Watercolours With Life: Spring Fever 2011: Primroses in Watercolour

Tuesday, 25 January 2011

Spring Fever 2011: Primroses in Watercolour

The First Signs of Spring 2011

The first primroses of 2011

On my retrun from Asia I was taken aback to see the first primroses in bloom in my garden. I look forward each year to painting Spring flowers as they always bring an exciting burst of colour and life into the countryside after months of wintery bleak scenes.

Yesterday I had a meeting with a gallery in the morning and set off walking to my car trying so hard to avoid looking at the primroses that my heart was literally screaming to paint. I had important appointments which prevented me from racing to my brushes. However I could see the painting of them in mind all the time that I was away from my studio.

Matching colour with the real subject.

But my return home after the meeting saw me playing with colour to capture the milky pale yellow hues of these early spring flowers. Last year I had so much pleasure painting clusters of primroses using cling film to create the intricate veins on the leaves surrounding the blooms. It was so successful as a technique that I repeated the process in my first 2011 primrose painting.

Primroses cluster evolving with cling film in two sections to form leaf patterns and extra interest.

Strengthening the colour to define individual flowers

The paper is still wet in this photograph

Removing the cling film when the paper is dry. Unusual patterns have formed which act as a base for the leaves in further stages.

Close up of pattern created by use of cling film.

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This is such a magical time to be an artist as colour and light changes significantly on a daily basis. But each season is short so it is essential to capture every subject for the time it is on show for us from nature.

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Watercolour With Life Spring 2011 Workshops and Demonstrations

We will be looking at techniques to bring a number of subjects to life with unusual and exciting results that are totally unique. I look forward to meeting everyone this year and wish this to be the best year ever for the most magical of paintings!

February 2011 will see me in Norwich and Hampshire, U.K.

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The Artist Magazine : Book Review

Jean Haines' Atmospheric Watercolours

"The book is nothing less than a paean to the wet in wet technique. If that's your thing, prepare to be amazed. Jean Haines credits Jean Louis Morelle, and in many ways this book is the sequel to Morelle's remarkable, but very technical work, showing the wealth of creative possibilities the technique offers. A lot of the images are barely recognisable and yet you instinctively know what they are. I wish I knew how, because this is impressionism taken to its logical conclusion and reminiscent of some of the later work by JMW Turner. You will have to take it from me that "First signs of a face appearing magically from a first wash of watercolour" is pure alchemy. This is an extraordinary book."

"Amazing Ways With Watercolour:" Fastest Selling DVD!

"Amazing Ways With Watercolour" from Town House Films is the fastest selling DVD with the company to date! Record breaking pre-orders for this much awaited film saw requests for copies flooding in from all over the world. A wonderful introduction into working with watercolour minus the use of a preliminary sketch this DVD removes the fear, stress or pressure from worry about how to use watercolour. Instead the focus is on having fun, enjoying vibrant colour combinations and allowing the medium to create the subjects with just a little help from the artist. A really exciting new DVD to own. Whilst the DVD sold out in the first few months since its' release due to popularity it is now in stock and available directly from Town House Films.

http://www.townhousefilms.co.uk

How To Paint Colour and Light in Watercolour

"How to Paint Colour and Light in Watercolour" Jeans first book was launched at the Mall Galleries in 2010 at the SWA Society for Women Artists Annual Exhibition. Many copies have been sold world wide. It is available on Amazon.com, Search Press, SAA Society for All Artists and Ken Bromley.

"This book is a wonderful introduction into Jeans' way of working and gives an insight into her way of thinking and approach to a large variety of subjects. All painted minus the use of a preliminary sketch."