River and lake

 Two local scenes from of the river and gravel lakes. These particularly provide a haven for wildlife with changing bird species over the course of the year. I noticed that more cormorants have moved into the area, which seems to be their migrating pattern for the winter.

I loved the bright blue colour of the canal service boat and used white oil pastel for its white railings and the conservatory of the house behind it.

For the first painting, it was the flash of bright yellow that inspired me to paint the scene. 

Tous Saints chapel, Sion

 

This little stone chapel is part of a castle in Sion, the capital of the canton of Valais, Switzerland. Sion is in the French speaking area of Valais and looks very picturesque with is castles and fortresses overlooking the town.

I painted this on Hahnemühle Aquarell Anniversary Edition. This turned out to be an ideal paper for painting the stone church,  as the structure of the paper helped with granulation, which suggested the stone texture in an effortless way.

Winter scene

 

Painting a winter scene in watercolour does not take too long, as the white paper does most of the work. 

I painted this from photos of a few years back. This house has since been torn down and rebuilt in a different style.

The pink house makes a nice warm contrast to the cool winter colours. 

I painted the snow on the fir trees in two different ways: 

- by using white oil pastels on the two small trees and 

- by leaving gaps of white paper on the big tree on the left.

To achieve the wintery branches of the trees in the background, I split the hairs of a Chinese brush before dipping them in paint and applying gentle upwards brush strokes.

A new year has begun; let's hope that this is the year we can finally get back to a more normal life.

This is the same park but with a view of the church.

Walking the Dog

 This started out as a failed portrait when I just couldn't get the proportions right. After lots of rubbing out, I decided to ring the changes and paint a landscape instead, where you have a bit more leeway with regards to accuracy. I am quite pleased with the result.

Portrait Artist of the Week is back

 Sky Arts TV have started their Facebook live events on Sundays again (10 am - 2 pm, UK time). This Sunday, Inge du Plessis painted Melanie Blatt from All Saints. I loved Inge du Pessis paintings on the Sky Artist of the Year competition and enjoyed listening to the relaxed conversation she had with Melanie.

I joined the live stream from 12 am and decided on using pencils for speed. I drew from the still photograph and surprisingly, the portrait came together within half an hour, without me consciously measuring anything. As I was refining the drawing, I started to lose the likeness and spent the next hour trying to get it back. I used a rubber at the end for some highlights.

Unfortunately, we are entering another lockdown phase in the UK and wonder if it's going to be even harder than the first one. At least, Portrait Artist of the Week will provide a welcome distraction on a Sunday.

Bridge at Audley End House

 This goes back to a visit to Audley End House, where I had the choice of several bridges to paint. Another exercise in light and shade, similar to my last post of cows under a tree.

Summer has come back with a heatwave in September, which is perfect for spending time outside and meeting friends in the garden. 

Cows under a tree

I loved the pattern the dappled light painted on the tree trunk and the cows.

These cows live on the Wimpole Hall estate, which belongs to the National Trust.