Demo day

I had a lovely time today, doing a watercolour demonstration for the Preston Grange art group...........and I loved every minute of it. It made me long for the days when I used to do alot of teaching. I would love to do it full time, but with my health being what it is, I have to make do with the odd demonstration here and there.

At the end of the demo I was presented with a huge bouquet of flowers from the members. It was such a lovely unexpected surprise, someone must have snuck out to buy them, during break time....lol.

I have posted a photo below, as you can see, 2 of my 10 week old, kittens were facinated by them.

 

 

I haven`t got a photo of the demonstration painting, but below you will see something else that I have been working on this week.

 

 

 

Both paintings are done in watercolour on arches rough, 140LB paper.

15x11"

 

I`ve been playing and experimenting with different light conditions this week, I haven`t decided whether these are sunsets, or sun rises...lol. I suppose it depends on which direction the light is coming from.??????

 

Seaton Sluice

Seaton Sluice.

 

The House on the hill,

 

15x 22"

 

Arches waterolour paper, M.Grahams watercolours.

 

 

I painted this scene in watercolours. I have been experimenting alot lately with different mediums, but no matter how much I enjoy working in other mediums, or how much I like the resulting paintings, I always go back to watercolours.

 

I enjoyed painting this because I love this place, the views are fabulous from all angles, but also because this place has some very happy memories ....of times spent with my family, going for meals to celebrate birthdays etc. Times filled with lots of fun and laughter, well appart from the time we went when the girls were younger, were they moaned and cried and argued etc from the minute we walked in............but I choose to forget that particular occassion from now on.

 



 

Frilly lillies.

15 x11"

Artistico paper,

M.Grahams watercolours.

 

I enjoyed every minute of painting this picture, and I have to say, it`s one of my favourite flower paintings that I`ve ever done. This photo doesn`t do it justice, the colours are much brighter and more vibrant IRL............but you get the idea.

 

 

Old Mill at Jesmond Dene.

 

15x11"

Acrylic paints.

guessoed watercolour paper.

 

I have to say, acrylics are my least favourite medium to work in, but I`ve challenged myself to keep experimenting.

I kind of enjoyed painting this...........although there were times when I wanted to rip it up and bin it. I`m glad I stuck with it though.....if only to remind myself why I love watercolours so much......lol.

 

I will continue to practice and experiment, and I will continue to post the results.

I have got a few more paintings to post from the last couple of weeks, so I will photograph them and post the during the week. There are some pastel on velour paper, which is completely different for me.Watch this space for more info on that.

 

What if

My first painting for this week I titled "Wishful thinking", simply because I find the look in the gorilla`s eye so sad.

I can`t help wondering what he is thinking about........... The more I look at the painting, the more I am left wondering the answers to the question

Wishful Thinking.

15x11"

Fabriano artistico.

Grahams watercolours.

As you can see, I tried to paint in a looser style. I am enjoying all this experimenting that I`ve been doing lately, and I have noticed a change in my work...........

but............

I`ll always love painting detailed still lifes.....

Cherry picked,

15x11"

Arches rough

Grahams watercolours.

Having said that, if you look closely, you will see that this painting isn`t as detailed as I used to paint. Maybe one of these days, I will achieve loose painterly watercolours. Until then I will continue enjoying what I`m doing, and love every single minute of it.!!

washy playtime.

This is loose and washy for me, and I really enjoyed painting it.

The gossips.

15x11"

M.Grahams watercolours.

Fabriano artistico watercolour paper.

This was well out of my comfort zone, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

I was trying out new paper, so I thought I`d try out a new style as well. It`s not the best painting I`ve ever done, but I am pleased with it. Normally when I try to loosen up, it still ends up full of detail, but in this instance, I`ve left the details to a minimum. (for me anyway)

I enjoyed painting this so much that I`ve started painting a gorilla in the same style.........I wonder how that will turn out.?????

Gizzie`s kitty.

15x11"

M. tientes pastel paper.

A selection of pastels, and pastel pencils.

This is one of our cat`s kittens, she is so cute that I couldn`t resist painting her.

We have got three, three and a half week old kittens running around the living room now........and they are so adorable. I`m loving watching them olay and wrestle with each other.

Learning from my mistakes!!

Plessey woods.

Arches watercolour paper, 15x11"

M.Grahams watercolours. 

This painting is based very loosely on a photo that my husband took at plessey woods last week.
I tidied the area up a little, and moved a few trees around. This was just a quick practice painting. I will paint it again someday, but next time I will make sure that the shadow of the tree nearest the river, doesn`t join up to the trunk of the tree in the foreground. It just looks like a huge branch sticking out from the foreground tree.

Newcastle quayside in warm Sepia.

15x11"

Watercolour on arches rough paper.

This painting was a nightmare from beginning to end.............The sheet of paper I used was years old, and I think the size was ruined on it. I had areas where the paint wasn`t blending properly, the paper was lifting in other areas, all in all I struggled. I got to the point where I almost gave up on it, and I was about to bin it, but decided to carry on.........it was prctice if nothing else, and my theory is you learn more from your mistakes than when everything goes to plan.

I Had a very dark cloud on the left hand corner, where the paint hadn`t blended, so I took a magic eraser sponge and softened and lifted some colour, to give the impression of softer looking clouds. This made a huge difference already. Next, I wet the whole page, and painted a very thin glaze over the whole painting to tie it together.

I did have a shard of light on the buildings, but it didn`t look  right, now that I`d changed the clouds, so I blended in some paint to hide it. I also strengthed the reflections in the water, and generally tidied to whole painting up..................and although it`s no masterpiece, it looks a whole lot better than it did before, and I`m quite pleased with it now, considering how it started off.

Cullercoats Bay, looking across to Tynemouth Priory.

15x11"

Arches rough, 140lb.

M.Grahams watercolours.

This was painted on part of the same piece of damaged paper, that I used for the above painting, but this time I was able to control it, because of what I`d learnt from the previous painting disasters.

The bell tower in the foreground is part of the RNLI building at Cullercoats Bay. When we were there a couple of weeks ago, we watched the lifeboat team rescue a car that had got stuck in the sea as the tide came in.

Playing with my daughters pens.

I enjoyed playing with my daughters pens. Unfortunately the photograph doesn`t pick up the variety of colours and tones.

My husband has just odered me a new camera for my birthday, so hoefully when I get the hang of using that, I will be able to get some decent images of my artwork............that`s the theory, anyway.

Poppy party,

7x11"

Fariano paper.

Water soluble felt tip pens.

Out and about.......

Pleine airing again.

North Shields fish market and RNLI

A4 size,

watercolours, with zigg sketching pen.

We had a lovely day out last week, hubby and the girls were fishing, while I sat painting. It was lovely and sunny, and very peaceful. (mainly because the two youngest girls were in school, haha)

I am really enjoying working outdoors lately, and although I`ve still got a LOT to learn about painting outdoors, I am starting to feel a little but more confident, and I am beginning to see a bit of an improvement in my paintings...........but I still need alot more practice yet, so I`ll keep plugging away when the weather is dry.

North shields fish market.

A4.

8B Pencil.

This is from earlier in the month. It is drawn from the same view as above, but looking further down the Quayside.

Tynemouth Priory.

15x11"

Arches rough.

Jackson`s warm sepia, watercolour.

I might have posted this before, but I don`t think so, so appologies if I did post it earlier.

This is another painting in my warm sepia range of local scenes. I have really enjoyed working on this series, and I`m sure it will continue to grow, because a) I`m enjoying working on it so much and b) there are so many lovely scenes around here that it`s hard to know when to stop.

I will continue to "play" and "experiment" with my work.....so that I can continue to grow as an artist, and learn, learn, learn.

Still in sepia mode...............and loving it!!!!

I`ve been playing with the sepia paint again the last few weeks. They are going down a storm with people who view them.

I`m loving working in mono-tone. It`s not something I usually do, but because I`m enjoying it so much, and because the response is so favourable, I`ll keep on playing with it.

I`ve been booked to do a demonstration for an art group on the 6th of September....................I think I`ll have to order more paint supplies by then.

Anyway, here are the latest works done in Warm Sepia They are all painted on Arches rough watercolour paper, 140lb.he sizes are all 15x11"

Bamburgh Castle

Dunstanburgh Castle

Tynemouth Priory

Souter Lighthouse

All of the above scenes can be found along the North East coast. That is why I love living here.........there is so much inspiration on my doorstep.