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!
In the last days before New Year, my Wife and I went into the City as we had booked a Show at the Sydney Opera House that night. We thought we would make a day of it, and so booked the 6 Head waterfront restaurant at The Rocks.
We drove in and parked at The Sydney Opera House ($40.00 all-day parking), which is a pretty good rate and then set off to The Rocks to have breakfast and then wander around the shops and galleries before arriving at the restaurant.
After the restaurant, and after stopping for a quick photo opportunity outside, when caught the train and headed South, back down the City to spend some gift vouchers we received as Christmas presents.
I went to Eckersleys Art & Craft store and Susan went across the rock to the Yarn shop.
At Eckersley’s I purchased an Arches Travel Sketchbook & a set of Kuretake Gansai Tambi Art Nouveau Watercolours.
From there it was off to Dymocks bookstore where I purchased a book, and it’s companion volume. These days, when looking for Art-related books, I really want something different. I don’t want to buy books that replicate in some way, information that I already have. So far, I am very impressed with my purchase.
From there, we went over to The Sydney Opera House to view the Show, ‘Now You See Me’ – The Four Horseman which have been inspired by the movies about four Illusionists/Magicians.
The Show was very entertaining and under the direction of the performers the ausdience en masse got perform their own magic trick.
It was a wonderful day out and as you can see from the photos, we were well blessed with the weather.
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.
It has been another very hectic month for many reasons. I am fortunate to have started this daily Art practice a few years ago. Without this practice I think I would have been using the old excuse, “that I didn’t have time” a lot!
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.
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.
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!
Communicating Creatively 