A sheep and lamb or two from our neighbors camp. If all goes well and I can convince my husband with my sweet puppy eyes, I might just have my own cute lambs this spring!
…Sheep and lambs 1…
pencil, pen and watercolor in Daler Rowney sketchbook CP, 254x178cm
…Sheep and lambs 2..
pencil, pen and watercolor in Daler Rowney sketchbook CP, 254x178cm
February was a busy month and I didsn’t get around to doing much art. I did succeed on doing a garden sketch and a drawing of Tartelette ad Omelette, on a reasonably nice February afternoon.
I feel happy with the drawing, which was first done as a sketch and then developed further into a drawing. The cloches were done afterwards, rather lazily and not much effort or desire went into this sketch.
…Tartelette et Omelette…
…sanguine and charcoal drawing on paper, 24×20 cm…
..Two garden cloches…
…charcoal sketch on paper, 24x20cm…
I finally completed one koi painting in oil. But before that, I did some more studies in different mediums. I didn’t really enjoy these koi studies as I should have. I felt a bit like ” eating strawberries in the mid winter” and so I feel out of season with the koi paintings and it influenced the “taste”. But I’m happy that I stuck to it and completed at least one painting. I definitely plan to go to the koi farm in summer, where I can seat myself for a day and really get to work on some series.
..koi, oil on linen, 61x37cm
In step 1, using terpentineI put down thin washes of burnt sienna for the fish shapes and a thin wash of paynes gray and french ultramarine for the background/water.
.…step 1…
In step 2 I added some colour to the fish, cadmium red and yellow to the fish in the foreground and prussian blue to the back fish, to form the shadows. I started using liquin as a medium to have the oi dry quicker, but still have an oil shine.
…step 2…
In step 3 I darkened the water with a mixture of paynes gray and french ultramarine and softened the shadow marks I made on the yellow fish. this was my first mistake, because I made mud. I left it to dry completely, so I could rework it…the oil was still thin enough to redo without removing the paint.
…step 3…
the last stages was all about adding colour and depth to the fish bodies and depth to the water , while using the same colours I’ve used in the previous steps, with the addition of ochre, raw umber and white.
…koi completed…
When doing the studies for this koi project, I worked mostly from photographs, using about 20 different photos, building my own scenes. I really found it difficult to render the koi in an interesting way. I feel I can do better, which is why I will patiently wait for the koi season to open and I can go and study them in real life.
I also felt that they ask for something a little more abstract or expressive than mere realistic rendering. In the following studies I tried to present them on the page in a little more interesting way. I found it quite exciting and I think I can even push the envelope even further in the expressive domain, which makes me more excited about the series of koi than I was when I started out.
In the meantime, I have a lobster and crab and mussels and oysters and several other shellfish in my freezer, waiting to be sketched and painted and studied. Maybe a new series of sea creatures? So hang around if you’re interested in seeing what will surface – it will be a surprise for me too.
…koi study in charcoal on paper, 22x15cm…
…koi study in graphite on paper, 22x15cm…
…koi study in oil pastel on paper, 22x15cm…
Also posted on Watermarks.
..à bientôt…
Ronelle
When we went to Hawaii last year, I took hundreds of photos of the koi ponds. It is one of the MOST relaxing pastimes…just sitting and watching those koi’s play. I did only one sketch of them in the time we were there, but I took hundreds of photos and for the rest of the time, I just stared at them.
I’m on the “search” lately, not knowing exactly where I should go art wise. There so many different directions that give me joy and I’d like to continue doing them all, but I would also like to accelerate in a specific field…not be so all over the place as I am currently. As the weather is a bit bad lately and it is raining a lot, chances to go and do plein air are scarce. I was looking through my Hawaii albummorning and came across these koi photos and the joy of sitting there and watching them(in the SUN!!) had me take them all to the atelier. This is my latest. I want to do some koi paintings, eventually in oil, but first some studies in watercolor, which to me is a far more difficult medium than oil.
Also posted on Watermarks.
All these studies done in pen and watercolor on Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper, CP, 18x26cm.
…koi study in watercolor 7…
A prerequisite for the koi paintings, is that I want movement in the paintings. So I tried in all of the watercolor studies to get movement. These studies are of course done from photographs, something I strurggle with doing, because I get caught up in a tight clenching mode and lose all spontaneity. So I decided to put my earphones on and I listened to Beethovens piano concerto nos 4 and 5 and Piano a la Roque d’Antheron with works by Lizt, Chopin Rachmaninoff…to keep me “allegretto and crecsendo“. I think it did work, because looking at these studies, they almost come across as messy and I certainly hope not “tight”, except maybe for number three(koi watercolor 2) which was before I started listening to the music. You’ll clearly see that I still drew and painted “fishy by fishy”. I did 7 studies, and like with everything else…I started getting better. but now I’m tired of watercolor and going to start doing the koi in oil…let’s say a little serie of koi in oils.
…koi study in watercolor 4…
…koi study in watercolor 2…
Now I also need to find a place where I can really study them…their movements( a year ago is too long to remember those kinds of details), their behavior, their mischief and play and capture that onto live sketches. then come back to the studio and NOT procrastinate again, like I’m SO famous for, but paint them immediately.
So, if you’re interested in seeing these koi develop..remember to stop by again!
..à bientôt..
Ronell
Picking up leaves on my walk by the Loire resulted in autumn sketches number II during our art afternoon earlier today. This is what I did, while Marie-Christine continued working on her cheetah.
All my sketches were done in pencil, pen and watercolor sketchbook, 19x20cm
…yellows in autumn…
…reds in autumn…
With her permission, I photographed Marie-Christine’s painting this afternoon, to show the stage where it is at now…far from finished of course. It is an old painting that she is reworking: keeping the cheetah, and started changing the background, wanting to work towards a warm African feel with heavy skies. Looks good to me already so far!
..Marie-christine’s cheetah in progress…
oil on canvas
Taking over the Van Wyk bed..with some snacking in between.
…Tokala and Aiyani…
Sketch done in pencil, then pen and watercolor in watercolor sketchbook, 26x18cm (10,2″x 7,1″)
..until next time..
Ronelle
Africantapestry 