Just for a change...Ink...

I've been meaning to try one of these swirling landscapes in ink rather than watercolour...So today I did :) I'd taken a few photos on the path down from Snowdon to Rhyd Ddu (Where there is a fantastic tea rooms that does wonderful Dutch coffee...) and this was composed from several of those. I've wanted to try ink as i thought i might be able to get an engraving/print(ish) effect...and to some extent, there is an element of that...though this is still very much a painting...One day, I must get myself a printing press...and somewhere to put it... :)

Holiday painting 2 - Gesail Gyfarch

Here's the second painting, a view from the hill above the farmhouse where we were staying. I'm particularly pleased with this one, there's a nice rhythm to it I think...

I'm getting more confident painting these and that's allowing me to paint them more freely, which is exactly what the style demands...all in all, a reasonably productive holiday :)

Holiday painting 01 - Harlech

This is the first of two larger paintings i did while away, a view of some tumbled down walls over Harlech in North Wales (for anyone that knows the area, the castle would be directly ahead behind the trees and lower down :) the hills in the background are Criccieth and Porthmadog...:)

Broadly speaking, I've been trying to use three variations of mark making in these watercolours...it's a habit that's been forming as I've been doing them...in the case of the masking fluid, there are the outlines (done with a knife or masking fluid bottle), the brushstrokes (done with...yes you've guessed it...a brush...;) ) and a bit of splatter (with an old toothbrush)...I've really enjoyed having this mix of effects and trying to balance them...it's certainly something i plan on continuing to explore :)

Girl with Butterfly

Here's a little sketch I did while away...I want to try and find a slightly different way to depict the female form in the acrylic paintings i'm doing at the moment...so I'm playing with a few more flowing lines here...nothing even close to a finished idea, just a first step :)

Postcards from the edge...Part 3

...Like buses, you wait for ages and then these posts come along in threes...jump back a couple of posts and all should become clear :)

Postcards from the edge...Part 2

previous post continued...:)

...However, having created these little pictures I wasn't wildly keen on I started thinking about what might work on such a small scale. Inspired by the weather I started doing these bolder pictures of views through the rain covered windows. For these I used normal brushes and masking fluid, as with the larger paintings, but they were still very quick to do...lots of splashing water around and making a mess everywhere...I know Sue will be very pleased to hear that ;) The first ones were actual views through the window, but I ended up just sloshing the paint on to do the later ones, I enjoyed the effect I was getting, so I just kept going :)

Postcards from the edge...Part 1

Well, it's been a long time since the last post as I've been away on my holidays...lovely weather...;) Anyway, while I was away I had a play with some watercolour postcards. Quick sketches done with a little brush that you fill with water, so all very easy to pop in your pocket and capture something quickly (thanks to Lorna for the idea :)).

I'd have to say I didn't really enjoy doing these first ones, I hadn't done any watercolours for a couple of months and the combination of brush and scale really didn't get things flowing. But they were a good way of getting things started, I did a couple of full size paintings (which i'll post soon) and they turned out ok.

...Blogger doesn't seem to want to let me post millions of pics at once, so I'll split this post up...:)