After several months of book reviews here on the blog, I’m getting back to art.
In the last while I’ve been revisiting watercolour. That revisit is pretty natural, as watercolour is easier than acrylic to set up and clean up. When my time to make art is limited, it’s the perfect medium!
The “Just Keys” competition and exhibition from the Arts Council of Surrey in late summer prompted “Maple Keys” – a botanical depiction of the whirly seeds produced by maple trees (also called samaras).
To get started, I found a photo of maple keys, taken a few years ago for a sketch book drawing. I drew the keys with pencil onto 140 lb. hot press Artistico paper then painted with a light touch in botanical style, trying to capture the intricacies of the shadows by focusing on hard and soft edges.
I was thrilled when my painting placed second in the competition!
In September and October I took a five-week watercolour course from local artist Marney-Rose Edge. One of the projects we tackled was a white flower against a dark background.
She demonstrated creating that background by first covering the white flower with masking fluid, then painting the background with rich saturated colours. Successive layers helped achieve the hue and value we desired. When the background was totally dry, we removed the masking fluid and painted the white flower. The final step was to lift some of the background colour to achieve interest and texture.
I painted “White Magnolia” in this manner and was not unhappy with the result. I would have liked to get more interest going on in the background, but the paint really clung to the sheet of Arches 140 lb. cold press paper that I painted this on, so it’s fairly muted.
A watercolour site I’ve mentioned here before (Paul Clark Art) and its connected Facebook page has inspired more than one watercolour project. A few weeks ago, Margot introduced members of the FB group to the line and wash work of British watercolour artist Matty Burnham.
He generously gave permission for members of the group to copy some of his beautiful paintings. I do love doing line and wash so couldn’t resist. I have begun collecting reference photos for possible line and wash paintings in an album and will probably do more in the months ahead.
Now I’m getting ready for our Port Kells Art Club Fall Exhibition and Sale on Sunday, November 9th.
Here are some of the watercolour paintings I’ll be taking to this event:
Pen and Watercolour, 5×7 inches.
Finally, now that the postal strike is over (kind of…) I can again fill art orders. I have put together fun collections of note card packs for purchase. You can view the designs on my Art Cards page at Daily Paintworks. (Only available in Canada, however, as note cards to the US are now subject to tariffs).
I hope you’re enjoying the fall, with its beautiful colours. They are fast fading, though, winter will soon be upon us and then Christmas. Happy painting, reading, or whatever you love to do!
Violet Nesdoly 