Australian Wildflowers and a book

In Kate’s watercolour class, we had to draw ‘fields of flowers.’ I searched some photo sites for Australian wildflowers and came up with this one. www.sxc.hu/photo/887153 I could work on this a lot longer (DARK=TIME) but I’ve cut my losses at the moment. I may go back to it. It’s on Fabriano Hot and I’m starting to decide that I like the Cold Press better. You can’t get too ‘precious’ and the rough texture allows you to lay more pigment down that this one will.

Last week I finally read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society . I must say I really enjoyed it. It’s a runaway best-seller, and I guess the story of the war in the Channel Islands is new to a lot of people. Not me. I lived in Jersey in the 1970’s. This is where I used to work. It wasn’t so fancy then, though it looked the same from the outside. In the shops at that time were several books about the Channel Islands during the war,(the only part of the British Isles to be occupied) and I read them all. The one I liked best was THE SILENT WAR.by Frank Falla, a local journalist.I wish I had a copy of this one and I just must buy one.

So a  lot of the things in the best-seller were familiar to me, like for example, the Red Cross ship VEGA, whose parcels stopped the islander from starving. The ship’s name is carved into the pavement in Jersey. And we celebrated Liberation Day. We toured the German Undeground Hospital. I used to go to Guernsey for the day on the mailboat, so I knew a lot of the places that were written about too. I was surprised to find that the author of the book was American. I didn’t pick that, at all. It seemed to me that it was very well researched. The only thing that was missed out was Winston Churchill’s speech, referred to every Liberation Day,  “our dear Channel Islands are also to be freed today.” Perhaps, leaving that out, made it seem all the more authentic. Very much recommended!

Watercolour pencil lake with waterlilies

This drawing is from a photo I took at Sukothai, in Thailand. I was a bit stumped for what to draw for multiple flowers. I couldn’t think of anything relevant, but then I came across this photo. It was such a beautiful place – the photo was beautiful, and I’m pleased with the drawing.  You can see the photo here. Again, it could do with a few more darks but as I said before DARK=TIME in watercolour pencils, and we’re on a tight schedule here.

Sketchy flowers – conclusion re watercolour pencils

This drawing for  Kate Johnston’s Watercolour Pencil Class was meant to be a sketchy one. Still the flowers have about three layers, as I can’t ignore tonal values – just not capable of it. The background of the source photo was mostly very dark greens and blacks, but I just put sketchy stems & leaves in yellows and blues & washed over them.

Kate thinks it would be better with the dark background, and I agree, However I have come to a conclusion. In watercolour pencils DARKS=TIME and sometimes you just have to cut your losses.

Drawing Flowers in WCP (Protea)

This was my first actual flower for whatever-week-it-is-now of Kate’s watercolour pencil class. A friend gave me a tall vase for my last birthday – a really tall one – she knew I needed one so that I could buy heliconia and tuberose when they’re in season. They weren’t in season at the time so she gave me these beautiful proteas, which I of course photographed.

In the photo, one side of the flower was very definitely away from the light & that was what I wanted to capture. Darks, in watercolour pencil, take a lot of time. This drawing was quite simple, but I did 3 layers till the darks were even ‘getting there’.  I’m finding that because tones are so important to me, I’m really slooooow at wcp.

We’ve had rain almost ever since this course started. Tomorrow I’m meeting two classmates at the Australian Museum and we’re starting on week-whatever-it-is-next (could it be 5?) and drawing birds, animals and people.

Ferns in watercolour pencil

This is Week 4 of Kate’s watercolour pencil course. Flowers. Kate had a beautiful example of some plants including ferns that made a beautiful picture without flowers. I have a lot of fern photos from a project while I was at COFA, so this is a drawing from one of them. This is on Fabriano Cold Press paper.

Demonstrating on 2nd July – new Dry Mediums

Hi everyone,

On 2nd July (which is not far away at all) I will be demonstrating a semi-abstract landscape done with the new Matisse Dry Mediums at The Art Scene at Ryde (on Victoria Road and not far from the Homebush Bay turnoff (Concord Road)).  I will be putting the dry mediums onto a canvas and explaining them as I go. Then I will magically whip out another canvas where the texture has already dried, and I will proceed to paint it to completion. Full step-by-step project sheets will be available.  The painting I will be doing will be very similar to the one shown in the background of this advertisement.

There are some great demos coming up at the Art Scene in July …. read about more of them here.