Kerry Landscapes

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!

Welsummer Trio

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.