Finished Painting
I found the dark red fabric really quite difficult to paint! However I did find that by putting into practice my tonal learnings from the previous exercises I was able to build up colour carefully and slowly.
I followed the reccomendations in the course material and began to identify colour areas in the painting by very pale washes. Keeping the colour fresh was another factor which I feel helped me to compose and complete this painting.
Once the painting was finished I was quite surprised to see the tones and shades used in both the lemon and the apple to finish them and create shade and shadow!
Monday 30 April 2012
Project 4 Colour - Still life with colourful objects
Project 4 Colour - Still life with colourful objects
This was the second sketch I completed in my sketchbook prior to starting my painting on watercolour paper.I found this sketch really helpful for sizing, proportion and light and dark shades.
Project 4 Colour - Still life with colourful objects
This is the preliminary sketch and painting of my colourful objects. I was cafeful to pick a very vibrant background in the strong red, then a couple of vibrant pieces of fruit. I then chose to contrast this with the muted tones of the derwent mug. After completing this quick colour sketch I decided to move the apple nearer to the lemon so that the items overlapped and the apple could pick up some of the yellow tone of the lemon.
Project 3 Tone and Composition - Logbook Notes
I think the studies which worked best were the lounge in burnt sienna and the final painting the shed interior in sepia. Perhaps this is because they were both painted in warm colours which seemed to convey the sinshine fairly well. The imagined room in sunlight was perhaps too cool whne it was finished.
I did not feel too constrained by the use of monochrome - I think the previous exercises of still life in monochrome were really key in me forming this opinion. I have found the layering of one colour in multiple tones really enjoyable and a truly new learning experience.
I think the ability of watercolour to convey mood and atmosphere has been really well demonstrated by my previous comment regarding which paintings I feel worked well i.e. the colours demonstrating either warmth or light or coolness. I think the observed studies did help me to compose imaginary rooms, however I did need to take my time and it did not come easily.
Since completing thiss section of the course I have found I am really tired after completing a painting! I guess this is due to the extent to which I have been staring at my subjects!
I think the studies which worked best were the lounge in burnt sienna and the final painting the shed interior in sepia. Perhaps this is because they were both painted in warm colours which seemed to convey the sinshine fairly well. The imagined room in sunlight was perhaps too cool whne it was finished.
I did not feel too constrained by the use of monochrome - I think the previous exercises of still life in monochrome were really key in me forming this opinion. I have found the layering of one colour in multiple tones really enjoyable and a truly new learning experience.
I think the ability of watercolour to convey mood and atmosphere has been really well demonstrated by my previous comment regarding which paintings I feel worked well i.e. the colours demonstrating either warmth or light or coolness. I think the observed studies did help me to compose imaginary rooms, however I did need to take my time and it did not come easily.
Since completing thiss section of the course I have found I am really tired after completing a painting! I guess this is due to the extent to which I have been staring at my subjects!
Project 3 Tone and Composition - Shed interior completed
I chose to use sepia for this painting as I thought brown tones would lend themselves well to the interior of such a natural environment. The prelimary line drawing has enabled me to create perspective. I then again carefully increased layers of pale washes and allowed them to dry in between. After the paler washes were dry I layered darker tones to highlight the tools, under the workbench, the sides of the shed and parts of the roof. I was careful throughout not to over tint the windows as I was keen to create contrast bewteen the brightness of the windows and the gloomy interior of the shed.
Project 3 Tone and Composition - Imaginary Rooms
I decided to pretend night had fallen for my second imaginary room, with a lamp which is not visible in the painting but is located on the right at the foot of the bed. Having already completed the daytime painting I found I was better able to recreate the scene as a nighttime scene. In isolation I have mixed feelings about this painting, however when I place it next to the previous painting I am happier that it shows the difference in light source.
Project 3 Tone and Composition - Imaginary Rooms
I always thought I had a fairly vivid imagination - until being asked to paint an imaginary one. I felt that I had to begin with a window as that would give me my light course for placement of the shadows in the appropriate. Having found the dramatic interiors exercise difficult this one seemed even more of a challenge! I decided to try prussian blue for this exercise. The prussian blue seems to have dried in an interesting mottled texture. I really enjoyed building the layers of wash in this exercise and was really carefull to consider where the shadows would be - painting from my imagination really was very different from painting an observed item! I left the window clar of wash to try to ensurethis remained the brightest part of the painting, and then only applied a pale wash to the reflected window on the floor.
Project 3 Tone and Composition Dramatic Interiors
This was the second attempt at the bathroom, this time with the light off. Its interesting as when I look closely at the finished painting the blue tones of the paynes grey seem to have become almost opaque on edges of the toilet and bath. With the light off it wasnt difficult to create the drama by concentrating on much darke washes over the majority of the painting then "highlighting" in darker mixes certain areas of the room such as the corner of the room furthest from the viewer. I have to admit to struggling to then highlight the edges of the bath but I had tried to keep these genuinely light areas as clean as possible. With these exercises I am definitely finding the light pencil lines a great help in separating out and defining areas for light, mid and dark tones.
Project 3 Tone and Composition - Dramatic Interiors
I found this exercise really quite difficult! The bathroom in my house does not have a window, therefore it is lit with a light. I decided to try to paint the bathroom firstly with the light on then with the light off. For both paintings I used paynes grey (I am fascinated with this block of colour, sometimes it appears blue, and at others it seems black or grey).
This painting is completed with the light on, it was really difficult to capture a white bathroom in a "black" paint! However as it sat outside the bathroom and looked for quite a while I found that there were shadows which could be painted to then show the outlines of the bathroom suite. Once I started to paint I found that the main factor was that I had to ensure I did not paint it too darkly so I kept the individual washes very light and then gently highlighted areas with a slightly darker wash in the darker areas.
Project 3 Tone and Composition - Interior
Composition of an interior. I painted this interior in burnt sienna. was quite surprised about how long this painting took, including waiting for the layer to dry between washes. I think the final painting is interesting in that leaving the window areas with only one wash this looks so much brighter once the additional layers are dry, and built over one another. I dont really feel as though the photograph has dont this painting justice - the burnt sienna seems to have really well represented the warmth of the sun streaming into the room. It was hard not to paint the pattern of the wallpaper.
I think scaling up from still life was really quite a challenge - I wanted to capture the individual details of objects in the room but had to remind myself to exclude the details. I also didnt know where to "look".
I think the exercises in this course have really helped me to separate out tones and recognise that through using lighter washes of the same colour I can make an area of my painting look quite different to another more tonally deep area.
Monday 16 April 2012
Tones in several layers - final painting
I really enjoyed this approach, I was a little hesitant towards the end of this painting to "overdoo" the layers and build it up too much but on comparing this painting with the previous photo I am happy I took the plunge and added some much darker areas - I think the bananas and apple in particular have benefited from the extra deep tones as this has developed the shadow thus maing them look more 3D and less flat and lifeless. I think the layering of tones has also worked particularly well in creating believeable shadows. I think this painting is once which I have spent the most time on so far in this course! I do feel that the time spent is evident - and as referred to previously in my notes though the process of laying the washes can be repetitive and I need patience to allow the layers to dry betweek applications, with care I can ensure the paper is not too wet and therefore dries quite quickly.
Tones in several layers attempt 2
This is the painting using the tones in several layers technique a few layers before it was completed. I found the process of adding layers carefully and allowing them to dry between applications laborious yet quite satisfying. I feel that I have been able to created gentle soft tones and a greater feeling of depth as a result of the carefull application of ever deeper washes of colour
Tones in several layers - attempt 1
Well, this is where I completely misinterpreted the course material! I simply painted in various tones of my Indigo - without actually creating build up of layers. When I had finished the painting I was generally unhappy with the result - it does not have the softness of tone I was hoping to see......so I read and re-read again the exercise details, and realised I needed to be applying washes over my page, and using softer layers and gradually building the tone - otherwise what was the point of the initial 4cm strips exercise?!, I felt though that this should be included in my learning log as this demonstrates that we learn from our mistakes!
Tones in several layers - line drawing on watercolour paper
Line drawing on watercolor paper i preparation for laying tones in several layers
Tones in several layers - initial sketch
This was the initial sketch before creating the line drawing for the Tones in several layers exercise. I am finding this approach really usefull as it really let me look at just the light and dark areas and absorb the layout of the picture without "worrying" about the watercolour techniques
Tones from a single layer - finished painting
This is the completed painting from the tones from a single layer exercise - I found that the numbering of the painting for reference really helped me to not only include the correct tones in the correct places - but to position the different depths of tones between the spectrum of the lightest tone and the most saturated colour. I used cotman Indigo watercolour for this painting.
Tones from a single layer - numbered tone areas
Numbering the toned areas felt a little tedious - it looks like a painting by numbers set! once I began to paint however I could really see the benefit of taking this approach.
Tones from a single layer - pencil sketch
Preliminary sketch to position the items ready to apply tones of paint in a single layer - I tried to keep the composition of this painting fairly simple
Thursday 12 April 2012
Old Car Horn in Ink and Watercolour
Ink, Watercolour, Ink - my new favorite technique! (Textiles Sketchbook)
Old Iron in Ink and Watercolour
I drew the image in ink, painted over it in watercolour, then re drew in ink over the dry watercolour (Textiles Sketchbook)
2CV in Ink and Watercolour
I drew the image in ink, then watercolour painted over it, then re drew some of the lines in ink (Textiles Sketchbook)
Christmas Cactus Ink & Watercolour
I think of all the paintings in this exercise this is my favorite aesthetically. The contrast of the sharp ink with the soft lines of the watercolour is something that really appeals to me. Incidentally I had been doing some sketching in my Textiles Sketchbook using watercolour and Ink so I have also included these in this set.
Christmas Cactus Pencil on dry watercolour
Pencil on top of the watercolour gives a really finished appearance, in particular I found it useful for highlighting the shape of the cup and saucer, and the giving definition to the leaves of the cactus. It also enabled me to pick out the wood grain of the table top, something I had been finding difficult with the watercolour alone.
Christmas Cactus Pencil & Watercolour Quickly
I think the way the paint has smudged and been more quickly applied creates a very different outcome to carefully painting within the drawn pencil lines - I think the finished result is much softer, and despite the blurred appearance I think the pencil gives enough definition to the piece.
Christmas Cactus 7 Pencil & Watercolour - Charcoal
For this composition I painted quickly using bold strokes of my brush and less saturated colour. The effect of the charcoal over the dry paint creates a real contrast, and I had to be careful not to "overdo" the charcoal as I think this could have taken over the painting negatively.
Christmas Cactus 6 Pencil & Watercolour Careful
This was my first painting in the Pencil and Watercolour Exercise. I think for this one I used the wrong size brush! I think the pencil sketch gives structure to the image, but I felt my painting was less spontaneous as I was carefully colouring in the drawn images. I think the pencil remaining visible is an interesting effect, one which i would either cover completely with more layers of paint, or one which I could use as a feature of my overall image.
Quick Watercolour Studies - Review Notes
- I think with my first attempts I was focussing more on trying to create a "good" painting. I think I was trying to focus on all aspects at once. I think once I had worked on Christmas Cactus 3, the blurred wash of shapes wet on wet I was able to compose my paintings more carefully. That said I definitely think my focus was on line and accuracy over tone and colour.
- I think I was drawing more than painting on the first two attempts, then as I got warmed up I think I was working more with the qualities of the watercolours rather than just trying to create an accurate copy of my still life objects.
- I struggled with wanting the paint to dry quickly as I wanted to complete each individual object then move onto the next, I then graudually moved to working on the composition as a whole, so working on one part then moving to another part of the painting to allow it to dry before returning to complete that particular object. I also think it allowed me to really accurately record the colours - in particular I discovered an amazing green through mixing orange with a base green shade.
- I think the paintings which worked best are 4 and 5. I like the simplicity of singling out the teacup, however I can also see the progress I have made in developing my technique for the overall composition in 5. This painting looks so different to 1, I think specifically as it looks complete.
- Sketches or drawings in one colour would have probably helped me more in composing these paintings, I think that I was trying to work with too many techniques at once! I also think if I was to try this exercise again i would paint a couple one dany then return to it the next day to look at the composition again with fresh eyes.
Christmas Cactus 5
I decided to paint in a wash background on this painting before attempting to paint more detail. I think the rough background works well as it gives depth to the painting. I also think the teacup is showing up a little better on a darker background. I allowed the paint to dry then added details once the first two layers were dry.
Wednesday 11 April 2012
Christmas Cactus 4
For this image I decided to focus on the broken teacup (the handle is missing) I really struggled with the "white" areas and the wavy gold edging. I found that adding dark brown paint to the "gold" edge created shine which I had been struggling to create.
Christmas Cactus 3
I decided to experiment here with this painting - and painted a wash on the background - then while the paint was still wet I roughly painted the shapes of the items on the wet background. I think when sat with the other paintings I can see what it is suposed to be, its interesting how the tones annd colours are present, without the form.
Christmas Cactus 1 & 2
This was my first attempt at painting the still life composition in the first project of this part of the course. I found it quite difficult to compose the painting at first - without drawing in pencil at the outset, and I chickened out of including the background!
Christmas Cactus 2, a photo by Miriam Ward on Flickr.
Watercolour Practice - Assignment 1 - Links to Flickr
When I first started the watercolour course I was using flickr to share all of my assignment work with my tutor, however this is really admin heavy and I have decided to set up this blog to document my work and hopefully this will mean I can spend more time on watercolour and less time uploading and tagging photographs.
Below are links to flickr to show each part of Assignment 1
Project 1, Mixing and applying watercolour.
Project 2 Laying washes
Project 3, Resist techniques
Project 4, Making marks
Research notes & logbook notes
Watercolour experimentation
Assignment 1 - Your first watercolour painting
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