CREATING ART THE AMATEUR WAY

I certainly wasn't pleased with the way this watercolour painting turned out. It is quite a while since I painted it, in a journal, but her face!  That is supposed to be me, a keen gardener.  I am happy to say that when I used Grok Imagine to transform the painting into a six second video, that she looks a lot prettier. I love the way the video turned out but it took a while. In earlier videos that cat kept pushing up her skirt so I had to adapt my instructions to Imagine, to make it stop. Goodness me! And the state of that watering can! 😂 Criticisms of the painting aside, it does reflect my garden which is a 24/7, 365 days a year, feeding zone for all wildlife.

Just a bit of painting fun in my Real Stone Journal with Iuile and Coliro metallic paints, as well as Opera Pink watercolour.  Now let the Grok Imagine magic begin. This took a little time to conjure up but I am happy with the result. 

This was a steep learning curve for me. I used a macro photograph of a spider on its web, which I took some years ago, for the reference photo. The web was actually on a large fern in my garden and on it are the spider, raindrops, and the golden sporangia from the fern itself which look like jewels in the photograph.  Unfortunately, I thought the best idea would be to create the raindrops by using masking fluid and then painting the background but that was a seriously bad idea. I found, once I had painted the background, that the areas protected by the masking fluid weren't round enough. I decided to use Coliro metallic 'Silver' to cover where the masking fluid had been and it still looked bad. I wanted to make the water droplets glitter. I also wanted the web to glitter as well so I used a 'Uni-ball Signo UM-120SP Gold Glitter gel ink Rollerball pen - at least that worked out!  Sorry to say that the glitter does not show in the iPhone 🙄photo.  In desperation, I applie...

My first watercolour seascape and I'm not unhappy with the result considering it's a first attempt. In fact, I have to admit, it was easier than I thought it would be even though I didn't decide to add a rock, waves, and a crashing wave until I had plastered blue and golden brown all over the place. It's amazing what a bit of white gouache can do! Thanks Schmincke!  I had to stop faffing about with it though. I am sure all watercolour artists have done, and still do,  the same—just add a bit and add a bit and add a bit until you regret it.  This was painted in my Real Stone journal. It looks quite good if you stand back a bit. A lot.  And this is what Grok Imagine made of it with the addition of a male, blonde, surfer. I think it turned out really well and it only took me three attempts to get what I wanted. 

This vase is one that I own and is made of glass. No painting of mine could ever show off its true beauty. I had problems painting it (don't I always?) and eventually, in desperation, drew around the watercolour shapes with a Uni-Ball Signo UM-120SP gold glitter rollerball gel ink pen, adding dots of glitter here and there.  🤷‍♀️

I seldom, if ever (I can't remember) use a painting tutorial as a guide for a painting but I had to try out a video '10 minute short' that I saw on YouTube (link on my External Links page) called A Tiny Forest Scene. I suspect most people find those 'easy' tutorials harder than they look and I was no exception. It didn't help that it was a high-speed short, not even when I slowed down the speed to one-quarter. Also, unfortunately, the artist did not say which colours and brand of paint was used so I was pretty much in the dark there. I would really have liked to see a full length tutorial with voice over but, still, I don't think my effort turned out too badly.  It was painted using Schmincke Horadam paints in my Real Stone journal.   Of course, now that Grok Imagine is out there for all to play with, I had to use this image and didn't Grok's Imagination work wonders! It took only a little tweaking to get the video I liked enough to share here.   Ch...

It's been a while as with one thing or another this painting got put on hold. Of course, the fact that I struggled with it has a lot to do with the reluctance to finish it. I totally messed up because, thinking I didn't need to use masking fluid, I managed to get some paint on the white paper area for the flowers and it wouldn't lift completely off so I then ended up having to resort to white gouache. Then I couldn't do the yellow and white stamens in the right flower (lack of know-how) and ended up roughly drawing in some pencil lines (which look rubbish!). After that I called it a day before I threw the album out of the window.  It actually looks better in the journal than on screen. Pulsatilla vulgaris Alba in watercolour and gouache I used Daniel Smith watercolours and a Schmincke Horadam white gouache. I had thought I would do the fine hairs on the flowers (pulsatillas are loaded with them) with a Caran C'Ache white 'Luminance' pencil but the effect was...

This was my first attempt at negative painting and of a white flower. I didn't find the negative painting as easy as some art tutorials make it seem but I had used non-staining watercolour paints, and transparents where I could, so I was able to alter where I felt best. Although not perfect, I feel it isn't too bad for a first attempt. The reference photo was one of mine which I took some years ago in my garden. I used Daniel Smith watercolour paints.  Negative painting of white flowers Jasmine Officinale

I recently bought a new watercolour journal by SM.LT called FB-32(300) and I am pleased to say that it is excellent. It's 100% cotton, 140lb (300gsm) and seems like a cross between HP and CP. It takes a deluge of water and under that weight of water it bulged slightly (even Arches 400lb CP will bulge under so much water) rather than buckle—and then dried flat. The hard covers of the journal are advertised as Real Stone, and they certainly looks like real stone (perhaps they are a composite).  In the journal I painted an autumn leaf from a photo taken of the Hosta 'Sagai' plant. I couldn't believe how beautiful the leaves were even in age.  It is the first time I have painted water-droplets and it was hard to do, particularly as even when wearing glasses under a bright 'Daylight' lamp my eyes aren't quite up to the job of such fine detail. I had to limit it to just a few but I think it turned out okay.  Watercolour painting of a Hosta Sagai leaf The leaf is p...