meldrum art
I just love driving down to Nacka Strand, which is close to where I live. There I practice my clouds, my reflections and at the same time unwind enjoying the view.
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Yes, on Sunday I met more art friends. This time it was an unofficial Urban Sketchers meetup. We met at Humlegården in central Stockholm and enjoyed the sun soaked day.
I managed to do two sketches, one trying to capture the light in the trees and the other is of the statue of Linné, the famous Swedish botanist.
It was so nice to meet my friends. I know now it is really important to have social contact, I feel so much better for it. Luckily sketching is an outdoors activity and so it’s relatively safe to meet friends in this the year of Corona.
I came to a point early last week when I said to myself, enough is enough, I have to meet friends. Sweden has a very relaxed approach to the Corona virus pandemic so it’s no problem whatever to meet people, it’s our responsibly in other words. All of us have been shy about meeting up. But I met my artist friend Daniel on Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm for a morning of plein air and a lovely lunch last Friday. Thanks Daniel for treating me, my turn next time.
I wouldn’t call the watercolour a masterpiece by any means but just getting out in the early summer sun and meeting a friend made it special.
I have been challenging myself to paint better street scenes. This watercolour is of Piampol, Brittany, France – my wife’s hometown. I did this in the studio but I wouldn’t mind being in France for June. That won’t happen of course because of the pandemic. I’ll just have to use my many photo references that I have amassed through the years. Have a nice, and safe weekend.
Click the thumbnail below to see full sized image.
I published the YouTube video of me painting this watercolour yesterday. Here is the final painting. Today I am painting something totally different, life is always interesting for a watercolour artist. 🙂
If you haven’t seen the video click this link here: Gustavsbergshamn – From sketch to final watercolour
For a full sized image of the watercolour click the thumbnail below.
After a little break I am back again producing watercolour videos.
In this episode I travel to Gustavsberg which is 20 minutes from where I live. You will see how I develop a watercolour from simple outdoor sketch to the final painting.
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Thank you.
It was early Saturday morning, I broke the plastic sealing wrapper from around a William Turner book I had purchased – The ‘Skies’ Sketchbook by David Blayney Brown. Once I had studied it for a while I had this enormous urge to get outside and paint some clouds. Luckily the sky was very beautiful during the weekend, the soft pillow type cushions sailed past quickly which meant the scene in front of me changed completely every few minutes. I sat in my new camper van at Nacka Strand protected from the cool wind, I was inspired and I enjoyed every moment of it.
I’ve mentioned this before but I’ll say it again, one of the most important moments in my watercolour development was when I participated in a course in 2016 featuring Chien Chung-Wei. The course, the only one I’ve ever been on was run by the fantastic Angela Barbi of Epc watercolour courses in Girona.
Chien Chung-Wei is my main source of inspiration and learning, there are others that inspire but he is the artist I study most. Like all good artists he is also learning himself and trying to improve with each painting, it’s fascinating for me to see how he creates light and designs his compositions.
To anyone out there who is trying to learn how to paint, find an artist that you love and learn from them, study their work and ask questions like, why is this picture so wonderful?
My own watercolour today is from a photo I took last spring in Calella, Costa Brava. It is a scene that has been painted by many watercolour masters throughout the years. This is my attempt, an evening scene in Calella.
Title: Calella, 36 x 26 cm
Click the Thumbnail below to see the full-sized image.
Calella
It’s Monday today and like everybody else right now I spend most of my time indoors trying to avoid the Corona virus. This morning was the start of a new week but it was hard to know because I was still in my comfort clothes, you know, sweatpants and an old t-shirt type of thing. So I sat at my desk and luckily I have that wee hand-written sign on the wall in front of me which simply states, “Just Paint!”. It’s so damn useful sometimes to be told what to do.
I am still going through my photos of Ireland for inspiration. I might paint outdoors tomorrow. There is a rumour it might be getting warmer. I would like to visit the archipelago, but still on the mainland. I don’t want to take a ferry at the moment with the pandemic still very real. I wonder when we will be all safe again?
The featured painting is from a photograph I took in Donaghadee, Northern Ireland last year.
Title: Boat season 36 x 26 cm.
Click the thumbnail below for a full sized image.
