Wash day Blues

 "Kingfisher in Blue"

(Copyright Jean Haines) 

I am now working with a series of wonderful washes that I created during the week. Some instantly let me know what subjects could work well on them whilst others are a complete mystery, but this is the magic of working in my style. I never know what tomorrow, or today, may bring.

On one blue wash that had beautiful texture effects from salt application I painted the above kingfisher. This will look  gorgeous framed. But the kingfisher painting put my mind  on birds as subjects and now I am seeing one in every new wash.

Below you can see why.

An owl seemed perfect for the salt pattern on this next wash. I have started with painting the eye working my way around it to the detail of the head outline.

Owl softly coming to life in a new painting

The fun in creating washes without aiming for a subject often leads us to paint subjects that we hadn't initially planned on painting. painting random colours, just for fun i often a great way to open up our imaginations when we have to later use the washes as bases for new work.

This is such a joyous way to paint. If you haven't already bought copies of my books please do, as the techniques described in them bring hours of endless pleasure in creating in a way that helps us reach unique results each time we pick up a brush.

Now I can't wait until tomorrow to start three new washes in the hope that they too will lead me to exciting new paintings.

My new saying?

"Three washes a day keeps boredom at bay!"

Don't forget to look out for my new DVDs with Artist Network.com!