meldrum art
In this video I paint a watercolour scene of islands in the archipelago while on holidays. My goal with these demonstrations is to help others who are trying to or thinking of sketching outdoors. My tip for this episode is that there is rarely a perfect sketching location to be had. Just sit down somewhere quiet and start, that’s the hardest step.
The watercolour to the left is the one featured in the video. 13 x 18 cm
How I saved an outdoor sketch. This video isn’t for the sensitive watercolour painter, no this is probably the crudiest watercolour rescue hack on YouTube. Let me know what you think of it. Feedback is always welcome.
If you would like to see the actual watercolour sketch, click the thumbnail below
I was sitting outside in the cockpit of our boat, the weather was grey, the light flat. There was nothing that inspired me. So this watercolour sketch is just a figment of my imagination, maybe it was our own boat that inspired me to paint the orange sky. Maybe.
We sail an archipelago sailing boat hand built in 1975 by the previous owner. It’s called a Svea Kryssare and it’s 11.04 x 2.44 metres – narrow and tall. We were very honoured to take over the vessel and we now give Aquarelle all the love it deserves.
This turned out to be my last sketch of the month long sailing holiday. It was eventful, very testing at times but great too, the boat behaved so well in the strong winds that were roughing us for most of the journey.
Hello! In this episode I stay local. I paint the scene using gradients and I have a wandering caterpillar to deal with.
I do all this while holding a camera above my head! I hope this video inspires you to sketch and paint outdoors. If you would like to support the making of these videos please visit my Patreon page, there you can follow my weekly vlog, see bonus material, and even receive original watercolours. www.patreon.com/meldrumart
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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 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.
I have painted this Groomsport scene before in one of my sketchbooks. Today I felt like playing around with lights and darks so I chose this to basically practice or play, I can’t remember my mood when I started. It’s a weird time with this Corona virus threatening us all. The most important thing for me was just to paint something. I didn’t want to just spend Monday reading the news and surfing on YouTube.
For the watercolour enthusiasts out there this watercolour was painted on Saunders Waterford 300g Fine grain and the size is 36 x 26 cm. Click the image below if you want to see the full sized watercolour.
Yeap, I wasn’t totally happy with this watercolour so I was forced to chop it up so that I could enjoy it. I’m a happy butcher now. It’s best to love a whole painting of course but sometimes one has to be brutal.
Click the thumbnail below to see the full sized image.
