I seem to do a lot seascapes. I live about 45 minutes to an hour from the nearest beach so I don’t get a lot of time to spend near the water. The painting below is another one from the imagination.
Like a lot of people, I guess I find the ocean/waves relaxing, even if I cannot get there, I love to recreate the feeling/sight at home.
Baohong Aquarelle 100% Pure Cotton Rough Watercolour paper
Whilst I am enjoying painting standard subjects like seascapes, landscapes, building etc, I like to break out every now and then and do something ‘a little bit way out.’ I do love a good Sci-Fi or Fantasy book or film.
This is where I think the inspiration for, ‘Towards Another Dimension’ came.
Baohong Aquarelle 100% Pure Cotton Rough Watercolour paper
7 years, 2 days ago, I began my Watercolour Sketch a Day, Daily Art practice.
I began doing this daily art practice for a number of reasons:
I wanted to improve my skills.
Previously, I was only getting to sketch/paint what seemed like only once every couple of weeks. I thought I didn’t have time.
It’s fun!
Creativity assists my mental health.
It’s my ‘escape’ as I co-run a business and have a full life!
The Watercolour Sketch-a-day that I did for the 7-year mark is below.
I think it’s always good to look back and see where you came from/where you started your journey. I’m more than happy with my progress, though I still have a lot to learn. I’m certainly looking forward to doing my Watercolour Sketch a Day, each day forward. That is my number goal…a Watercolour Sketch a Day.
My very first Watercolour Sketch a Day is below. I started off using cheap Watercolour paper and below student-grade paints.
Thankfully, over time, I have tried several different papers, sketchbooks, pigment liners, brushes and paint, stepping up the quality of the tools I use and have been having a lot of fun along the way.
Looking forward to more fun, and of course, learning more and more!
Last Friday, my Wife and I went to her parent’s property, South-East of Goulburn, NSW. On the way out, we stopped at one of our favourite places in Goulburn, The Argyle Emporium. We have visited there quite a few times before and I have written about it a few times on this blog.
It is located in an old police station/courthouse opposite the railway line, just up from the main park in Goulburn CBD. It has 25 rooms and approximately 500,000 books, plus records (LPs) and other items as well.
I suggested that we drop in here as my Wife is currently reading a 5-book sci-fi series called, ‘Dune.’ She received book one for Christmas and has book 5 but is missing the other three books. She was able to find book three so just has to get the other two now.
Of course, the chances of me entering a second-hand bookstore and not buying anything are extremely slim. I am happy to report that I did, in fact, buy five books. I added three to my poetry collection, there was one art-related book, and one writing-related book.
The cost of the five books together was only $23.00 AUD.
If you are just passing through Goulburn and you love books and records, I highly recommend a visit to the Argyle Emporium.
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.
Yesterday, my Wife Susan and I attended Red Point Artists Makers Market (formerly known as Red Point Artists Art & Craft on the Grass), at the Red Point precinct in Port Kembla, (south of Wollongong) on the New South Wales coast.
It was a little bit different yesterday though as we formed part of the Annual Port Kembla Festival which included street stalls and live music up and down Wentworth Street, the main street in Port Kembla.
One of the highlights of the day was that I sold my 7th Watercolour painting, “Distant Mountains”, which appears below.
Materials:
Baohong The Master’s Choice Artist Watercolour paper, rough, 300gsm 18cm x 26cm.
Sumikondo Japonesque Watercolours
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolours
Aquawash brushes
The lady who purchased it said it reminded her of where she grew up. Interestingly, the image/composition came from my imagination.
We never will truly know who will be interested in our creations. Just keep painting, sketching, and be confident enough to display your Art. Someone, somewhere may just have an emotional connection to your Art.
I must say that I am really enjoying using these Watercolours. Brilliant colours and a lovely texture are two of the positives so far. Using 300gsm 100% Cotton paper, either Cold Press or Rough texture.
Here are some examples from my Watercolour Sketch a Day practice.
“Coastal Delight” – Watercolour Sketch a Day 6 years 14 days.
“Sheer Cliffs” – Watercolour Sketch a Day 6 years 24 days.
“Sunrise” – Watercolour Sketch a Day 6 years 44 days.
“Earth” – Watercolour Sketch a Day 6 years 52 days.
“Light” – Watercolour Sketch a Day 6 years 63 days.
“Dawn” – Watercolour Sketch a Day 6 years 67 days.
“Into The Chips” – Watercolour Sketch a Day 6 years 69 days.
“Geologically Rich” – Watercolour Sketch a Day 6 years 70 days (today’s).
If you are wondering whether this brand of Watercolours a go, I would say ‘dive in and have some fun!’ 🙂
The ‘Serpent’ was painted with the Sumikondo watercolours. The sand, ocean, and most of the island in the distance were painted with the Gansai Tambi watercolours. Daniel Smith paints were used a little for shadows, mainly under the rock.
The idea for the painting came from one of my Watercolour Sketch a Day sketches. This week’s painting was quite a different image in terms of colour and texture than the sketch I did below. Different paint and paper were used for this one.
Yesterday, I just finished a watercolour painting on Arches Watercolour paper. For many years, I have heard just how great it is, and I have to say that I enjoyed using it immensely.
The main reason I hadn’t used it before is that it is one of the expensive Watercolour papers out there. At this point, the largest Watercolour paper I have used on a regular basis is A4.
I purchased a pack of A3, as the store had no packs of A4 left. It was 20% off and I cut each sheet in half as I go to use it.
The image below came from my imagination.
“Distant Delight”
Materials used:
Arches Watercolour Paper 300gsm 100% Cotton A4 Cold Pressed
Paints: Daniel Smith; Winsor & Newton: Schminke
Neef Watercolour brushes
I thoroughly enjoyed using this paper. As I get to use it more, I will highlight more about it. Looking forward to the next one!
Communicating Creatively 