Forestry

Sometimes, you don't have very much to start with, then you see something in it. An empty sky and land that reminded me of bogland at first. Then I remembered the forestry area that I painted before. I think I will have another go! 

I used Horizon Blue for the sky, and I think it's the closest to an Irish summer sky as I can get. Ultramarine deep and Burnt Umber for the dark clouds. The Van Gogh Ultramarine Deep gives that lovely purple feeling that I love so much.

Tree Shadow - springtime

I'm a believer in painting lots and planning before painting. If I stick to these principles, I will paint something good at some stage. This painting is proof that it works.

Cars - will it ever end?

I am pushing myself to draw and paint cars more. I feel that's the only way I will ever be able to incorporate them in my art. But it's hard!! Full disclosure - I traced these cars below, because I wanted to get a feel for what it would be like to paint them without having to obsess about each angle . So the cars and the road, they kind of look alright. But the houses and the sky are way way too heavy. Conclusion? My brain can't focus on two things at the same time. And second conclusion? Gouache is useful, until you go too far with it!

South Dublin in the morning

First wash. Now a deep breath before I add the cars!! Mmm, that Hansa Yellow Deep is a bit too intense for South Dublin!!

 

And then the cars themselves were not so bad (I did them in direct watercolour, no drawing first!), except they were way too small to fit in the scene. I was so obsessed with drawing/painting them that I didn't pay attention to the dimensions and placement of the first car (despite marking the top and bottom lines on my masking tape!!). It was downhill from there! Next time, I will draw light lines where I need my cars to sit!

Somehow, cropping helped.  Still, back to the drawing board, literally. 

Up the road

I sketched and wrote this a few weeks ago. How the world has changed. #peaceforukraine #stoppputin #standwithukraine

Painted from one of my composition sketches. I am trying to paint from my sketches or thumbnails rather than from the photo I took. Quite a freeing experience, as I'm not tied to every colour or detail from reality. I painted this on a quarter sheet, but cut the format to be longer, which is something that really appeals to me. Probably because I sketch in landscape A4 sketchbooks, often across the two pages, so I do love these long panoramas. And also I take my photos in 16:9. So it's time I painted in that format, don't you think?

Cars on a damp morning

Here is my second painting from Uma Kelkar's masterclass, done on quarter sheet, as my energy was waning after having to go back to the drawing board in terms of composition. Am I happy with it? The questions should be 'Did I convey the emotion I intended? And the answer to that question is definitely yes. It was about a cold damp morning in a world where there is no human connection anymore. So, yes, successful from that point of view. Would I want it on my wall? Probably not - it's a bit stiff, not flowy enough for my liking. That's something I need to work on - how to paint a cityscape that makes sense in terms of perspective and shapes, but is all flowing watercolour at the same time!

This below was the version I painted first during class - as you can see there was perspective and size issues to be resolved!

The Dodder at Bushy Park

I've been trying to paint this view for years now. Often with a lot of frustration. I haven't managed to create the image I have in my mind, yet! And this time is probably not the one either. I haven't really painted in months (I can't even use the kitten as an excuse, though I'm writing this with him in my lap, so no chance of going back to the metaphorical easel for the next while!). So, lots of excuses.

First attempt didn't work out at all. I did colour swatches and I even did a value thumbnail (a really quick one). But the colours didn't work out for me. I should really stick to the colours I know and trust. For instance, I found that Perylene Green is lovely on its own, but it goes all muddy when applied over golden colours (a mix of Nickel Azo Yellow and Quinacridone Magenta). So I got very frustrated and the whole painting went very blocky. Probably too much contrast between the light and dark. The view is a river in woodlands, so the light is dappled. Which clearly didn't work out here!! It will have to go under the shower, or at least I'll use the back for colour testing!

So I decided to try another version. Just one. I used good old reliable pigments, nothing fancy - Hansa Yellow Medium, Quinacridone Gold, PV19, Cobalt Blue and Indigo. It's still not what I have in mind, but it's an improvement on the one above. What's bothering me is the strong orange on the right. But I'm going to leave it for now. Time to move on.

Winter birds

All photos copyright of Brendan Brohan. All photos taken locally, some near the Dodder and one at the Forty Foot.

I don't tend to paint birds (or foxes), but looking at these photos, I'm tempted, I have to say.

Grey snow

Well, the snow is nearly gone now, but footpaths are still treacherous - why people don't clear in front of their houses still baffles me! The other days of snow were much greyer, but still a good opportunity to paint. Here is the same tree from a different angle. I love my new sword brush from Rosemary&Co. It's a 770 Series, Sable blend Sword liner. I got two sizes, 1/2" and 1/4". They look a bit battered already, but hopefully will snap back into shape when they are wet.

And I also really like the mix I used for the sky and the background - the problem is that I can't remember what I used: definitely Lavender, but the other colour might be Transparent Red Oxide, Monte Amiata Natural Sienna or Buff Titanium?  I should have kept note of my colour mixes!!

Green

Not only was the grass an amazing, intense, green, but so were the bare branches of the trees. I should have sketched the moment. Didn't. So I photographed it instead. Within 10 seconds, the light had changed. Always the light for me. Always the light.
What if I painted this green? I bet I'd be told it's not realistic. But this is Ireland! So you'd better believe me.

Hazel Avenue

I am 31 years in Ireland, and one thing that I have only recently noticed is that hedges are very popular in suburbia here. Looking at works from urban sketchers around the world, and from my own experience in Belgium until my early twenties (and now you know my age), it seems to me that people in other countries like to show their houses to the world, whether it is to display their wealth or to let in the light, I don't know. In Ireland, well, in South Dublin anyway, houses are often hidden away behind high hedges. I believe there are bylaws that prevent the erection of high walls in front of houses, so we have a combination of low walls and high hedges and trees instead. Are the Irish more private than their European counterparts? Is there a similar trend in the UK? I don't know.

All I know it that low walls and hedges are very hard to sketch in terms of perspective!

Another thing of course are the electricity cables - in more central areas, they are all underground. And probably in newer neighbourhoods too. But I love the criss-crossing of those cables! Another thing I love about Japan too, actually, those electric cables - they are everywhere, in cities and towns. A friend of mine thought they looked ugly, but I like them. I've only sketched them once - I'm not fast enough of a travel sketcher to make time for good sketches when on holiday with my husband. He's very patient, but half an hour is not enough for me (on that occasion, he was buying a knife, so I left him inside the shop and sketched outside).  And did you know why Japan, a modern country, doesn't bury its electric cables underground? Because of the earthquakes. Much easier to find and repair the faults when the cables are above ground!

(Sketched from the car - and I did attempt to draw a car on the side of the road and a white van in a drive - the white can got cut off as I was painting a gable wall and forgot about it, but you probably didn't notice until I told you. Did you?)

Big Dark Sky - Deer Park

This little watercolour sketch is based on a photo I took one day when I was up in Deer Park with doggie. It was a threatening sky, and I wanted to capture it. Definitely one I want to develop further into a painting!

Sally Gap

Video by BB. Music by the Chieftains. You may get a message saying that this video is restricted from playback. Click on the link to Watch on YouTube.

National History Museum

This Saturday morning, I went to the National History Museum, or the "Dead Zoo" as we call it here (just Google "the dead zoo Dublin" if you don't believe me!). It was lovely and quiet, apart from a few parents and toddlers. The staff gave me a sketching stool, which was so kind of them. And one of the staff asked me if I was an artist and he wanted to see the result of my efforts before I left! He politely did not comment on my first two sketches, but he did say that the final watercolour was good. Phew! The stress of drawing in public, when every Joe Soap is an art critic! I was vaguely conscious of some people standing beside me as I was drawing, but I was so absorbed in my work that I was able to ignore them!

Initial sketches

The final product (with a quote from a toddler walking by).

Plenty more birds, fishes, mammals and insects to sketch there. I think I might try to draw the kingfisher next time! Or the moose!

Solar Eclipse

For a while it looked like it was going to be too cloudy to see the solar eclipse this morning. But then the clouds parted just enough to reveal the sun and moon. Wonderful

Photos courtesy of BB.

Up in the mountains

Timber - 6 months

And he's growing fast.

Meet Timber!

Frog vs Cat

I have no photos to prove it to you, but we had quite a big frog in our front garden yesterday!

BB had gone to the car to fetch something and had left the front door open, and I was upstairs, when I heard a screeching sound, like a hissing of distress. I ran down the stairs to investigate and found our cat poking at a beautiful frog. It was a good-sized frog, between 7 and 10 cm in length, khaki green with dark dots. It was trying to hide in the heathers, but our cat was intrigued, and would have poked some more if I hadn't grabbed him and brought him indoors straight away. Needless to say, he wasn't impressed, and spent the next hour running from door to door in the hope that I would let him out. By the time our cat was allowed outside, the frog had managed to escape, thankfully. I'm not sure where he came from. There is a big pond beyond our estate, an ideal spot for frogs most likely, but there are walls all around. And it would be a long way round. Unless a crane dropped it from the sky? An eventful day for that poor little frog, no doubt. I hope it survived and made it back to the ralative safety of its pond.

Cat

We're cat lovers and this big guy caught our eye in Marlay Park yesterday: