I ordered three Da Vinci: Cosmotop-Mix B brushes similar to the ones Chien Chung-Wei uses. I also bought some Jaune Billiant 1 and Verditer by Holbien. These are also used a lot by Chien.
Okay, so I have the tools and I have been training real hard so it’s frustrating that I am a million light years away from his masterful level.
Bad day today, I have decided to paint portraits and discovered I have a lot to learn!
I painted a portrait last weekend and it wasn’t very good. I needed to practice. A friend of mine tipped me about an app for the iPhone called Sktchy. People upload there selfie portraits and artists paint them if they find them interesting. It’s a great copyright free resource for artists. I used the app for the first time yesterday. I have no idea who the dude is.
I found a lovely image on Tumblr that inspired me to paint. The original photo was taken by Russian photographer Eugenia Kirikova.
I am trying to paint more nudes and portraits on a daily basis. The more we paint the better we get!
This was a fun sketch to do. I didn’t take me long and I am happy with the result. I will definitely paint a finished version of it in the future. I am obsessed with capturing the light, I think there is nothing more beautiful than the rays of sunshine.
This is a radar reflector beacon on the island of Sandhamn in the Stockholm archipelago. Not easy to guess what it is I know. It was such a strange object to approach on the lonely windswept beach, a little spooky – cold metal with sharp, angular form.
The sketch is about A5 in size and painted in my Moleskin watercolour journal.
Click the thumbnail below to see it full-size image
Yes, I am looking forward to 2018. I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited about the start of a new calendar year. The 31st of December at the stroke of midnight I become a full time artist! I am a little nervous about it but it is nothing compared to the exhilaration I feel, the passion I have for my new career as an artist.
I came up with a 5-year plan exactly 5 years ago. The plan was simple as you can see on my amazing slick graph, my art career was to grow and my web designer career was to decline. To my surprise it has come true and was totally on schedule, amazing!
My plan for 2018 is to start a company and paint like crazy for the first 3 months. I will be developing “Meldrum Kroki” my life drawing sessions that I started back in October. I will also try my hand at producing weekly video vlogs plus painting tutorials or demonstrations. I think that’s enough to keep my self busy.
It’s going to be a fun year in 2018, really looking forward to it.
I finished this sketch of Donaghadee harbour today. I actually started the sketch while in Ireland a couple of weeks back.
My last sketch of 2017. I am so looking forward to the new year. Tomorrow I will be a full-time artist!
I have included a few earlier version of the sketch, I know some of you are interested in seeing how I paint. Saunders watercolour paper 38 x 28 sketchbook.
Happy New Year everyone! 😀
I visited the quaint harbour town of Donaghadee during my stay in Northern Ireland. I went there twice in fact as I feel at ease there for some reason. It’s probably the open horizon that attracts me, I can feel a bit claustrophobic otherwise in Bangor where my mother lives, I spent 10 days with her while my sister who lives close by had a well deserved holiday.
Watercolour painted from the passenger seat of my mother’s car in a Saunders 38 x 28 sketchbook.
I painted this watercolour of Sergels torg almost a month ago but I have just been too busy to publish it. There are a lot of positive things happening in my life these days and 2018 promises to be very exciting indeed. I feel very lucky, I really do.
I have included a A5 preparation-sketch of the same watercolour, I am showing this because there are certain elements in it that I have not achieved in the larger work. Saying this, there are certain things in the larger one that are better too. I do feel I will paint this scene again, I really enjoyed it.
The final watercolour is 50 x 70 cm
(Arches rough, Full imperial)