Sketch Book Days

Weather has been a problem over the last week. At present the days lurch from bright spells to rain and hail. Lengthy sessions are difficult when that is the case so the answer is to grab the opportunities given by the occasional breaks in the nasty bits. One disadvantage I find when working in these conditions is that I tend to hurry and not take as much care with my drawing as I would in more benign conditions. Whilst not my best work these sketches have provided a chance to wet brushes before I head off to Venice on Thursday.

The first two were done yesterday when I went out with two artists that I met after signing up to the Plein Air Group on Facebook. They are both accomplished artists and worth looking up on the net. Their names are Colin Joyce and Pete Dimmock. We didn't have a lot of time and our efforts were interrupted by the aforementioned weather pattern.

Bridges - Watercolour on Not paper 11"x 8"

The above is a complicated subject that really needs some time spent to produce a sound drawing and I'll have to think about returning to try and do it justice.

Seaburn - Watercolour on Not paper 11" x 8"

With this one I was interested in the changeable sky with grey clouds starting to gather. I remembered too late some advice I was given about avoiding painting in feet with the obvious result of my poorly drawn effort.

The last picture was done while waiting to meet a couple of friends for lunch in Durham. The sun was out so I sat for an hour in the Market Place and made a few passes with brush.

Market Place - Watercolour on Not paper 11" x 8"

More Messing About

The holiday spirit is just about gone from the household and I thought it time that I start to get my brushes wet again. I'm still in the experimenting mode and came across an artist I'd not heard of before whilst watching art videos on TV. The artist was called Jean Haines and she has an interesting way of working with water and pigment. So I decided to have a go at her techniques. I discovered a picture of hers that is some castle on a hilltop and decided to use it as the basis of the piece although I selected some shapes from my sketch book that relate to Durham and used them as the structure of the drawing.

The basic technique is one of using lots of water, letting the pigment flow and then introducing lots of colour variation to create interest and a base for viewer interpretation. I'm not sure that the whole approach is for me but there is a lot of fun to be had from working the paint like this. I'm sure that I'll remember a lot about the way the colour flows from this little exercise.

Durham - Watercolour on Not paper 12" x 9"

I post the next picture purely as an indication of the preparatory work that goes into some of the pieces that I produce. As regular readers know my friend, Peter Ward, and I challenge each other on a monthly basis with a photograph and then we both post our interpretation on our respective blogs.

This is a preliminary watercolour sketch that I made the other day to explore some aspects of the current challenge. I was interested in ways of depicting shadow and the compositional relationship of the elements. I have others that explore value relationships. In the next week I'll review the material and make the final image.

December/ January Challenge Study - Watercolour on Not paper 12" x 9"

Sketching in Durham

Doesn't life get in the way of painting? Snatching a little time with the paints can often be a luxury. I'm coming to the conclusion that the car should always contain the wherewithal to grasp any available opportunity. Found myself in one of my favourite places yesterday with an hour to spare and fortunately in possession of a watercolour sketchbook and some paints. So I dropped down to the riverside and put the time to some use. Clearly the sketch isn't detailed but it serves well as a basis for further development. An enjoyable hour and a pleasant memory.

Durham - watercolour 10" x 8" on RWS Not paper