watercolours – scribblah

Taking The Line Forward: 1

Here’s what I decided to do with my Birkrigg Common sketch that I posted yesterday (with the Hoad Lighthouse above Ulverston in the background). I did a few of these linear sketches on my recent holiday and I’m working into this one with some watercolour washes. I like blending watercolours directly onto the paper (Khadi). Plenty more toContinue reading “Taking The Line Forward: 1”

Let The Water Do The Work.

Here’s another little watercolour from my adult teaching session this week. I’ve been emphasising that the important thing about watercolours is actually the water, letting the image develop as it dries. We flooded the stretched Bockingford paper with clean water then using a very wet brush, “dropped” the wet pigment onto the paper without overworkingContinue reading “Let The Water Do The Work.”

Teaching Watercolours – The Reveal

Today was a fun day. Last week’s adult education group prepared some samples of different watercolour effects but they were still wet when they left (below), so today we had the big reveal! It’s always exciting and these techniques often have that WOW factor! We used Winsor & Newton Cotman half pans onto Bockingford watercolourContinue reading “Teaching Watercolours – The Reveal”

Teaching Watercolour Basics

I did some more adult teaching this week, I’m running a short course in watercolour basics, covering a range of simple and accessible techniques. The group started with stretching some watercolour paper with paper gumstrip (learnt last week), sectioning it up with masking tape and producing 4 samples of different techniques. This is the demonstrationContinue reading “Teaching Watercolour Basics”

Petroglyphs, Camels and a Wadi Rum Pallette

Husb and I camped overnight in the Wadi Rum desert last week. The colours were wonderful, so complex. I didn’t have time to do “landscape” paintings so throughout the trip I focused on capturing the colours around me with Winsor & Newton watercolours onto Somerset paper, creating my own locality pallette. There were camels…. itContinue reading “Petroglyphs, Camels and a Wadi Rum Pallette”

Dead Sea Pallette

I do some artwork when I’m travelling, but there’s no time to do completed pieces. I’m not there to carry on working but also I don’t want to miss the chance to do something creative in a new environment, so this time I decided to try and record the colours of a place, to createContinue reading “Dead Sea Pallette”

Squirting Blobs

I recently made myself a tiny watercolour paintbox, using an old tin that originally had a dried up stamping ink pad in it. I filled one side with DAS airdry clay and pushed 6 semi-circular depressions into it with the round end of a menthol inhaler. And let it dry – it took aboutContinue reading “Squirting Blobs”

Root And Branch: Gwreiddyn A Changen

Coming up February 16th and 17th, I’ll be running a 2 day printmaking masterclass at Swansea’s Glynn Vivian Art Gallery inspired by the forthcoming exhibition PHYTOPIA. The creative imagery of the tree is rooted in the ancient oak forests of Britain, growing through the ages to branch into the present. From ancient Druidic and CelticContinue reading “Root And Branch: Gwreiddyn A Changen”

Foxing!

I’ve been developing ideas for my commission from Sky Arts Art 50, working out my thoughts using my home-made walnut ink and Winsor & Newton watercolours onto Waterford watercolour paper. It’s a heavy, deckle-edged paper that withstands the very wet medium without needing to be soaked and stretched. I wouldn’t normally use such high qualityContinue reading “Foxing!”

Something Of Myself

I have always done a lot of teaching with adults and I think that an important part of my technique is demonstration. I always work alongside the people I teach, going through the same processes as them, and facing the same highs and lows. I was running a weekend course at the Glynn VivianContinue reading “Something Of Myself”