I would like to apologize to all my subscribers.
It seems there has been a little hick-up tonight and a post from earlier this year was once again published a few minutes ago and an automatically generated email was sent to everybody who is subscribed to Africantapestry. I have no idea why or how it happened. So , a big sorry for that!!!
Thank you for understanding!
Just a quick interruption in my break..which I’m still enjoying…to tell you about a project that I’m involved in.
…pen sketch by Cathy Gatland…
A postcard from my Walk has its roots in Sketchercise, a group of artists sharing a love for art and the outdoors, nature and different forms of exercise. As our project name suggests, we are painting postcards from our Sketchercise outings and mailing them this way and that way to each other, criss-crossing over 4 continents.
…a collage of works from our group..
Please visit our new blog, a postcard from my Walk, to follow along in our adventures the next year and more and where you can meet all the members on their introduction posts, see all the postcards and get fired up yourself to do more exercise and be creative while doing it.
Hope to see you there!
à bientôt!
Ronell
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
There is always something to pick up on a walk and take home to sketch, especially on a rainy day like we had today. I picked up a few twigs and leaves..which are always good to sketch. Leaves in winter have fascinating shapes which make up for their overall monotone brown color.
I also sketched some scampi and prawns, which are normally a translucent, greyish color, but turn red after cooking. Unfortunataly I couldn’t put these to mouth after sketching them..it felt a bit too “cannibalistic” to eat them after studying them so up and close…
..all sketches done in Fabriano artisico water color sketchbook, 18x26cm, with inks and watercolor..
…scampi and prawns..
..dry leaves of “Platanes” (Sycamore)tree and moss covered twig..
..a variety of seeds, leaves and twigs..
..bon week-end et à la prochaine fois..
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
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