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A brush with Watercolours

pink_rose_smpurplepansy_smamaryllis001_smPardon the pun, but I couldnt resist!

I always thought that watercolours were the realm of the ‘experts’, who alone were keepers of the deep, dark secrets of watercolours.  Probably because all my past attempts at watercolours were pretty well disastrous.

I think, perhaps, it might have been the subject matter I was trying to paint, as much as the medium.  I am much more comfortable painting small corners of the world, rather than big sweeping landscapes, and most books on the subject (that I had, anyway) tended more to the latter.

Of course, I have a much better understanding of colour theory than I did back then and no longer try to do things like shade objects by adding black to the colour!

Sheep in the Snow

sheepinsnow017Ok, so Ive decided to (finally) tackle the subject of landscape painting.

Ive always been much happier with a more closeup subject matter – pots of flowers, window ledges, nooks and crannies etc. But, there comes a time in all our lives when we need to decide if we will rise to the challenge, lol.

Anyway, I painted this from a book (thats right, I cant manage this on my own, I need serious help) called ‘How to Paint Acrylics’ by Peter Jay.

The first one I painted was boys on the rocks, but, I couldnt possibly let you see THAT one. I’ll just chalk that up to a learning experience.

Anyway, being Scottish, but living in Australia, I appreciate the cold, wintery feel and I can almost smell that cold air, just looking at the picture.

The Leibe bird

leibe_bird2I sketched this from the Jo Sonja’s Guide to Decorative Painting book.

I love Jo Sonja’s work – she is an absolute inspiration to me.  She epitomises everything about folk art that I love, she has been true to the form and beauty of it.

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