Something old into new...

And here I am struggling with water once more... I won't show you the practise runs... Some effects turned well other bits were pure accident. We don't have the negatives of the 2 photos that make up this picture. And Stephen's photo has been damaged. So, something old into new...

Unfinished business

Unfinished Business (2008)

Pastel on Canson MiTeintes

There is no doubt that I could spend another 2 months on this ... but I just don't have the feeling for it any more, and I think to leave it as unfinished work is at this stage quite adequate.

Watercolour 2

Brincos de Princesa (2008)
Watercolour (and Pastel) on Arches (300 gsm)

And so it is finished... The painting is mainly watercolour, but when I put the background down I realised that it was very strong and made the picture very flat. So, in came the pastels - a bit of cool blue - very faint, just enough to bring the foliage out of the way. What I learned with watercolour to date is that I will have to do a LOT more planning if I want my pictures to work. Regardless, I really enjoyed doing this one... it was in a sense 'healing'.

Watercolours 1

I have recently taken on the challenge of learning how to paint with watercolours. Basically I needed a medium that was a bit "faster" than pencils (so I thought), and I am not keen on having to frame every painting (as with pastels). I also thought that in time, watercolours would allow me to do a bit of multi-media by combining the best of pencils, pastels and the watercolour themselves...



I has been a hard road...

This is my very first attempt... Nice leaves on the ground, but it was not going to work...

The second try had a bit more potential, but soon I realised that composition was lacking...

On the third try I was feeling a bit more confident about my progress. I still think that the picture is not working, so at this stage it is resting on the side and I will tackle it again at a later date...

Launching into Life (2008)
Watercolour on Arches 300 gsm

Launching into Life is the first watercolour I considered finished, the mistakes abound, but I am happy that it conveys the message. This is a picture of my son jumping on a trampoline, I prefer to think of us parents as providing the support he needs to launch into life safely...

"Brincos de Princesa" is still work in progress... I am receding the foliage into the background and tackling her hair (that is me by the way - a long time ago, granted!). The frilly hybiscus were a favourite of my grandfather and he called them 'princess earrings'. Since painting One Love, I have been wanting to do a series of happy moments... this is the first one.