Loose Watercolour Flowers

Watercolour peony from an Esther Peck class

Hi there, how are you?

I really like the idea of loose washy watercolour flowers. They are of course a lot harder to paint than they look. I thought I’d give it a try.

I checked out the skillshare classes (yes I still have a week or two left so I’m cramming them in). There’s a lot of this kind of thing on there but nothing that really resonated. Then I saw a class by Esther Peck. Her style is a cross between watercolour painting and Chinese brush painting, each petal being its own stroke(s).

I love peonies so took the peony class and painted lots of stylised peonies. This is just one of the pages I’ve painted. (see above)

The rose class you would think would be a lot easier but getting my head around these has been hard work. I know they are a lot of c shapes in a circle but getting them to look like a rose oofff.

I have pages and pages of terrible practice roses; these were the best of a bad bunch.

Stylised watercolour roses

Talking about bunches I also tried to paint roses in small bunches; not a bad start but they need more work.

Watercolour rose sprays

I liked the loose flower class (teaching some wild and some filler flowers) of course once I reached the poppies I couldn’t resist. I like how these turned out and will probably paint lots more because they are just a fun doodle to do when I don’t want to think too hard hehehe.

Loose watercolour poppy

In the garden we have small drifts of hardy geraniums, the stalks start to get a bit straggly at this time of year so I gave them a hair cut and put the flowers I’d cut off into a jam jar, no need to waste good flowers. They were perfect models for painting indoors when it was raining.

This is one of the few plants the slugs don’t eat so if were lucky they will flower again before winter sets in, more for me to draw.

Watercolour geraniums in a jar

Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Till next time, have fun x

Drawing And Practising My Shading

Pencil drawing of poppies

Hi there, how are you?
A whole month of watercolour painting and I somehow feel the need to draw things. It’s not that I didn’t draw in July but the watercolour does most of the heavy lifting when painting.

I watched a skillshare class by Isa Down called Shading 101: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Dynamic Shading in Your Drawings
Shading is something I find difficult when drawing with a pencil (or pen for that matter)
I drew the first flower along Isa in the class and then drew a poppy from my own photos to see if I could replicate the technique. Not too shabby me thinks it does actually look like a poppy.

There’s a huge splot on the first flower, I think I was a little too enthusiastic with the pink paint on another page! (Sometimes life just happens)

We had one or two days of sun so out I went with my little stool and drew the hollyhock before it started to fade. I used a Preppy fountain pen EF nib filled with deep dark green ink and thoroughly enjoyed myself, no reason really I just spent half an hour or so loosing myself in the details. I really like the fact that the green isn’t as harsh as black ink, it’s my new favourite.

Hollyhock fountain pen drawing

The foxglove came into its own this week so I set about drawing it in pencil.

Foxglove pencil drawing

I love the shapes of these flowers, so a few days later I took my stool outside and quickly painted it.

Foxglove watercolour sketch

The scanner does not like this pink apparently and the bottom half of the flower spike faded into nothing so I cropped it a bit. It’s not a brilliant painting but it does give me an idea of the colours. Sometimes the colours in photos and on screens aren’t as close to the real colours and can be misleading.

The foxgloves are definitely paying for its spot in the garden though and as a plus the slugs have decided not to eat it so a big whoot from me!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Till next time, have fun x

The End Of World Watercolor Month 2019

Giant atlas moth watercolour painting

Hi there, how are you?

It’s August; world watercolour month is over for another year, and for everyone participating, we made it peoples, whoot!

These are the last few paintings of the challenge.

Day 29 Giant atlas moth. I found a book of butterflies at home and decided to paint some. I’m not a huge fan of moths but this one is quite spectacular. Having said that I’d probably run a mile if I saw one hehehe.

Day 30 Tiger moth, I thought I would have picked lots of pretty butterflies from this book but I seem to be drawn more to the moths, very strange.

Tiger moth watercolour painting

Day 31 Hollyhock, the hollyhock is still going strong. We’ve had persistent rain and wind and it’s starting to look a bit bedraggled but at the time of painting it was looking pretty fine.

Hollyhock flowers painted in the garden.

Butterfly, it’s not a super colourful one, I just liked the photo. I’d painted this one in august but I’m using it to fill in for some of the paintings I had missed.

Butterfly watercolour painting

August 1st is Pinch punch post day (a monthly twitter challenge) and this month’s theme was dolphin. I’m happy that I remembered to paint it in time.

A dolphin watercolour painting for pinch punch post.

I was unsure as to whether I wanted to join in this year but as always once I got started I enjoyed making a little painting every day, there are even one or two I’m quite proud of. I enjoyed working on watercolour paper every day and noting all the differences with the way I would normally work.

I did miss my sketch book a little. The paper is so smooth and I feel totally free using it with any media. It makes me wonder whether I should try hot press paper, maybe another experiment for another day but something to think about.

just in-case anyone’s interested here are the links to this years paintings or you could check them out on Instagram.
week 1
week 2
week 3
week 4

Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Till next time, have fun x

Note: This is a challenge set up by Doodlewashe’s Charlie shields. He has details of the challenge and you can donate money or art supplies to the Dreaming Zebra charity supported by the challenge, I’m sure that even though the challenge is done this year they would still take donations.

World Watercolor Month 2019 Week 4

Octopus day 25. This was my favourite painting this week so I’ve put it at the top.

Hi there, how are you?
It’s week 4 of world watercolour week, there’s just a few days left now.

Day 22, I had set parameters for my self, to use watercolour paper for this challenge. I know it makes no difference to anybody else but I wanted to stick to it. This was a very rough sketch I had painted in my sketchbook. I tried to reproduce something similar on watercolour paper. Ooof see tomorrow.

Rosebay willow herb. The sketchbook version. this was painted quickly with a water brush.

Day 23, I painted this three times! This is the one I hated least, moving on.

Rosebay willowherb painted on watercolour paper. it’s ok but I just couldn’t capture the same freshness as the sketch above.

Day 24, poppy seed-heads. The poppies have finished flowering, the seed heads are swelling and standing in a row waiting for me to paint them.
As they get older the poppies change colour and release their seeds. Hopefully there will be more painting and drawing to come.

Poppy seed-heads standing in row.

Day 25, octopus. (See top image) I’ve wanted to draw an octopus for ages. I used salt for the texture of the skin and it worked much better than I thought it would. This one made me happy.

Day 26, goldfish. I love painting goldfish but they always seem to look so surprised.

Two little goldfish

Day 27, experiments. I was playing with colour and texture (using salt again) not beautiful but some interesting results to carry forward at a later date.

Some poppy experiments, I liked the salt effect in the background.

Day 28, hollyhocks I’ve planted hollyhock seeds before, the slugs thanked me for the meal I’m sure! This year I bought a plant, just the one, to see if I could keep it alive. It does have lots of holes in the leaves but now it’s bigger it has a little more resistance. I’m enjoying finally getting to paint it.

Hollyhocks

It’s been a bit hit and miss this week, on the whole I liked the paintings I made but I think I made some of them harder than they needed to be. I suppose that’s the challenge isn’t it. Hopefully I’ll learn something from the process.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Till next time, have fun x

Note: This is a challenge set up by Doodlewashe’s Charlie shields. He has details of the challenge and you can donate money or art supplies to the Dreaming Zebra charity supported by the challenge

World Watercolor Month 2019 Week 3

a watercolour painting of wild sweet pea buds.

Hi there, how are you?

It’s week 3 of world watercolour week.

On a nature walk at the weekend I spotted some beautiful wild sweet peas, I couldn’t get over the gorgeous colour. I drew a few sketches and took a few photos to paint from once I was home.

I’m sure I could have spent the whole week drawing and painting the small sweet pea sprig I’d brought home with me.

Day 15, sweet pea buds. (see above) This is a painting of some little buds almost but not quite open. The scanner doesn’t like this colour so it’s very pale.

Day 16, sweet pea flower and bud. The flowers were such a beautiful vivid pink when they opened.

Wild sweet pea watercolour

Day 17, sweet pea flower and bud. Another in my sweet-pea series hehe, they don’t last long so I’m making the most of it while I have it.

Another wild sweet pea flower watercolour

Day 18, I decided to watch a few watercolour skillshare classes and use my class efforts as part if this challenge. See Day 19.

Day 19, eggs. Painting lots of colourful birds eggs with the help of @sharonestevensdesign skillshare class. This is a really interesting class with good instructions that you can paint along with in real time. It took a couple of days to paint all those eggs so I’m counting them as at least two days worth of painting.

10 eggs painted with various watercolour techniques from a class by Sharone Stevens.

Day 20, moody landscapes. Another skillshare class this time by @watercolors_by_sukruthi I painted it twice in different colours to see how it looked (paynes grey and neutral tint). The blending is not brilliant but I enjoyed the process. More practice needed me thinks.

night time/moody watercolour landscapes from a skillshare class by Sukrutha Jagirdhar

Day 21, feathers. Three different feathers painted with the aid of another skillshare class by @sharonestevensdesign.

A watercolour painting of 3 feathers

I’ve learned a few techniques this week that I’m sure I’ll be able to apply to my future paintings and had loads of fun painting sweet peas.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Till next time, have fun x

Note: This is a challenge set up by Doodlewashe’s Charlie shields. He has details of the challenge and you can donate money or art supplies to the Dreaming Zebra charity supported by the challenge

World Watercolor Month 2019 Week 2

Watercolour painting of a bee on a blackberry flower

Hi there, how are you?

Week two done and dusted, woot! I’ve managed most days to upload something and so far I’m enjoying every minute of the challenge.

Day 8, (see above) Blackberry flowers are blooming everywhere and the bees love them. I painted this from a photo taken on my iPod.

Day 9, Ooops, move along nothing to see here.

Day 10, finally painted a poppy in flower (before the petals fell off)

watercolour painting of poppies & buds

Day 11, still painting poppies. It was such a lovely day and the flower had opened so beautifully I couldn’t resist painting it again this time looking down onto it showing all of the stamens.

Watercolour painting of an open poppy

Day 12, ferns. I love ferns and had taken a photo of some ages ago but did not know how to go about painting them; I always seem to get lost in all the little leaflets. This one has been simplified quite a bit but I really like the effect.

Watercolour painting of ferns

Day 13, fennel, this is painted from a skillshare by Jean Lurssen. She has a very informative Youtube channel so when I saw this class I had to give it a try.

I’m still trying to not only watch some skillshare classes but do the tutorials too, maybe I’ll learn more this way.

Watercolour painting of fennel

Day 14, I don’t know what this bird is called, there are maybe a dozen or so of them fluttering freely in the tropical house at the zoo. I took a photo of one of the more obliging birds and painted it when I got home. They are quite small, maybe sparrow size and very mischievous.

Watercolour painting of a little red bird

I’m having lots of fun participating in this challenge and even more fun checking out all of the glorious art works posted by other people.

Note: This is a challenge set up by Doodlewashe’s Charlie shields. He has details of the challenge and you can donate money or art supplies to the Dreaming Zebra charity supported by the challenge

Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Till next time, have fun x

It’s World Watercolor Month 2019

Poppy buds sketched in watercolour. I scanned these into the computer to better compare them so the images differ from the instagram photos.

Hi there, how are you?

July is once again upon us and it’s time for world watercolour month. This is a challenge set up by Doodlewashe’s Charlie shields. He has details of the challenge and you can donate money or art supplies to the charity ( The Dreaming Zebra Foundation ) supported by the challenge.

I’ve participated in the last few years to varying degrees of success but this year didn’t really have the motivation, had no idea on what I wanted to achieve or the parameters to set. I find if I have no goals I just flounder about for a few days then give up.

At the eleventh hour I had an idea, since I sketch something small most days any way, maybe I could make all of my sketches on watercolour paper. It’s a way to improve my watercolours and get used to working on watercolour paper.

Day 1, pinch punch post day and I used my camel since I had nothing else prepared.

Day 2, poppies. We have two straggly poppies that have self-seeded into pots, I leave them there because I like them. I decided to spend a week or so documenting their lives. (See above image)

1. I tried to paint it the way I would in my sketchbook oof, watercolour doesn’t work that way, I should know better!

2. Getting the hang of it and the painting was a lot easier.

Day 3, another poppy (number 3 in  top image), finally felt like I was getting the flow.

Day 4, oops nothing. I was going to paint my poppy flower, by the time I got there all the petals had dropped off. I’ll paint the seed head next week maybe.

Day 5, gooseberries. I planted this about ten years ago and thought I had killed it, to my surprise last year we grew two, yes two whole gooseberries! This year we may have a small bowl full. Yay!

A watercolour sketch of gooseberries.

Day 6, robin. Every time I sit out in the garden he flies down to see what I’m doing then flies up to the fence to watch, maybe he’s picking up painting tips hehehe.

There were some interesting granulating effects going on here. They weren’t intentional but I like them.

A robin watercolour sketch.

Day 7, cosmos. I wish I had these lovely flowers in my garden; sadly I don’t so I enjoy other peoples and take photos whenever I can.

A watercolour sketch of some cosmos flowers.

It’s very different doing my sketching on watercolour paper, the amount of paint, water and flow are very different and I miss my smooth sketchbook paper but it is an interesting experiment and I’m quite enjoying it.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Till next time, have fun x

Classes And Camels

 

A doodle of fishes. inked with a brush pen.

Hi there, how are you?

I’ve been watching the Skillshare classes again. I haven’t done the work for  all of the classes I’ve watched yet but this week I did get chance to do one or two.

This first one was a lass by Yasmina Creates  It was about doodling; she used fine-liners to make lots of cute doodly drawings. It was kind of drawing from imagination, something I don’t often do so I thought it would be interesting. I spent a very enjoyable evening pencilling out the fish and drawing them in with a brush pen. See image above.

The next class was Stefan G. Bucher He makes monsters out of ink splots. To make his splots he uses compressed air, I don’t have any and don’t have the puff to blow through straws all evening so after a rummage through the kids old drawing stuff I found one of those air blitzer things you put felt pens into and squeeze. ( Tim Holtz sold one recently). A few sharp puffs and there’s the ink splot, tendrils and all. I made loads of splots, after staring and squinting at the shapes I managed to make two little monsters.

Ink blot guy.

This is an exercise in finding images in the shapes (something I happen to be rubbish at), I’m calling this a win.

Ink blot bird.

July 1^st is pinch punch post day on twitter. I haven’t participated for quite a while, not for any particular reason other than I just have a terrible memory hehehe. I remembered about four days ago and thought I should get on this thing before I forget again! The theme this month is camel.

The theme this month is camel.

Watercolour sketch of a running camel

The paper was damaged as I used the watercolour; maybe I’m I little gentler as I apply it normally, I think it worked in my favour though as the texture looks very like camel fur.

Watercolour sketch of a camel

Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Till next time, have fun x

Note:  The links for the teachers of these classes will take you directly to their class, if your interested in what they are up to but don’t want to see the class I’m sure you could copy and past into google for instagram’s and web sites.