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I will be completely honest and say this painting was a pain in the backside to do! Usually my subjects are quite static, so this time I wanted to add a bit of action, and have the duck rising out of the water and stretching it's wings. I watched 2 Eider Ducks bathing in the late afternoon light at the WWT wetland centre, so had plenty of reference, but I just could not get the wings correct. I spent ages sketching out the lines in pencil, and even when I applied the paint the right wing looked pinioned and at an incorrect angle.
Even so, I perserveared and eventually produced an image I am fairly happy with. What I enjoy the most about this image is the water. Splashing the page roughly with blue and black ink created some great movement, and the colours on the bird are soft and warm.My next aim is to produce something for the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist competition. A Tiger will be the best subject for the Endangered category methinks.
On Saturday my mum and I visited the WWT reserve in Barnes, West London. It was a beautiful sunny day, and perfect for watching all the lovely wildlife there. My favourite wildfowl there were the Eider Ducks, and these colourful Red-Breasted Geese. They were lit up by the late afternoon sun, and just crying out to be painted!This was quite an ambitious image for me to paint in watercolour. Water is one of the trickiest things to paint, especially when coupled with reflections. I took inspiration from Lars Johnson's watercolours of wildfowl. He uses simple loose brushstrokes on wet washes to produce a loose impression of the bird in the water. He also uses the white of the paper to illuminate the subject. I have a habit of covering even the white parts of my subjects with colour, so I wanted to try this method instead. I am quite pleased with this image as it is my first painting since the summer!
The red, black and white of these birds make a lovely contrast, and I will probably re-visit them again to paint, but first I am going to try some Eiders.
Whilst visiting Wiltshire with my boyfriend last weekend, we walked past a farm and saw this weird but wonderful cockerel. This breed of chicken is called a 'Poland'. It's most eye-catching feature is the fantastic hairdo, which reminds me of David Bowie's character Jareth from the film Labyrinth (if you haven't seen this film already, watch it, it's amazing!).
Unfortunately the feathers over his eyes seemed to completely obscure his vision. Every time the wind blew and the leaves rustled, it ran around erratically not knowing what on earth was going on! However, I just had to paint him. I had to paint him in sections, otherwise the different reds and browns would have blended into each other. Looking at this painting has made me realise that I really need to do something with my backgrounds. I need to introduce more colour around the subject, instead of just a small area at it's feet. I think this will have to be my project going forward.
These are my first attempts at some new landscapes, inspired by my recent holiday to County Kerry in Ireland. The first is a view of the mountains overlooking Dingle Bay on the Dingle Peninsula. I am not quite as confident using watercolour for landscape painting, as it is very different compared to painting wildlife. I kept the image 'loose',
using a wet on wet technique. I wanted the mountains to blend into the sky, to give the effect of clouds drifting over the mountain tops, so I added the mountains whilst the sky was still moist. For my first watercolour landscape in several years,
I am fairly happy with the result. It is very atmospheric and moody.
The second painting to the left are the mountains overlooking Muckross Lake in Killarney National Park. I painted this using my usual method in acrylic, using a palette knife to apply the majority of the colour. I only used a paintbrush to give the softer cloud effects, and to blend the reflections. I prefer to paint in this method, as it is far more expressive. Although, as my stepdad pointed out, I need to paint on canvas paper or board, so the acrylic flows better and does not create such harsh lines. This calls for a trip to the art shop to stock up tomorrow!
Working in a school means that I luckily get some time off over the summer holiday period. I am using this time to get back into the swing of painting.
Today I focused on this small study of a Welsummer cockerel and hens. As it is a small study, I wanted to be be as loose as possible with my style. This is easier said than done! I couldn't help adding the little details such as the little grass stems and feather flecks.
What I like about this painting is that I have captured the 'action'. Cockerels are very attentive of their ladies. If they find a titbit on the ground, they will cluck excitedly. The hens will run over and grab the food, and the cockerel will sidle up to them, asserting his dominance.
Welsummers are my favourite chickens to paint. Their colouring is stunning, and a wonderful challenge for watercolours.
I recently bought a Windsor and Newton travel watercolour set in preparation for a holiday to Ireland. Before leaving, I decided to try them out by adding some colour to these two sketches. The first is a red-tailed Bumble Bee on a pink Cosmos flower. I have filled my garden with these wildlife friendly plants, and the bees and hoverflies cannot get enough of them! They make interesting subjects to draw from life. Even with a limited colour palette, I am pleased with the vibrancy of the pinks, reds and purples in this image.
The second sketch is of a chicken with attitude, called 'Nora Batty'. She was the boss of the chicken coop, hen pecking all the other poor girls. I think the best thing about this watercolour is the stance of the hen. I have been observing and drawing chickens since I was a child, and it has given me the ability to capture their characters, and the details of their feathering.
Overall I am impressed with the quality and colour range in my travel set, and I aim to use it a lot more out in the field. I look forward to using it to paint some Irish landscapes.
I submitted three images this year to the National Exhibition of Wildlife Art. This image to the left is the sole image to have made it through to the final exhibition. I am quite surprised, as I thought the other 2 paintings I submitted were a lot stronger!I am now hoping that someone likes this little dude enough to buy him and take him home.
The painting can be viewed on the exhibition website at http://www.newa-uk.com/pages/home.php, and is on display at the Gordale Garden Centre, Chester High Road, Burton, Wirral, CH64 8TF.
Be sure to have a look at both my parents (Paul and Catherine Apps) paintings as well, as they have also made it through to the exhibition.
The last time I painted a landscape was in my third year of university, which was well over four years ago! I wanted to paint something special for my mum's birthday card, and what better than the old farmhouse that my family and I lived in during the early 90's. This is a beautiful house overlooking the countryside of west Brabourne, framed by a lovely walled garden and outbuildings. My mum and I have very fond memories of our time here, and we could certainly tell you a few stories about it's resident ghosts!
I used acrylics for this painting, as I like to create slightly impressionist landscapes and I enjoy blending the colours with a thick paintbrush or a pallet knife to create clouds and vegetation.The house looks a bit wonky, but this definitely adds to its character. I distinctly remember the crooked ceilings and floors and doors that creaked and whistled.
Painting this image has inspired me to have a go at some more acrylic landscapes, and maybe even try to paint some in watercolour. I also have to start thinking about some new images for my upcoming Spring show at the Church Mouse Gallery in Hythe, which will be happening in May. More details will be posted here nearer the time.
I have had a rather long break from painting over the Christmas holiday. I was away from home for most of it and so there was no opportunity for me to focus on putting paintbrush to paper.
However after a few practice sketches to help me get back into the swing of things, I have produced this little number.
Waxwings are one of the most spectacular winter visitors to our shores. Their lovely creamy pink feathers, punky crest and black eye mask make a striking image. There have been huge flocks spotted all over the UK, and a retail park in Folkestone, Kent was lucky enough to have a flock of nearly 400 visit its car park. It did not take long for them to devour all the berries on offer!
It was not easy trying to get the colouring of this bird correct. The main colour is a mix of pink, cream, blue-grey and orange! I layered all the different colours over one another, using more 'paynes grey' in the shadows around the feet. I think I am most happy with the head of the bird. The flash of orange next to the beak, and the crisp red of the berries make a lovely contrast. I will probably do a few studies of these Waxwings, as I find their colours and characters to be very interesting.
I will be completely honest and say this painting was a pain in the backside to do! Usually my subjects are quite static, so this time I wanted to add a bit of action, and have the duck rising out of the water and stretching it's wings. I watched 2 Eider Ducks bathing in the late afternoon light at the WWT wetland centre, so had plenty of reference, but I just could not get the wings correct. I spent ages sketching out the lines in pencil, and even when I applied the paint the right wing looked pinioned and at an incorrect angle.
