Sunday 28 July 2013

The Laughing Chief, Mollie's Picnic and a Summer Break

Good morning friends, I have a couple of paintings for you, before I start my summer break!
Every year I take the whole of August off, to keep my hubs company. We spend the time enjoying the local area, time in the garden and being together. Mostly the computer is off. I look forward to it every year.

To the paintings - this first is our darling Missy, painted in a very experimental style - I mean, there's no way she's shades of yellow and green!
The second is a more traditional style painting, and one that was demonstrated by Painting Friends very own Mollie Jones. The link to Painting Friends is on the sidebar, all artists are welcomed.

The Laughing Chief 






Mollie's Picnic



I hope you've enjoyed seeing these. See you in September!
Enjoy your summer, whatever you do.

Monday 22 July 2013

Pure Pleasure

Painting is pure pleasure to me.
There's something about wielding a brush, or pouring paint and tilting a board, that makes me smile.
Time is of no consequence when I paint, I am lost in swishing or tilting, then making something recognisable from the results.
Its a fabulous hobby that can make you forget time and the pressures of a day.
I'm not surprised so many of us enjoy it.

I hope you enjoy viewing the latest results of me, having fun.

Firecracker






To Be Free




both are painted on Saunders Waterford, 140lb Rough.
That's my new favourite paper. I love rough paper for all the texture you can achieve on it, as well as the way the paint flows and fizzes together, effortlessly.

They are also both quarter sheet in size - 15x11 inches - which is my favourite size to paint. Its my favourite size because its one easily accommodated in most houses; easy to file too, should I be keeping the painting and rotating it in my own house.

How about you, do you paint? Is it enjoyable to you? Do you have a favourite paper or size? Or are you one of my many followers who happen to love looking at my pretty pictures?

Whichever you are, wish you a fabulous week. Until next time.




Monday 15 July 2013

Two Paintings, one competition and much experimenting!

I've been experimenting again!
These two are the results.

The Fisherman

15 x 11 inches
Saunders Waterford 140 Rough

Toward Skye

15 x 11 inches
Saunders Waterford 140 Rough



The first of the two to be created was Toward Skye.
I poured some blues and blue-greens onto wet, stretched paper.
(I do use a paper stretcher when I know I'm going to use a lot of water. The  one (five!) I have came from a UK seller on ebay, called Arthur, whose page you can find HERE, should you wish to buy one.)

Then I used a spray bottle, with the nozzle set to fine jet, to move the paint around the paper in various patterns.
How do I know where I want to spray the paint? In this case, it was random, because the whole object of this exercise was to make something up from the result of random spraying!
When I'd had enough playing with squirting paint - which by the way - is immense fun, I left it to dry in the sun. (A mere 92 in the garden at that point!)

When the painting was dry, less than five minutes later, I took it inside and propped it against the TV cabinet. I retired to the sofa to contemplate. The whole painting screamed to me 'sea'.
It still needed something, so I decided the something would be seagulls. Two in the top left and one lower right, flying across the ocean to be where his friends were flying. Once the gulls were in, I was satisfied. The painting felt complete.

Because the sea looked good to me, I decided next painting had to be The Fisherman.
This time, I wanted a recognisable face. So firstly I drew him lightly on the paper. Just enough lines to give me a feel for the face. Then I masked the pieces I wanted to stay white. I use a fine needle for applying thin lines of mask. When they were all dry, I wet and stretched the paper.

Once the paper was ready, I poured paint and sprayed it again, this time lighter blues and blue-greens to give the man the feel of the sea. When I was happy with where the colours lay, I stopped spraying.

When that part had dried, I darkened up a few areas, using a damp brush to fade them into the surrounding area. Satisfied, I removed the mask - and the resulting painting is the one you see above.

I quite like pouring and spraying - it's fast, frantic and great fun!
Give it a go - you might enjoy it too!

I've entered The Fisherman into a competition! Ken Bromley Art Supplies (here) have a cover competition once a year. The shortlist will be made public on the 23rd July. I'll let you know if it gets through.

Monday 8 July 2013

Here comes the Sun..

I so enjoyed posting once a week, that its going to be my new normal :)
Here's this week's efforts on the painting front - and all to do with sun!


Sun Worshipper

11x8 inches
Saunders Waterford 140 Rough


Sun Dance

15 x 11 inches
Saunders Waterford 140 Rough
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