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.
What a contrast to the week before. Then I was in Croatia enjoying warm and sunny conditions, on this day (last Monday) I took myself out to Sandhamn by ferry. Sandhamn is a popular harbour during the summer months but now in late autumn it’s empty.
It was a grey day, 7 degrees, rained from time to time and the wind gusted to 16m/s. It was important to somehow find shelter on the harbour. Thankfully I had a stool with me so I could keep a low profile behind some seating on the pier.
The highlight of the day was to go to the local pub/restaurant and eat freshly baked cod and drink a local beer.
It’s a short working day. The light started to fade around 3pm. I took the ferry back to Stockholm at 5pm, it was dark by then.
I had this idea to start a vlog at the beginning of the year. It’s taken until yesterday to publish the first episode. I didn’t know how to film or edit at the beginning of the year. It was a steep learning curve but I enjoyed every minute if it. It’s not perfect by any means but it’s a start and that’s the most important thing, “the first step is always the hardest”, they say.
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.
Click thumbnail for larger image
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
