Category: Watercolour

Love and hate – life drawing

Post author By meldrum
Post date 2013/02/01
2 Comments on Love and hate – life drawing

The venue: The Swedish Academy of Realistic Art in Stockholm.

I love the female nude and I’m not happy with the male model. Basically I am not used to spending two hours solely on one painting. This picture is a good example, I spent so much time on the male that I ended up with a mess, I nearly didn’t have time to paint the female so I rushed her and the illustration turned out so much better! I am just used to short poses, it’s going to take a while to relax when spending more time on a painting. It’s not a problem, I am enjoying every minute of my self-dissatisfaction. 😉

Watercolour of two models by David Meldrum

Watercolour of two models on A3 paper. 20130131

David Meldrum figure drawing My Life Drawing Portrait Sketch Watercolour

Portrait painting

Today I did some portrait painting at Folkkulturcentrum, in Ropsten, Stockholm. There were four, half hour poses. I was very happy with two of my sketches. It was the first time I was at Folkkulturcentrum, I enjoyed the atmosphere so I’m sure I’ll be back some time soon.

30 minute portrait

David Meldrum figure drawing My Life Drawing Sketch Watercolour

Life drawing at Basis

Here are a few quick sketches from my Saturday session at Basis, Stockholm. A five minute watercolour and two, two minute pencil and synthetic charcoal sketches.

Five minute watercolour sketch

Two minute sketch

David Meldrum figure drawing My Life Drawing Sketch Watercolour

Watercoloured two minute sketch

Post author By meldrum
Post date 2013/01/27
2 Comments on Watercoloured two minute sketch

This was originally a two minute pencil sketch (20121204) on 200 gram watercolour paper. I painted it last Friday, 20130125. I was really happy with it when I did the first wash, then it became muddy as I put on further layers. I want to create a three dimensional quality without losing the vibrancy of a single wash. Live and learn!

David Meldrum figure drawing My Life Drawing Nude Watercolour

First life drawing 2013

At last, I found time to go to life drawing. I’ve been very busy since Christmas so it was a great pleasure to sketch tonight. The session was a two hour pose, the model was a real pro, stood still as a statue. The venue was, The Swedish Academy of Realistic Art in Stockholm.

I’m happy enough with the painting, I have to get used to spending two hours on a figure, for the last two years I’ve been drawing quick poses. Now I want to slow down and capture more detail, the biggest problem I have is the stiffness of the pose, I need to relax. I can see from my 5 and 10 minute poses from two years ago that they were also stiff. All I need to do is lots of these two hour sessions and I should eventually find a fluid line to my art.

Click on the image if you would like to see it in a larger format.

Watercolour Nude 2013.01.24

artists figure drawing Nudes Steve Hanks Video Watercolour

Steve Hanks – Watercolour realist

Post author By meldrum
Post date 2013/01/22
No Comments on Steve Hanks – Watercolour realist

Steve Hanks can certainly paint a nude. I admire his work, the detail is amazing, I guess he paints from photographs, it would be impossible to capture so much detail otherwise.

Steve Hanks – Female portrait nude from Art Center on Vimeo.

Steve Hanks – The beauty of women from Art Center on Vimeo.

Portrait Ted Nuttall Watercolour

Ted Nuttall on Facebook

I discovered the figurative watercolour artist, Ted Nuttall has a Facebook page. His latest work is published there. Visit Ted Nuttall on Facebook here. Please note that for this link to work you need to be already logged into your Facebook account.

His personal website is also worth a visit of course, click here for that.

David Meldrum figure drawing Nude Watercolour

Watercolour nude

I am not 100% happy with this effort, I got the model’s back all muddy, too many strokes! The leg should also have softer edges to suggest depth. Another learning experience that caused frustration but at the same time satifaction. Nothing is straight forward and simple for long when one watercolours.

Watercolour nude study from photograph

David Meldrum figure drawing Nude Watercolour

Improved Scans

I got a scanner to work. Much better than the iPhone! Looking forward to getting back to Stockholm next week for some life drawings sessions.

Watercolour nude study from photograph