Still Life #3

This one is even better. Good clear shapes, recognizable objects and lots of colour. Something I learned at the Charles Reid Workshop. Fresh moist paint and lots of paint on the brush.

Still Life #2

This one is a bit better. The same set up, but better drawing for starters. And a tighter, more focused composition.

Doesn't it seem true that the second time that you attempt a particular picture it is better. I guess in the first you are just bumbling along trying to solve problems, discovering other problems after you've finished and in the second you have an inkling of the problems that you will encounter as you go along. I guess a way to deal with these is a preliminary sketch or experience.

Still Life #1

I have recently returned from a Charles Reid Workshop, at which I learned a bunch of very important things about how I paint and how I should paint.

I am attempting in a series of small and (I hope) daily paintings to apply those things that I have learned and show some improvement.

Here is the first.

Woman in Blue and Orange

Or, like Whistler, "Composition in Blue and Orange." Or maybe "Grunpy Woman with Oranges." This was a three hour pose with the Toronto Watercolour Society (although I tend to finish in one and half to two hours) .

Whatever the title I am quite happy with the way this one turned out.

Male Nude

A painting from life last Tuesday. Not a particularly good likeness, but I am satisfied with the result.

Wednesday Night Drawing

This is from last Wednesday night at my drawing group. A twenty minute painting of the model from behind. I am fairly happy with this one.

October Afternoon

I am very happy with this painting. I think that it has a good composition and quite strong colours. What is interesting is that it is based on a photograph which I took in an area north of Toronto which is slated to become a new airport for the city. This is a mixed use area in which farmland was gradually being turned into suburbia. Because this land was taken over to build an airport and then the process stalled it is full of abandoned suburban homes as well as farms that have either been abandoned or worked by absentee or inhabited until a final decision is made.

I have used these photos before, but since this one was painted to be a different season from that in which the photo was taken, I used it as reference rather than trying to copy it and as a result it seems to be more successful.

Figure Study

As I have previously mentioned I belong to an Art Club that provides the opportunity to paint and draw from a live model several times a week. This is the figure study which I did yesterday. I have cropped it down from 15 x 22" to about 11 x 16 because of some overworking on the left hand side. 

Overworking is the bane of the watercolourist. It usually starts with an attempt to improve some part of the painting, which most times leads to then trying to fix that part because the improvements didn't work. It may stem from the feeling that whatever one is painting is the best one has done or at least pretty good and in an attempt to make it even better, ironically it gets worse. Many an artist talks about how they reached a certain point at which they were very happy with what was going on and then proceeded to ruin it.

It has been said of painting in general, and this applies particularly to watercolour that it requires two people to paint; one to do the painting and the other to take the brush away and say, "Ok, you can stop now, that's enough."

Girl with the Green Earring

I belong to an art club that provides the opportunity to paint and draw from a live model a couple of times a week. This is a portion of my painting from last night.

I have observed from this group as well as others that a lot of people tend to paint themselves when drawing from a model. Their finished figure has their mouth or nose, or has the same shape of head. If they do not notice this, then it only follows that perhaps I would not notice when I am using my own features rather than those of the model. But if the whole process is unconscious than how would you know?

If you are interested just leave a comment and I can send you a picture of the whole piece which is a half sheet watercolour -15 x 22 inches.