Sketchbook work - Wassily Kandinsky inspiration

Water colour on hot wax outline painted directly onto plain calico. Annilinky inks used to paint the fabric. Finally the fabric was ironed under kitchen towel to remove wax. 

Part 3 Project 1 Exercise: Subject Choices

I knew that the Japanese Gardens at Peasholm Park in Scarborough would be the ideal place to paint a range of views to carry out this exercise. Scarborough is somewhere close to our heart as it is where we married 18 months ago. We had some of our wedding photographs taken in Peasholm Park and as we visit Scarborough often its wonderful to see the changing colours and seasons there.

Miriam & Richard October 2011 Peasholm Park

The idea of choosing an naming a subject prior to painting it is one which really appealed to me, I am a person who turns words and phrases over in my head, so when I have been painting previously in this and my Textiles courses there is often a title forming in some way or another! I am a little concerned however about the painting outside aspect of this course. I am not sure it is for me, it feels as though I am rushing my paintings and that I do not necessarily have the time or situation to experiment more freely with the techniques taught and learned in the earlier parts of the course, such as washes, experimenting with other elements such as salt and bleach, cling film etc. I do accept though that this section is much more about painting the environment and learning skills to paint quickly and in the moment. 

Pigeon, Pagoda, Pond

Pigeon, Pagoda, Pond

I think I was drawn to the symmetry of this particular subject matter, I seem to have managed to find another setting incorporating water....perhaps I am drawn to the peace and tranquility of the scene.

Spring Pagoda

Spring Pagoda

For this painting the combination of the pagoda and the bamboo was what appealed to me, the interesting combination of the formal lines of the pagoda contrasted with the loose informality of the bamboo. When I look at this painting I am quite pleased with the success of the shadows which I feel I have been able to recreate. I also think the fast painting approach has ensured it has retained light and freshness as I have not laboured over the painting excessively.

Bluebells

Bluebels

This was the final painting of this particular painting session. I think I have taken a more free and less formal approach to this particular study. Not all of the paper has been covered and I like the way this painting has turned out as more of an impression of the scene rather than an accurate representation. I think at time that can be a hindrance for me, I try to ensure my painting look like the "thing" they are meant to be!

Overall I felt this was a valuable exercise, choosing a title meant I could focus on the subject of that title rather than try to include EVERYTHING I could see in my painting, I think this will be a sensible principle for me to refer back to as I continue with the landscape paintings a I am not sure they are really my forte yet.

Part 3, Project 2 Exercise: Exploring greens outside

I have definitely got into the habit of carrying my painting things around me, whenever I think I will a) be seeing a different view to the ones where I live and b) will have the time to sit for an hour to paint. We made a spur of the moment trip to York so the paints came along too, fortunately I have a lovely bag which is large enough to carry an A3 sketchbook so I had no excuse not to have my watercolour things with me. As this exercise was about painting greens outside I spent some time in the gardens of York Minster where there were some beautiful early spring greens, together with dramatic shadows to be seen.

Out and About paint box and notebook

I tend to worry when I am out of the house with my watercolours that I do not have an adequate range of colours to use. I was pleasantly surprised on this trip just what I could make from the limited pans in my smaller set by simply applying the theory used in exercised 1 and 2 of mixing greens.

Initial sketch of York Minster, trees, grass and shadows

Given my viewpoint the two trees and their shadows were dominating my eyeline with the Minster being on my "horizon" I found the quick pencil sketch really helpful in creating a framework for my to lay my paints into.

Stage 1

 For stage one I painted the lighter tones of green, a combination of sap green and lemon yellow, which was quite a yellowy green for the areas where the sun was very much highlighting the grass and the small mound to the right of the right hand tree. I also painted in the stone tones for the Minster stonework.

Stage 2

In stage 2 I introduced the mid tones and greens, even here I was careful to ensure there were a range of greens used as the grass had a really variegated appearance when looked at carefully. For the window areas of the Minster I used viridian, dark blue and alizarin crimson to darken the tones as I do not have a black in my travel set, I think this is working out positively though as I think this is teaching me a better approach to colour and tone rather than simply muddying a colour with black to darken it.

Shadows and Sunshine - York Minster

 Finally I added the shadows using a combination of sap green, cadmium yellow and dark blue. Initially the shadows looked like roots, which I wasn't really happy with, so I decided to paint into the page with a watery brush to remove the definition. I then added in the swathes of purple and yellow crocuses which were bathed in sunlight.

Learning Log Notes:-

• I think the strongest aspect is the grass, I think I have managed to capture the softly undulating nature of this piece of land.
• I think the weakest aspect of this painting is the background - the Minster. I think given more time I would have liked to have built up this image tonally spending more time on the minster roof and the texture of the stonework, I also feel that I have not adequately recreated the brightness of the sunlit day - an element which was key in creating the stunning shadows on the grass.
• I think the green grid has been key in my approach to the greens, particularly with regards to the introduction of blue or red to darken the tones, leading to such great range of clear and clean tones, rather than just darkening with black.

Part 3, Project 2 Exercise: Mixing Greens 4

Photograph of bottle arrangement

Sketchbook page for testing colours

Final painting for Mixing Greens 4

I really enjoyed the way this exercise flowed from the previous one, having painted the first two bottles I was really keen to try more green mixing and putting the exercise learnings into practice. I tried to select bottles in various tones of green (I don't drink alcohol so my friends were happy to donate empty bottles!) Again as with the previous exercise I found having a scrap page to test the tones on before applying to my watercolour paper. Looking back at the scrap page I was interested to see how useful viridian was in the mixing of the appropriate colours, but looking further back to exercise 1 I can see just how many tones are based on combinations of viridian. The combinations used were viridian and burnt umber viridian and burnt sienna, viridian and yellow ochre, viridian and alizarin crimson, burnt umber and burnt sienna, viridian and ultramarine, viridian and sap green. I think the overlapping of the bottles meant I had more of a challenge for showing the bottles a viewed through glass.

Part 3, Project 2 Exercise: Mixing Greens 3

For this exercise I worked on A3 paper.

I am continuing to work on 300gsm paper for all of my exercises as I am finding the paint handles so very differently on the lighter weight paper and I want to be able to handle the paint consistently.

These are the two bottles I chose to paint :-

The bottle on the left has far more brown and green tones than the bottle to the right, that has more clear apple green tones. I was also aware of the window frame behind the bottles which gave a distorted white line two thirds of the way down the bottles.

Here is the completed painting, I found that for this exercise I made continuous use of the sample pages created in Exercise Mixing Greens 1. I also made extensive use of a scrap sheet of paper to test the various tones before adding them to my watercolour page. The watercolours I used predominantly were viridian, burnt sienna and lemon yellow, as with this combination I was able to obtain the brown green tones. I found that the method of applying paint in different mixes per the exercise notes the more straightforward (righthand bottle) I think that some of the tones became a bit "samey" through applying layers of darker and lighter tones.

Part 3, Project 2 Exercise: Mixing Greens 2

Exercise Mixing Greens 2 - Page 1

I found the instructions for this exercise far more straightforward! Although I can really see the value of this particular exercise in demonstrating how the layering of colours worked I have to admit I was a little disappointed that this approach did not seem to give particularly well mixed tones - or a range of different hues. Despite being layered one over another the colours did not blend particularly well. I think to summarise page 1 - I was happy with the mixed boxes, yet the rest did not leave me with a range to work with.

Exercise Mixing Greens 2 Page 2

An early lesson learned here with page 2. I decide to move from working on my 300gm "expensive" paper as there is not much left in the pad to my 130 gsm pad. The way the paint went onto the paper and was immediately absorbed had a detrimental effect on the outcome of these experiments in my opinion. Frustrating the paint was absorbed into the paper, making the wet sample difficult, yet took forever to dry! I persevered through four different colour combinations then gave up and reverted back to the better quality paper. I think from this I have learned that I am going to get the best out of the watercolours and see the best possible effects by using the better quality paper - even for "test" pieces. The watercolours really did handle differently on the poorer quality paper.

Exercise Mixing Greens 2 Page 3

On page 3 (above) Prussian Blue created some warm dark greens which I wonder is more to do with the texture of the paint? This particular watercolour pan seemed to have a grainy texture when applied to the paper which leaves an interesting look when painted over the yellow - but not as effective as when used as a base for the yellow.

Exercise Mixing Greens 2 Page 4

For page four I returned to the better quality paper, and had a bit of a revelation here  Having been disappointed about the range of greens being produced through the exercise I found that Indigo gives a really beautiful range of greens when washed over gamboge hue - this was my final experiment, but well worth the effort - see bottom right of above photo. I think this is a colour combination worth me returning to at some point.

Hyacinth30

I have decided to press on with the idea of creating a painting a day for a period of a month. I think that using this as an opportunity to refresh my watercolour skills is the best way to view it. I considered painting different household objects each day, perhaps in a range of colours but then realised I might be better to focus on one THING then find different approaches to painting this one object. I chose a hyacinth in a glass growing jar. I feel that this best epitomises my passion for gardening, nature and colour but also has some challenging aspects and interesting surfaces due to the transparent glass and the change in perspectives. I think that as the hyacinth dies and decays I will be able to capture that process, but I also have 30 attempts at getting the same thing right!

I have set up a blog page http://hyacinth30.blogspot.co.uk/

And am uploading the photos to my Textiles Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/MiriamWardTextiles