Iris

I'm having a good week in the sense that I'm getting some painting time. The latest project developed out of a number of things going through my mind. First of all I've been interested in exploring some less than traditional techniques, currently getting some exposure with the recent publicity for the very fine artist, Jean Haines. Amongst these techniques is the use of salt and cling film to create texture. Whilst I've been aware of these techniques for some time I've never given them the time to get added to my own repertoire.

The next thing that I was thinking of was, maybe doing a series of paintings on one subject and after the recent picture that I posted of irises I thought they would make a good subject to explore. After coming to this idea I came upon a recent post from a fabulous floral painter, Yvonne Harry. She can be found at www.watercolourflorals.blogspot.com . In her post she had made a picture of an iris and added a textured background. I loved it. Off then to Google to find images of the iris variety that she had used and the marriage of the various notions running through my thinking brought me to this, hopefully the start of an exploration using the Iris as inspiration.

Iris - Watercolour on Not paper 18" x 12"

June Challenge

Another of the monthly challenges that Peter Ward and myself share. This time I selected a landscape shot from a trip to New Zealand. The subject is difficult as it has strong contrast and interesting incursions by clouds. I'm sure I haven't got the value range right, maybe a little tentative in putting on the shadow.

Milford Sound - Photograph

Milford Sound - Watercolour on Not paper 12" x 9"

Splashing the Paint

Carrying on with last week's theme. that is exploring some different techniques with watercolour, I decided to get into our little plot where we have a few flag irises in bloom and use them as the basis for my painting.

Essentially I used lots of colour much of it wet in wet and then splashed it with other colours and water with a few areas acquiring a little salt. The blooms themselves were left for a more restrained approach and I've reached the point where I want to leave it alone for a while. I think there is work to be done in terms of further modelling on the flowers and maybe one of two additions to increase the counterchange in parts.

A fun day with a little learned about the techniques in use.

Irises - Watercolour on Not paper 18" x 12"

A Splash of Colour

Like lots of other people I have been enjoying the attention given to artist Jean Haines whose recently published book, 'Atmospheric Watercolours', seems to have been particularly popular amongst hobbyists. She is very generous in sharing her techniques with fellow artists and I've no doubt that there are lots of us giving her methods a go to see if we can emulate the vibrant colourful images that she produces. So here we have an image that draws on the ideas that she expresses in her books.

I chose a subject that I'd been meaning to have a go at for some time. It is based on a sketch that I produced on a holiday in Italy. The tower over the Campo in Siena is a tempting subject.

Siena - Watercolour on Rough paper 15"x 11"

More from Venice Sketchbook

This week has been busy with lots of things that weren't painting so I'm posting another from my recent trip to Venice. This one was a sketch done in the lounge of the house in which I stayed.

Nick's Lounge - Watercolour on Not paper 12" x 9"