This week, we are up on the hills above Exeter in Devon. While doing an en plein air landscape study, some sheep come walking into view so I quickly take a few photos for reference then return home to create a mixed media painting. The finished painting is of three sheep in the Devon landscape with rolling hills off in the distance and trees and bushes in the foreground. I used an unusual colour scheme for this one with lots of blues and purples. You can see the finished painting in high resolution here: Materials used: mixed media paper (A2), Derwent inktense pencils, winsor and newton watercolour marker pens, Atelier interactive acrylics, medium and small flat brush, small round brush, 3 inch decorator's brush and a giant flat brush. See you next week for the next episode of the Sunday Art Show!
This week, I use interactive acrylics, a medium flat brush and A2 mixed media paper to create a painting of a Dartmoor miniature pony. This video actually shows some extracts from an animal painting artist workshop that I recently held in Exeter. For those that came along, thanks very much for attending, hope you find this a useful record of some of the stuff we did and I've included some bonus info using on-screen captions. I also did a painting of a steer that you can see here
The image below shows how we can begin to construct a sheep from simple lines and structure, here we've used watercolour marker pen and a damp brush.
Contours are a useful tool for creating an illusion of 3 dimensions, this doesn't have to be as obvious and bold as the examples below but these images illustrate the idea.
This week, I have some fun creating a boldly coloured, simply treated painting of a sheep in about ten minutes. Also, included some captions with bonus info and tips throughout the video for the first time. This ten minute sheep painting was created using Liquitex acrylic paint marker pens and Daler Rowney mixed media paper. Really good to experiment with different styles, techniques, materials and time limits. See you next Sunday for the next episode of the Sunday Art Show.
Beautiful weather in Exeter over the last few days, so with a sketch pad (mixed media paper), biro and sharpie marker pen in hand, I grabbed a few minutes each day to draw: a man, a cat, some houses, some hills, a mill and some grand buildings. Also, created some business cards and put up a poster for my next art class. Great fun being out in the sun! See you next Sunday for the next episode of The Sunday Art Show.
See the business cards here, sketch from Cathedral green, and the sketch of the guy at library.
Back at Bedruthan steps for this week's video. Some of you may remember the previous Bedruthan sketch that was a black & white watercolour study from the cliff top. This time, I venture down the steep steps onto the sand, walk among the huge rocks and take in the view looking south out across the ocean. Then, back home, I paint a 20 minute watercolour study of this view, this time in colour. I'm planning a series of studies of different aspects of this beach, each time, refining my technique and using different media. You can see the hi resolution image of the painting here: or a different framing of the same pic, that I think works better here Materials used: Winsor and Newton watercolour paints, Daler-Rowney mixed media board A3, synthetic round and flat brushes, water spray.
See you next week for the next episode of the Sunday Art Show.
Following on from last month's workshop, I'm holding another art class in Exeter on Friday 5th April (1pm to 4pm) at Exwick Parish Hall, Exwick, Exeter, EX4 2AA. Cost is £25. All welcome!
Inspired by the rugged and colourful landscape of Dartmoor in Devon, in this video I paint a grazing belted galloway cow against a back drop of grass, heather, gorse and rolling hills. Just a quick study but using watercolor allows expressive washes and mark-making in a relatively short time. Also used a little bit of ball-point pen for the fluffy bits on the cow. You can see the high resolution version here: Materials used: Winsor and Newton watercolours, prussian blue watercolor marker, large and medium synthetic pointed round brushes, smooth A4 mixed media paper, paper towel, blue biro
This week, I play a game of hit and run at the beach. Taking a walk / run along Exmouth beach round the headland to Sandy Bay in Devon, I stop at 5 different locations to create a quick monochrome watercolour study of the scene.
The beach was amazing today as the tide was further out than I'd ever seen it at this location.
For a couple of the sketches, I even place the paper in the sea to try and achieve interesting effects.
Great fun, an amazing day drawing and painting in watercolor at the beach, working en plein air, on a day with a particularly low tide.
Materials: Mixed media paper, smooth finish, A4 size, Winsor and Newton watercolour marker, burnt umber.
Starting at Exmouth beach, this pool in the sand caught my eye.
Standing on some rock that jutted out into the sea, I was able to capture this view looking back to the beach.
This little experiment didn't really work, put down a few lines then swiped the paper across the surface of the sea, the watercolour didn't move in the way I was hoping.
Simple sketch but it captures a nice sense of light.
Second experiment with the sea, put down more squiggly lines and then let a small wave hit the paper producing much more interesting marks.
This week, it's a viewer-requested video, painting a Texas longhorn steer in acrylic. Materials: A3 mixed media paper, atelier interactive paints: magenta, cad red, ultramarine blue, phthalo blue, cad yellow, burnt umber, titanium white; small round and half inch flat synthetic brushes, watercolour marker pen
reference photo link: View the hi-res painting here Starting with loose line work using a watercolor marker pen, I block in the steer with interactive acrylic. As the painting proceeds the colours get warmer (orangey browns) and the shadows deeper. An undulating cast shadow is included on the ground. The inclusion of a deep blue background really makes the colours sing and enhances the sense of hot sun.
