meldrum art
This was the second and final painting of the day. It’s basically the view towards Finland from Sandhamn which lies in the Stockholm outer archipelago. The water was flat calm, and the colours were just beautiful as the sun set. The temperature dropped as it got dark, which was just after three o’clock. Nowhere was open on the island, so I sat on a bench and did my best to keep myself warm until the ferry came at five. I had a beer on the journey home, I felt I had earned it. 😁
I spent the day in Sandhamn on Monday. It was under 3 degrees all day. Challenging, especially trying to get the watercolours to dry. But luckily I had my heat gun with me. It takes a certain amount of practice not to burn the painting. This was the morning watercolour. I painted in the afternoon too. It was a great day, but pretty cold.
I over worked this watercolour maybe, but I’m totally fine with that. The most important thing for me right now is that I just paint.
Click the thumbnail below for a larger image.
We sail a lot during the summer. The closer you are to Stockholm the more houses there are. For us it’s a warning, it means we need to keep sailing east for a few hours until we are in the outer archipelago.
I am delighted that I am actually painting in the studio during the winter months. My mental-health suffers badly at this time, especially these last few years. The situation has improved though. It’s not perfect, but I am able to function again thanks to professional help. It’s fantastic to be regularly painting again
I painted this watercolour from a photo I’d taken during the summer. It’s a bit of a cheat, the couple were never there. I think that’s called creative licence. I really do prefer to paint outdoors, to be in nature. It’s -8 celsius outside here in Stockholm, and it’s snowing. The studio feels pretty good right now.
36 x 26 cm
Click the image below if you would like to see the full sized watercolour.
I like this motiv a lot. It was fun to paint. I am experimenting with Daniel Smith high granulation colours. I think this has the feeling or the mood I want to attain with my paintings. It’s not often I am happy with my work but I like this one. 😃
Scandinavian coastal pine 26 x 36 cm
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The story behind this painting is that it just wasn’t working out.
So I ripped the picture in half horizontally and saved the top half, the sky along with the tops of the trees. There used to be houses along a shoreline on the bottom half. It was this that sucked and had to go.
I was left with some clouds and tree tops. What to do? Well, I used a flying duck to try and save the watercolour. It was the first time I ever painted a duck. I need to practice a bit more.
That’s the story behind this painting. ☺
I took the reference photo for this watercolour 18 years ago. I wish I could remember where in the archipelago it was, but I can’t. It’s a pity, because I’d like to visit that place again to paint plein air. It’s hard to imagine now, but I did not paint watercolours back then.
To my Swedish friends, does anyone know where it might be?
Many famous Swedish artists have visited this island in the Stockholm archipelago. It was the beginning of the 20th century, Bruno Liljefors owned the island and Anders Zorn often visited to go hunting together. I suspect they did a few paintings too.
The view from Bullerön: 51×33 cm