was drier than I would have liked. It's like Une Valse à mille temps, you have to keep sharp. And it wasn't even a hot day, there was no sunshine, and I was indoors. And I wasn't working big (the whole thing is on a quarter sheet).
Today would be an easy day for clouds - just a uniform grey from top to bottom!
Naples Yellow, Moonglow and Cobalt Blue. Naples Yellow is probably too warm for our Irish skies.
It's not really grey, but the colours are a lot more subdued than my usual style. I used mostly Cobalt Blue, Permanent Alizarin Crimson and Monte Amiata Natural Sienna. A touch of Cobalt Turquoise and Hansa Yellow Medium to brighten things up. And Burnt Umber and Neutral Tint for the rocks. This time I did manage to keep a good bit of pure white. I did add some gouache for extra highlights.
I can't remember exactly where this is. Somewhere in West Cork. The sea was very dynamic, but as it was a wide bay, the crashing waves were not massive. Yet, there was a narrow area with rocks on both sides, and the water was rushing in. I was taking lots of photos and videos (none of them great) and I had to keep an eye on the water coming up, making sure I didn't get my feet wet.
This is a work in progress shot, with the photo I was working from.
I'm very proud of myself for sticking to this (I didn't post my fist attempts!)! If I can do a third practise session, I'll have achieved more than I ever have.
Learning basics:
