CREATING ART THE AMATEUR WAY

For the longest time I had nowhere to paint indoors. I could have done it in the living room, but I would have risked getting water or even paint on the carpet, or furniture, knocking something over, and I would have felt compelled to put it all away when done. Then, just this year, I had a 'Eureka!' moment. I have a computer workstation in my bedroom where the keyboard pulls out on a shelf and above it I have a bookcase. I have adapted it for double usage. It doesn't matter so much if I do have an accident in the bedroom and the risk is worth it because I don't have to put anything away. It is better explained in photographs. The first thing I did was remove a shelf from the bookcase and put the desktop pc monitor in its place.  If I am painting using a reference photo, I can display it on the monitor and enlarge the image as I please. I mention how I do that in this post  Creating an art journal - tracing I have a large, solid, inflexible, drawing board and I put that...

I decided to paint a coral reef opposite the painting of a turtle in my Strathmore 400 watercolour journal. I didn't want to do anything fancy - alright, I admit, I'm not capable of doing a fancy coral reef right now 😆- so I kept it simple. My paintings always look better in the journal than onscreen because most, if not all, paintings look best if you step back a bit. I used the same Mijello Mission Gold paints.  And this is how they look together in the journal.  The reference photo I used for the reef was by Francesco Ungaro on UnSplash Photo of Coral Reef by Francesco Ungaro on Unsplash

After my less than successful first line and wash painting of a church in Skipton yesterday, I went for something more simple this time. I like this one, painted with Mijello Mission Gold paints which are vibrant and magic. The Caribbean turtle (possibly a Hawkshead) was drawn with Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pen 0.1 as a guide, then painted in full except for the white detail which was done with white Uni-ball Signo broad. The background (water) was easy, applied as a loose wash of turquoise with touches of grey green (also used on the turtle) added in. Watercolour Turtle Reference photo. I couldn't make out from the photo how submerged the turtle was. I think it was probably in relatively shallow water just under the surface. 

I went way out of my comfort zone (if I actually have a comfort zone) with this one. I had never done Line and Wash (Pen and Wash) before and although I watched video demonstrations, still didn't feel I was doing it right. In fairness to myself, I did struggle yet again with the Strathmore 400 series journal, and even the Handover Low Tack (yellow)  masking tape damaged the paper although I have never known that particular tape (bought from Jacksons Art) to damage anything at all before. Also, foolishly, I used Derwent Inktense blocks which is also a first. I thought they might be easier to work with. 😒 Will I ever remember to walk before I run? 😆 Anyway, this is it, my attempt at Skipton Church, reference photo taken by me.  Skipton Church, North Yorkshire

This was supposed to be an easy exercise but the trouble I had making the paint do anything like I wanted it to do made it quite problematic. Still, on the bright side, with the Strathmore watercolour journal the paint lifts so very easily, too easily at times. Even so, I think it actually looks quite good alongside the painting of zantedeschias.  Watercolour tulips in journal Once again, I used my Schmincke Horadam watercolours (Aureolin Hue, May Green, Sap Green, Phthalo Green, Transparent Orange, and Bordeaux).  This is the reference photograph which I took of bought tulips some time ago. As you can see, my painting is nothing like them. Oh, well, maybe just a little bit. 😀

I have actually changed the name of my blog from Creating Art the Easy Way to Creating Art the Amateur Way because there is nothing easy about the paintings I am attempting to do. I am not accustomed to painting people, not even carrot people, and I find the skin tones difficult for a smooth transition. Of course, the fact that I am attempting it in my Strathmore watercolour journal which is not (didn't realise at the time of buying) 100% cotton, doesn't help. In fact, it is a hindrance. I doubt a cotton boll has ever got near this journal. So this is me, 1992, sitting on the wall of the fort El Morro, San Juan, Puerto Rico. You can see how streaky it is but I think it'll do.  El Morro, San Juan, Puerto Rico I am actually smiling in the photo although I hate being photographed. When I tried to paint a smile I looked like The Joker, so I quickly wiped that smile off my face. 😄 Me sitting on the fort wall of El Morrow, Puerto Rico, 1992 I put this painting on the page next t...

I love this photo that I took while visiting Temple Newsam, West Yorkshire, back in 2014 and decided to have a go at painting it. Didn't do it justice, I know, but this is my first attempt at painting such a scene and I learned a few things.  Temple Newsam watercolour What did I learn? 1) Masking tape is a so and so to get off my Strathmore watercolour journal, so best avoid it when possible. 2) A trick which I saw all too late on the YouTube channel 'Watercolor by Shibasaki' for an easy way to paint leaves on a tree in an abstract fashion is by using crumpled up paper pressed onto paint and then dabbing it onto paper; I will definitely remember that. I'll put a link to the video on my External Links page. 3) Remember when paint dries it is lighter. I had painted the whole page in a pale blue so, clearly, it was too pale. 4) I learned that I should learn to walk before I try to run; this photograph was way too challenging for my level of skill. Actually, I learn that le...

I had a right old time with the wash on this painting of Pulsatillas in my Strathmore 400 watercolour journal. I used Daniel Smith's 'Hematite Genuine' and I couldn't make the paint behave and give an aesthetically pleasing result, tipping it this way and that. In my endeavour to get a result I liked, I ended up with the wash going over the flowers and under the protective masking tape. The masking tape, which is supposed to keep a pristine border, allowed water under it but, ironically, when I lifted the tape, a small piece of the paper surface came with it, so it stuck there alright! 😂 When I tried to lift the colour which had escaped the borders of the painting, the surface of the paper started to bobble. Oh, and let me tell you, I did use masking fluid in places and found that when I rubbed it off I, once again, got bobbles in places. Aaah dear. 😂 Pulsatillas in a watercolour journal To try and remedy the matter and improve the appearance of the painting (after al...

This painting is of the Temple of Kom Ombo (Hill of Gold) in Egypt and is, apparently, an unusual piece of architecture in that it is a double temple.  I found the photo on Pixabay (copyright free) and decided to 'flip' the image for my painting. I chose to paint all of it with Schmincke Horadam super-granulating watercolour paints: Shire Blue, Glacier Turquoise, Shire Yellow, Volcano Red, Volcano Orange, and Urban Yellow. The paper is a sheet of Saunders Waterford 300lb cold press cut down to 17" x 22", suitable for a very large hardwood charity shop frame that I have in my possession, if I decide to frame it. As is usual, I traced the image using my computer monitor as a light-box. I don't call tracing 'cheating'. I call it saving time.  Temple of Kom Ombo, Egypt I was faced with big decisions to make besides flipping the image. The first one was that I decided, after all, not to paint the complete building and compromised by painting much of the left-ha...

The reference photograph for this painting was taken by me in 1992 on a vessel called The Spirit of St Kitts as it sailed from the island of St Kitts to the smaller island of Nevis. It is over 30 years, if I remember rightly, since I attempted to paint a person. I admit, I traced it, using my computer monitor as a lightbox. I could probably draw the image but the time it would take me is not time I am willing to sacrifice; my joy is in applying colour and you will note that there is a lot more colour in the painting than in the photograph.  Man on Spirit of St Kitts yacht It is painted with Schmincke Horadam watercolours in my Strathmore journal and the journal is not ideal for an amateur like myself who spends a lot of time putting down paint then lifting it off again fixing errors, but I think it turned out okay. The hardest bit was the background as the paint skated around on the surface even though the journal paper is supposed to be cold press. It behaves like hot press and is...

I think I bit off a bit more than I could chew with these raspberries and vanilla ice cream. I took the reference photograph a couple of years ago and every time I looked at it I thought it looked like a painting so, today, I had a go in my Strathmore watercolour journal. The painting turned out better than I had hoped (I didn't think I could make even a vague representation of them) and I really did struggle with the raspberries. Funnily enough, I found the ice cream easier.  Mixed Media Raspberries and Vanilla Ice Cream I used Daniel Smith watercolour paint Permanent Alizarin Crimson and Buff Titanium, a Scarlet Red Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencil, and a Caran D'Ache 'Crimson Alizarin' Luminance waxy pencil. Oh, and a bit of Mars Black mixed with the Permanent Alizarin Crimson.  I had watched a few YouTube videos about painting raspberries but found it would take me so long I would go off the idea before I finished. So, I penciled around the raspberry ...

I watched YT videos of Brenda Swenson who has created the most beautiful art journals that I have ever seen. They aren't the rushed doodles and quick sketches that many artists put in their journals but, instead, works of art to be admired. She inspired me to start one a journal of my own.  I am using a Strathmore hardback journal for watercolours which has quite heavy paper and which can be spread flat for ease of use. Swenson frequently creates a painting across the entire two pages as shall I in time.  The paper did not buckle much under a fair amount of water but its surface is not as tough as the paper I am accustomed to, so I found it difficult because my style of amateur painting is to put it on, lift it off, put it back on again—you get the picture! It also behaves like a cross between hot and cold press. Even so, the fault was not the journal's paper but my own lack of expertise. It got roughed up a bit. I decided, in order not to ruin my journal journey from the offs...

I've tried using plastic palettes but I hate how paints can stain them. I like my art material to be pristine, organised, categorised, neat. It's how I can procrastinate, and justify procrastinating, while avoiding actually starting a painting. I did originally buy plastic but they've ended up at the charity shop. A couple of the palettes are so big, so heavy, that I can tone my biceps while carrying them from place to place. 😆 This is my square, 12 inch (30cm) Meeden porcelain palette. It holds a lot of paint as you can see. I have a selection of my Schmincke Horadam paints in it on a permanent basis and is, at the time of writing, in use.   Meeden porcelain palette An even bigger palette is this giant which I have not yet filled permanently. I've seen a number of professional artists using this one. It came with a plastic cover. I think this is a Meeden palette also.  Porcelain palette Lastly, I have two smaller round Meeden palettes which I use very often. They hold...

I hear it so very often, not just from amateurs and beginners like myself but also from professional artists, how after a break in painting it is so difficult to get back into it. Shirley Trevena, my favourite artist, said as much. She said she had a love hate relationship with watercolour painting, that it was often difficult for her to start a painting but when she did start she didn't want to stop. I stopped watercolour painting for several months while I chalk painted and decorated my home's furniture, as well as garden tubs and pots and I'll post some of those at some point. I think the best way to get back into it is to steer away from trying to paint anything worthy of hanging on a wall although I find even avoiding that difficult to do.This, an abstract landscape which I shall call Houses on a Hill, was one painting done freely and for fun in a naive style. I didn't worry about colour clashes or perspective (not that I ever really do!) and just went for it.   Ho...