Douglas Kirsop painting workshop

I was both excited and nervous to take Douglas' workshop at the Port Hedland Courthouse Galley on the 6th and 7th of Feb, having never had success with water colour paints, it was daunting, but I am very keen to learn new skills and further my abilities in all areas. So along I went and loved it!

We spent quite a bit of time watching, listening, and observing the techniques used. We played with colours, colour mixing, and the power of white gouache to stabilise and solidify a colour when the painting is too wet and the colours keep bleeding. 

Our first afternoon we had an attempt at copying what we could see in Douglas' paintings, something that took a lot more skill than expected, the base colours are used as a wash, then the light colours need to be laid down first, with increasing layers of darker and stronger pigment. I was fortunate enough to have quite a bit of help with the composition, after a bit of a shaky start... I learnt the importance of sketching, it's a map that holds the composition where it needs to be. 

West further work can be done once I have purchased my own water colours, this is the piece I ended up with...

Early morning outing on Sunday to sketch and watch Douglas paint what he could see, in the same way he would as a 'sketch' for an oil painting of a landscape, it allows colour, shadow, light, and tone to be captured as a reminder for when you aren't in front of the subject. We got some great photos, but the experience of being there was really beneficial. 

So the painting I came up with....

I'm pretty happy with it, I wasn't overly happy at the time, but as it dried, and I took some time, I am now quite happy, I really am looking forward to forming a habit of making a water colour sketch before painting, I'm sure it will increase my technical ability and make for more beautiful and exciting paintings. 

I am also looking into the possibility of studying under one of the artists I truly admire the work of, Sarah Nightingale. I would really like to have my art space set up properly first, as Skype lessons will require lots of effort on my part, and her teaching deserves me to be the best I can be. 

I am really excited about all 2016 will hold, it has already been pretty incredible.

How many sleeps until Christmas??

The count down is on! And more so because I want to make most of my gifts this year! I've made my list, I'm checking it twice... Hopefully I'll have the right bits and pieces for everything I want to make. I've got a few trips away over the next couple of months, and then my family is celebrating Christmas in the second week of December... Which is even sooner! 

The to do list involves:

Sewing purses and bags

Sewing a blanket

Sewing scarves 

Sewing table linen

Painting

 And working out what else I need to get for the remaining friends and family! It's not easy! 

But all that is really important is that the Saviour was born. And as long as we remember that, none of the rest of it matters! 

Procrastination sketching

March, A4 size 

June, A3 water colour paper. I still love this scene, I feel I need to do some studies of it with different mediums, colours and textures. 

I have been working on the idea of painting in series, a number of paintings with a common theme. This one feels like a promising start point. 

Have a creative and blessed day! 

Creativity flows like oil.

Oil paints that is... Not at all, then all at once! 

Been having a good day today, I've done some housework and listened to an awesome podcast, then decided I really needed some painting time. 

I prepared the canvases the other day, put a gesso prime over old paintings that I didn't like and couldn't fix, and sketched my basic plan onto the canvas in willow charcoal. I want to learn new painting styles, so I've been playing around with techniques to see how different things look. 

This canvas started off pale blue, dark blue with a white prime. I could have put more layers of white on, but it is interesting to start with a blue canvas and watch how things progress. I have used oil bars for this, like giant oil-paint-crayons. I have pushed the paint around a little bit with a brush, but not a whole lot. I'm going to put in a moody grey sky which should make the mountains stand out and the autumn leaves stand out ever brighter. 

Distraction

I WAS ready to study.... 

Cossack Art Awards

Still 18 days left to enter the Cossack Art Awards, it's tempting to enter. But I haven't got a painting that qualifies (done in the last 12 months) so I would have to start and finish it in the next few weeks. Today I've been studying hard, getting through my modules for my exam in 19 days, but my mind is always ticking over. 

Perhaps a scene of a person surrounded by scrub and sea