Inspirational book

The Epiphany Artist recently posted about books that have inspired her, which inspired me to do the same. I own several books by Claudia Nice, an artist from the Pacific Northwest who works in pen, ink and watercolour, a combination that has always greatly appealed to me. The first book of her's I obtained is called Watercolour Made Simple, but since then I have read several more. My favourite is Creating Textures in Pen & Ink in Watercolour. This is why I used pen and ink in the painting of the thatched cottage that I posted a few days ago. I wish I could post one of her paintings, but I guess that would be a violation of her copyright!

Magnolias

At this time of year Oxford is full of magnificent magnolia trees in full bloom. In fact, Oxford is probably at its best at this time of the year, with the daffodils out and some fruit trees starting to blossom. Plus, the students have mostly gone home for Easter and most of the tourists are yet to arrive. So, I was inspired to do some sketches. Here's one of some magnolia buds.

Leaves part 2

I've put a bit more work into the drawing of leaves, trying to push the darks of the negative spaces in particular. The leaves aren't perfect, but I don't think I'm going to do any more work on this one. It is all graphite (2H, HB, 2B and 4B) on cartridge paper.

Leaves

I'm working on a drawing of part of a plant. This isn't finished yet, but I thought I'd show you the progress so far. It's taking quite a long time, and there's still a lot to do, but it is fun. I like the strong negative shapes.

Distant trees

Here's another watercolour. Unfortunately, I made a bit of a mess of trying to add some texture to the otherwise rather empty hillside in the middle ground. But the main point of this was to try mixing lots of different greens and getting the distant trees to be interesting. I'm not sure about their interest, but mixing the greens was useful. I'm starting to get very fed up with Payne's grey, as it lightens so much when it dries; I'll have to try some alternatives for mixing dark greens. Any suggestions gratefully received!

Thatched cottage

Here's a painting that I did in my watercolour class last week. The thatched roof is textured in pen and ink and then tinted with watercolour. The hedge in the foreground is a bit of a mess, but it was fun to do that roof!

Some studies

I've been following Diane Wright's landscape drawing tutorials on WetCanvas.
Here are some of the studies that I've done so far.

Not quite managed to do anything postable every day, but I'm not doing too badly! This one I did as part of the Weekly Drawing Thread on WetCanvas. it's not really finished, but I'm not sure if I'll have time to finish it this week, so I thought I would post it as it is now.

Some sketches

Four days in to the New Year, and I'm keeping to my resolutions quite well so far, even if I'm not posting every day. I'm watching a programme on the TV about the Old Grey Whistle Test at the moment...takes me back! They don't make 'em like that anymore. People also don't have hair like that anymore!! (This won't make sense to anyone who isn't old enough to remember the 70s and 80s BBC rock music TV show!)

New year's resolutions

It's the time for making resolutions again, and this year I am yet again planning to draw and paint more regularly! It's not going to be easy, though, as my wife is about to start a new job that will involve her having to stay away from home three or four nights every week. But I will do my best. Just to set the ball rolling, here are a couple of quick drawings I did recently. The first is an Icelandic sheepdog puppy and the second is a misty river, which I did in about 20 minutes.

Happy New Year everyone!

Woods

This week we were painting trees. I managed to do four studies in a couple of hours; here is one of them. It was a fun evening!

I've started watercolour classes again. Here is a recent effort. The idea was to experiment with wet-on-wet techniques. Some work better than others!

Art news

For anyone living or visiting the UK, this site is great for listing what's showing in art galleries and museums. I'm very keen to get to the exhibition of drawings by Michaelangelo that's showing at the British Museum until 25 June.

Read more at www.artuk.com/art_news....

New Forest Oak

Here is a quick sketch I did on a recent trip to the New Forest. It's pen and ink, washed over with water. I like the way the colours separate out when you do this.

Magdalen Tower, Oxford

Here is another watercolour, this time showing a well-known scene in Oxford: the tower of Magdalen College. It's a lovely spot, especially on May Morning, when the college choiresters sing from the top of the tower at dawn. One year I might actually get out of bed in time to hear them!

Lake District watercolour

I've not posted anything for ages...I hope that's going to change, as there are at least a few weeks when I'm not expecting to be quite as busy with work as I have been.

Anyway, I've been continuing to try to get a bit better with watercolours. Here's a recent effort. The scene is in the English Lake District.

Eton College Chapel finished

Here's the finished painting. Lots wrong with it, but my best yet, so I'm quite pleased. Fiddled too much with some parts of it, but other bits work OK.

Eton College chapel WIP

I've started watercolour classes recently, and here is a beginning of an attempt to paint Eton College chapel. This watercolour malarky isn't easy!

InkFinger: Blind Contour Friday

I really like the drawings at InkFinger. The Blind Contour Friday is a great idea; here is a link to the latest one: InkFinger: Blind Contour FRIday 24.

Here's a simple blind contour drawing of my own.

I haven't been getting much artwork done recently, but I have started going to watercolour classes again. With any luck I'll have a painting to post on Monday!

Bushes study

I've not had much time for artistic endeavour over the last few days, but did do this study of bushes in pen and ink a couple of days ago. This is thanks to Dave Sullivan who is running a foliage tutorial in the Pen and Ink forum at WetCanvas.