Tag: Watercolour

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watercolor Watercolour

A painting isn’t finished until the brush is put away

You can only laugh. I was just putting the last touch to the painting when I lost control of my brush. It jumped up in the air, spinning like a circus knife in front of my eyes. It hit the page, sable first. Splat!

I had just loaded the brush with Vandyke Brown moments before. The glimmering sea had lost its shine. Now there was a dark brown whale in my watercolour.

Later, I painted over the crime scene with opaque white. The sea sparkled again. It would never be perfect, but it’s finished.

The Coast Road, Malahide, Ireland 33 x 23 cm

Click for larger image.
Categories
akvarell watercolor Watercolour

The Stockholm Archipelago

This is one of my first studio paintings since 2019. Kinda had to believe, but it’s true. My seasonal depression has prevented me until now. I painted last week and I added a few more islands to it yesterday. I’m happy with it. So nice to be painting during the winter months again. 🙂

Categories
watercolor Watercolour

New addition in the studio

Now that I’ve started painting in the studio again I treated myself to a new palette 😀

It’s from Korea, Mijello : 24 Well Plastic Palette with Airtight Lid.

Categories
watercolor Watercolour

Fighting picture-postcard syndrome or not

Last week I painted three watercolours. Initially, I was really happy with all of them but after a while I gradually changed my mind.

I had just finished reading a lovely book about Edward Seago by James Russell. Seago was an excellent English watercolour artist that was very successful in his lifetime but was disliked by the critics. “He painted picture-postcards” a critic once said.

He was a landscape painter, he painted the countryside around him. A typical watercolour would be of a summer-blue sky, rolling hills and shadows dancing on the fields while animals grazed. He liked sailing boats too so you can understand that he inspires me a lot. His watercolours were very pleasing to the eye.

So this is the question, should I worry about my watercolours looking like picture-postcards? Maybe I should paint more watercolours like the one featured here. I painted it to counteract the three pretty watercolours. It’s of Poolbeg Power Station in Dublin Bay, Ireland. A quick sketch (30mins) 28x18cm.

Your thoughts please. 🙂

Categories
watercolor Watercolour

A memory from Mexico

The forest was way too complex for me to paint. I had to simplify the subject and I tried to capture the feeling instead. Fun, fun, fun.

Categories
sketching watercolor Watercolour

All good things come to an end

I’ve been having a great time in Mexico visiting my old friend Jorge. Yesterday, Luis , a new friend, showed me a wonderful spot in the local forest to sketch. My adventure is coming to an end soon. I have to get back to Stockholm. My life drawing classes begin this Thursday. Contrasts.

Sketching in the local forest

Categories
watercolor Watercolour

Giving a painting a second chance

I painted this watercolour back in the summer of 2021. We had sailed to Åland from Stockholm and as usual our first port of call was Rödhamn. While there I painted this plein air sketch of the Radio Station Museum and a nearby navigational sign.

I basically was unhappy with it and I placed it in my failures tray back home. Saw it recently and said to myself maybe I can tweak that watercolour a little and it will be okay. This is the result.



Happy New Year! 😃😃😃

Categories
Plein air Video watercolour video

A new video. A painting holiday in Croatia

To combat my annual winter blues I try to take myself to a sunny place as often as I can. This year I travelled to Makarska, Croatia. It was a great choice, I totally enjoyed painting everyday from morning to sunset. I had been to Croatia once before when I was very young, actually it was still called Yugoslavia, it was that long ago. It’s a beautiful country, I totally recommend a visit.

A painting holiday in Croatia
Makarska, Croatia.
Categories
Plein air watercolor Watercolour

Just doing it

In the beginning of the week I took the ferry on a short trip across the water to Djurgården here in Stockholm. I wheeled my art gear behind me and looked for an inspirational spot to paint from. In the end it was the weather that decided. I needed protection from the strong easterly wind which was making 7 degrees feel really unpleasant.

The day’s subject became some oil storage tanks on the other side of the water. I was more interested in the sky but I needed a point of focus for the sake of the composition.

The finished watercolour may not be a masterpiece but for me just getting out and painting was the biggest achievement of the day.



Have a nice weekend.
Cheers 🙂