skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I'm a little embarrassed to say that it has been over a month since I last picked up a paintbrush! My rather lame excuse is that there has been a lot going on,
such as trying to find a new job and house-hunting.
I wanted to paint something I was confident with to help me get back into the swing of things. I grew up with a garden full of chickens, and one day plan to have some of my own. In the meantime, I have my parents chickens to observe. They are very curious creatures, and if you step into their territory they will come and watch what you are doing, poke around at your feet, or sometimes just stare at you with those slightly Dinosaur-like faces! This character is what I aimed to capture in this hen.
Black Rock chickens have one of my favourite 'colour schemes'. The black feathers shine blue-green in the light, and the neck feathers are peppered with a glorious orange. I tend to avoid backgrounds in my paintings, but I felt adventurous this time and threw down a rusty, farmyard orange/brown frame using big, bold brushstrokes. I assure you, even though the border looks uneven, it is straight. The camera has just managed to distort it!
I hope you like this curious girl. It has certainly inspired me to get painting again!
Well I haven't managed to take a trip to the Falkland Islands to get some Rockhopper reference, but I did find a photo I took at London Zoo of their resident male, Ricky. I think these penguins are one of the most comical looking creatures on the planet. This guy has a haircut plucked straight out of the 80's. He reminds me of David Bowie in the film 'Labyrinth'! (If you haven't seen this fim already I highly recommend it!)I may have overdone the yellow head feathers a bit, but I think it adds even more character to this penguin. He was pretty easy to paint, but I spent an absolute age trying to get his beak correct. It's quite an unusual, razor-like beak with lots of grooves and angles. One of the reasons this image was so quick to execute is the monochrome colours. Although the blacks in my paintings are never pure black. Rockhopper feathers have a lovely blue sheen which I had to re-create with blue ink blobbed over the top of the black watercolour. The red eye stands out like a mini fire, so I used 'mars red' and a crisp highlight of white acrylic to make it shine.I am tempted to get this fella framed and entered in the SWLA exhibition in August. I think he would prove to be a popular and certainly an alternative looking addition!
Once again it was an incredibly balmy DSWF exhibition at the Mall Galleries on Monday. I was incredibly excited, and felt honoured and chuffed to see my Amur Tiger painting hanging amongst such a wonderful collection of wildlife art. All the artists gathered at 3pm to hear the winners announced. Alas, we were told we would have to wait until 7:30pm!
The winner, Adam Binder seemed to be completely shell shocked up on the stage. It was interesting to see that a 3D work won, and he is certainly a worthy winner.
Even though I was not a prize winner, I was delighted to see a little red spot on my painting when I walked down the steps. It makes all the hard work worthwhile, and it is great to know that someone loves my work enough to invest in it. What is even more important, is that 50% of the proceeds from the sale of my painting will go towards the vital DSWF conservation projects.
The exhibition is available to view at the Mall Galleries until the 29th May, so if you haven't already I highly recommend a visit! More information can be found at: http://www.wildlifeartistoftheyear.orgNow I have to start thinking about creating a piece to enter in next year's competition, as entries are already being called for! I also aim to return to the Mall Galleries in August, and submit work to the SWLA open exhibition.
I have been neglecting my painting of late. Now the weather has improved I have been spending most of my time in the garden or out walking. Last weekend I went for a walk through Epping Forest. I have never been before and I was in awe of how lovely it is. It is full to the brim with ancient, gnarled trees and birdsong. I wouldn't say it is a great place for wildlife watching, as it is very busy in terms of other walkers and cyclists. I did come away with some great photographs of trees and foliage though.
This painting here was completed a few weeks ago, but I made some adjustments. House sparrows are under serious threat at the moment. Increased development in the cities is destroying the meadows where they feed on insects. The RSPB has launched a project called the 'cockney sparrows' project. They are trying to encourage people to plant insect friendly gardens etc. I have a garden full of these cockney sparrows. They love sitting in the blossoming cherry trees, which makes for a beautiful composition.
The bank holiday weekend has provided me with some extra painting time, which I have used to paint this pair of adorable penguins. I was able to gather some excellent reference at Marwell Zoo last year. The penguins were running around the enclosure, swimming and preening. I will be able to create several compositions using this wide variety of poses.
What I love about Penguins is that they are incredibly comical, especially the way they waddle after each other with wings outstretched. This character will form the basis of a future painting, but for this one I wanted something a little cosier; a protective male looking after his mate. Humboldt Penguins have lovely colouring. The black feathers have a red-brown sheen around the face and back, which changes to a blue sheen on the wings. I had to layer brown underneath black paint, and then drop water onto the black to allow the brown to show through on highlighted areas. This red-brown is also mirrored in their eye colour, which I made really crisp with the addition of a white highlight.
What I enjoyed the most was dropping little black spots onto their bellies! Such a cute little feature of this penguin.
What I would really like to collect is some Rockhopper Penguin reference. Rockhoppers have an amazing 'haircut' of spiky yellow feathers above their eyes. I could paint endless pictures of them! There is a resident Rockhopper at London Zoo but as the viewing platform is above the penguins, it's not a great place for photography. Best start saving for a trip to the Sub-Antarctic!
I have not painted any fish for a while now. I went through a phase of painting Koi, which I really enjoyed doing. Koi have such lovely patterns and colours which suit my method of watercolour. In addition they are the perfect shape to arrange into beautiful and interesting compositions.Before returning to Koi, I have painted a much smaller subject; 2 fancy goldfish. These two were living in an aquarium in my parents' living room, where I was able to get a few good photographs of them swimming around. Fancy goldfish have extremely elaborate fins and tails. I actually struggled trying to get Basil's (the one on the right) correct. I'm still not sure whether I have managed to pull it off. I am however very happy with Sybil's colouring and shape. Her peppering of black, orange and blue was easy to recreate with loose watercolour. This was a quick painting to produce, only taking a couple of hours from start to finish. It just goes to show that the more you paint the more relaxed and confident you become. I also feel my observational skills are improving. I just wish I had the time and luxury to sit down and paint everyday!
To celebrate the welcome return of the warm weather, I have painted this little fuzzy garden visitor on a marigold. Insects are very different to my normal subjects, and therefore there is little room for anatomical mistakes. Bees are very intricate creatures, and while creating this piece I spent a huge amount of time getting the legs, eye and wings correct. I think I have done a pretty good job, but I am sure an entomologist could point out some corrections! What I am most pleased with is the fuzzy fur. I put down a flat wash of black or yellow, then layered splattered brown/white/blue using a paintbrush and dip pen. The flower was created by using wet on wet watercolour, and I let the red, pink and yellow mix together.
It is a sad fact that Bumblebees are becoming rarer in this country. It would be tragic to lose such an important insect, so to help them out I am planting lots of bee friendly plants this spring, including marigolds, honeysuckle, sunflowers, nasturtium and globe thistle.
I'm a little embarrassed to say that it has been over a month since I last picked up a paintbrush! My rather lame excuse is that there has been a lot going on, such as trying to find a new job and house-hunting.
