Recently, I had the pleasure of attending the above workshop. It was held at the Alan Baker Gallery in Camden, NSW, which is about a 20-minute drive East of where we live.
The workshop was facilitated by talented local Natural History Illustrator Esther Bolz. It focused on capturing the flora and fauna of the Nepean River, celebrating World Rivers Day.
We were asked to choose from a selection of flora or pick out an animal from an image, and draw from that. I chose flora, namely, “Australian Indigo”, as seen below.
Chose to paint it in Watercolour. Quite happy with it.
The following images were taken in May this year. We had a trip up to Millthorpe (near Bathurst/Orange/Blayney), NSW, in May for a good friend’s 60th Birthday party. Some of the images are from there, and others are around and about.
If you ever get a chance to visit the towns/cities mentioned above, please do so. Lots to see! Abercrombie House, just outside Bathurst is definitely a must. A three-storey mansion, built in 1870, where you can have lunch and do a self-guided mansion tour. I highly recommend it.
Last Sunday, I had the absolute pleasure attending the workshop above. It was run by Linda Brown who is a professional artist from the Illawarra Region, south of Sydney. Linda is a fellow member of Red Point Artists, which is based at Port Kembla.
My Wife, Susan gave me a gift certificate for my birthday in March. The certificate was to be able to attend any of Linda’s workshop’s, and I chose this one as thought it sounded delightful, and it was. 🙂
We were asked to bring various natural subjects down, like Autumn leaves, twigs, bark, driftwood, shells, flowers, etc.
Linda guided us through different techniques during the day, which culminated in producing a Watercolour on Watercolour paper after first practising on sketchbook 110 gsm paper. This way, we could experiment on cheaper paper first.
As with any workshop, the people attending make it great as well, and there was a good mix of beginner to experienced artists, all ready to jump out of their comfort zones.
Here is my creation below, expertly guided by Linda Brown Artist. Thanks Linda! 🙂
Linda is running more of this type of workshop, plus others so if you see them advertised, I would highly recommend you check them out.
Last month for my Birthday, I received some gift vouchers and one of those has been spent on the book below, which I have had in my Wish List on Amazon for some time.
I haven’t had much time to look at it since it arrived earlier in the week so I am looking forward to finding some time this weekend. 🙂
Yesterday, Susan & I went to Red Point Artist’s Maker’s Market for the first time this year, having missed the first event of the year last month. It used to be called ‘Art & Craft on the Grass’ which, I still think, is a better name.
There were not as many stalls this time, and was wondering if the inclement weather was to blame?
Regardless of how many stalls are there we always have a relaxing time. Between chatting to the visiting public and sketching/painting, it is always fun. You just never know who you might meet or help to encourage on their artistic journey.
There is always an exhibition as well and live music. All adds up to a great time.
As a bonus, I sold an A5 Watercolour painting yesterday, the image below called “Beside the Lake.” So grateful!
Recently, I posted a Watercolour I painted using Baohong – The Master’s Choice Rough, Block Watercolour Paper. This time however, I decided to paint with Daniel Smith and Sumikondo Japanese Watercolour paint.
The materials used are as follows:
Baohong The Master’s Choice Artist Rough texture, Block Watercolour Paper
Daniel Smith, and Sumikondo Japanese Watercolour paint
Neef brushes
Size: 15 x 23cm (5.9 x 9 inches)
“Thinking Time”
In the above image, the colours used were:
Sky: Daniel Smith: Cerulean Blue
Ocean: Daniel Smith: Cerulean Blue, Burnt Sienna
Boulders/rocks: Sumikondo Blue-Black
Sand: Daniel Smith: Yellow Ochre, Titanium White
“Rocky Beach”
In the above image, the colours used were:
Sky: Daniel Smith: Cerulean Blue and Ultramarine Blue
Recently, at an en plein air field trip to a ‘Back to Belgenny’ farm open day with some fellow members of Macarthur Art Group, I was introduced to Sumikondo (Japanesque) Watercolours by Michele Arentz.
Michele has been using them for a little while now and quite liked the colours. Below is an example of the 6 colours I recently purchased from Amazon to try out.
I must say that even with my early attempts, I am quite impressed and am thoroughly enjoying using them. Michele has a set of 20 colours and I feel it won’t be too long until I add more of these Watercolours to my set.
Below are a few of my Watercolour sketches with these paints so far. A couple are using only the Sumikondo Watercolours, and I have also included a couple where I have used these watercolours plus Daniel Smith watercolours.
My first attempt. Blue-Black and Purple-Black are used here.
Blue-Black, Purple-Black, Red-Black plus Daniel Smith Burnrt Sienna & Burnt Umber
Blue-Black, Purple-Black, Daniel Smith Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Yellow Ochre
It’s only early days yet however, I believe Sumikondo Watercolours have a lot to offer, and I am having a lot of fun experimenting with them.
I’m currently working on a 15cm x 23cm Watercolour using both the Sumikondo & Daniel Smith Watercolours. The Watercolour paper I am using for this one is Baohong The Master’s Choice, rough, block paper, 300gsm. I am already loving the combination of the Watercolours and the paper and I will post the finished artwork on this blog.
Four days ago, on 13 August 2024 I completed by 2,000th Watercolour Sketch a Day in a row.
Back in 2018, I had started back doing Watercolour after doing it briefly in 2010 after doing a basic, six-week Drawing course. Photography was still my main creative interest at the time so doing Watercolour, or any other sketching/painting-related activity was just something I dabbled in for a bit of fun, on and off for the next eight years.
Towards the end of 2018, I wanted to start to learn Watercolour however, I was only getting to do it once or twice every two-three weeks which was frustrating. Around that time, I was talking to a business friend, who in outside hours, sketched in Charcoal and also used Soft Pastels. Also, I have been listening to a podcast called, ‘Sketching Stuff’ over time, which was broadcast by Charlie O’Shields who created the ‘Doodlewash’ website. Charlie had done a Watercolour sketch a day & a blog post every day for 5 years. He only stopped as he was going to be working on a project, doing illustrations for children’s book from memory.
I thought that something like what Charlie did seemed impossible, but he had done it. I didn’t start straight away, though.
On 26 January 2019, it was Australia Day and I was sitting at home relaxing and thought I would do a Watercolour sketch, the one you see below.
It was done on cheap Monte Marte paper with Sennelier Student Watercolour half-pans. This sketch ended up being Watercolour Sketch a Day, Day 1.
I set my goal as doing ‘one Watercolour Sketch a day’, and that is still my goal. I was very pleased to reach seven days in a row. Quite chuffed actually. I almost stopped after 400 days in a row, then I thought ‘this is so much fun’, and it became a kind of meditative experience where I could ‘zone out’ from the day.
Sometimes, I do the sketches early in the morning before the business day gets going. Other times, I do them at the end of the day. I really look forward to the time I spend doing them. Sometimes, I spend 10-15 minutes, other times it is 30 minutes or more. It just depends on the day.
Sometimes, you notice improvements, and other times it can feel like the sketches are not as good as some of the previous ones. It’s kind of like Life, or building a business.
The Watercolour Sketch below is the one I did for Day 1,000. It was tutorial by Peter Sheeler on YouTube. Early on I did quite a few tutorials, particularly by Peter Sheeler, and Nil Rocha Art. I highly recommend them.
Between 1,000 and 2,000, I’ve done less tutorials and more
sketching from imagination
sketching from my own reference photos
en plein air
Within that time, I’ve also attended quite a few sketch-meets with Urban Sketchers Sydney and Urban Sketchers Wollongong, and over the past few years, I’ve obtained a lot of inspiration from being a member of Macarthur Art Group and Red Point Artists.
I also use much better, Artist quality paper this days and a few years ago switched to Artist quality paper and brushes which certainly makes a difference.
For my 2,000th Watercolour Sketch a Day, I chose to do a landscape/seascape below. This is a variation of a previous one I did. Sometimes, I like to go back to a previous sketch and see if I can improve upon it, from last time. Very happy to have this image as #2000!
So, where to from here?
Well today is 5 years, 203 days of a Watercolour Sketch a Day and I’ll be doing it at an Open Day called “Back to Belgenny”, which is being held at a colonial homestead about 1/2 hour from where I live. I’m one of quite a few members of Macarthur Art group who are doing en plein air demonstrations for the public, which seems a long way from the Day 1 sketch I did in my lounge room back on Australia Day 2019.
I am loving the different experiences of this Artistic journey, which I will be continuing for a long time to come yet. 🙂
Written by David Johnson
17 August 2024
All the Watercolour Sketch a Day images are on my Instagram:
Today was our first time back at the Red Point Artists Art & Craft on the Grass event since April this year. The May event was cancelled due to bad weather and we couldn’t get to the June event as we both had Covid (for the first-time after dodging for 4 1/2 years).
Today was also the 4th time I have had a stall there.
Once again it was a fun time, a little cool and windy for the first few hours, then the Sun came out and warmed things up a little.
Today also represented ‘5 years, 168 Days’ since I started my ‘Daily Art Practice.’ The image below is today’s effort.
I have already booked my spot for the August event, and there are a number of things I need to do in the next month to ‘upgrade’ my presentation at the stall.
It was also great to see a few other Artists brave the Winter day and come to display their creative efforts. It’s always a joy to see their latest creations.
Communicating Creatively 