Splash!!

Our focus on water continues much to my delight.



Waves thundering towards the rocks, this is my version of a famous watercolour painting. I especially like the wet on wet for the waves - creates a blurred outline which depicts water so well. I also learnt how to splatter the painting so that it looks like drops of water. The white foam is obvious because I used such dark colours next to it.





Here is another of waves - Susie smoothed out the colours so that the change is not too obvious. I used that wax crayon to reserve the white foam and I like the way watercolour seeps between so that it's not an obvious demarcation. You also see this in this next one of a building in town.

More experiments

Watercolour is suiting me rather well as I find that I'm all for the quick but effective in painting. I often fall into the trap of putting lots of detail in and am reminded by Susie that picture making (composition, tonal value) can be so easily forgotten - especially for large paintings. No danger with watercolour - no painting larger than A4 works for me - so many opportunities to stuff up. And you can't do too many corrections as otherwise the paper simply falls apart.


In this cliff painting I used a wax crayon to put on the whites. However I remembered the crayon only after the first wash of pale blue so the waves crashing is not dramatic enough. Susie thinks I should crop the top off and frame it. Experiment with the bottom - gouache??


This scene is of a wharf in Kiama where part of it was underwater at high tide. My interest is of the water under the wharf. Does it look convincing?


Lastly we had to paint flowers today. Susie presented a mixed bunch. There was just a riot of colour and textures. This is just a small section of the bunch - using the border technique to tie the elements together. I do like this trick - could be used on many compositions. As I'm in the gestural school of painting (except when left brain gets in the way) my flowers have little details but they seem to work.

Market scene and painting water

Susie had impressed on us the need to do the darks so that the eye is drawn to look. Thus far I've not been too successful but I've succeeded at last!


This market scene was at the Orange Grove organic markets at Lilyfield. I was attracted to this display of root veges - it was so French chic.



We then had a class on painting water which I was very eager to learn. Wettish paint can be lifted with a dry brush but some paint is always left behind. Masking fluid leaves a very defined edge which is not beautiful. But a wax crayon repels water and the mark is quite natural.


Here I have used wax crayon to define the ripples. Also see my attempt to paint wet on wet in the background. Susie has told me on no uncertain terms that I'm not to paint the tree on the right as I need to leave some part of the painting for the viewer to decipher.