meldrum artI just published my latest video on YouTube!
This is the final watercolour demonstration video from my trip to Japan earlier in the year. It was the last 24 hours with my son so it was a special day.
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I painted this watercolour of the beach that is front of my mother-in-law’s house in Ploubazlanec. I found a nice photo on my phone from my holidays in France earlier in the year and it inspired me to paint the scene.
I only have happy memories from my visits there.
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Even though this composition is relatively simple the placement of the Stockholm town hall is very important to the success of the watercolour, it’s the rule of thirds. The tonal values are even more important as the sky wouldn’t pop if the building and bridge had a lighter tone.
Personally I am on a little crusade to improve my understanding of tonal values, I enjoyed painting this scene.
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I love Paris, with it’s museums, cafes and the sketching opportunities.
I am currently trying to improve capturing light. It is all about having the correct tonal values. It’s quite difficult and it is going to take me a while before I master it. I visited Paris a few years back, I would love to return and spend a week cramming French culture into my head – especially the Impressionists. It’s an expensive town though. If anyone has a bed for me in Paris I would be very interested!
26 x 36 cm
Full-sized image below:
Once again I went life drawing and not my own so that I could relax and enjoy myself. I think it’s important to draw as much as possible, everyday really.
The model was great, she posed wonderfully so I got inspired and then it just seemed easy to sketch her. Most poses were 5 minutes long but there is a 10 minute and 2 minute included.
If you are interested in attending my life drawing classes please visit here
If you want to practice doing portraits, download  Sktchy app. Unfortunately it is only for iPhone users. Lots of people upload photos of themselves and artists, both amateur and professional sketch them.
For me, I just want to practice doing portraits and I don’t want to worry about copyright issues etc. So this is a great resource.
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I was asked to submit a watercolour to an exhibition and I wasn’t accepted which of course is a bit of a bummer but at the same time I just found the experience to be quite positive. That may sound strange but what I mean is I spent a day working on this painting and I learned a lot because I was outside of my comfort zone. I am pushing my boundaries a lot at the moment which means I do have more failures, I know I can paint the archipelago here in Stockholm but I want to be better than that, that is why I am happy with this watercolour. I do not fear the unknown and what I know today was yesterday’s news.
The town of Fabriano painted on, …Farbriano watercolour paper.
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Yes, it was so nice to go to somebody else’s life drawing class yesterday evening. Since I’ve been running my own class I have not really been relaxed enough to draw with any real commitment.
So last night I could get my fingers dirty with charcoal dust and have a ball!
Most sketches were completed in 5 minutes on A3 paper.
It is hard to paint urban scenes I think. I wrestle with keeping the watercolour alive and fresh. I need straight lines because houses are built of them, but they are also my enemy. Too straight and I loose my battle.
This was a good fight, I nearly lost it a couple of times but in the end I am happy with the result.
Title: Storkyrkan (The Big Church)
Size: 26 x 36 cm
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