Heat Wave

 "Summer Haze"

Inspired by the wild flowers in our cottage woodland garden.

I am trying to work on my new book but a heatwave has hit UK. As much as I adore writing, concentration isn't coming very easily to me right now. I still get the urge to go "freckle collecting" when the sun shines even though I know it is supposed to be bad for me. But it feels so good to have sunshine on my shoulders especially when I live in England and these very hot temperatures are so few and far between.

But I did work on my book today and the section I have been putting together is almost complete and it looks beautiful. To be honest. I am learning so much from writing this new publication. I am having to think about why I paint in the way that I do in order to share techniques and tips that work for me. Also, trying to write in a way that readers can gain successful results rather than just look at pretty pictures means each word written has to be brilliantly explanatory and inspirational. I am a tough task master when it comes to writing each new book I take on as a project. And I am being very hard on myself with this one because it is gorgeous and I want everyone who reads it to feel they simply have to paint after reading each section.

But at the end of today I felt I deserved a treat. So I went and sat quietly in the woodland section of our cottage garden with the intention of painting the white ox eye daisies growing wild there. This section of our garden has been deliberately left to grow wild for the wildlife to enjoy. Before I even picked up my brushes a pair of dancing copper butterflies drifted past and before I knew it I was sat silently watching butterflies and not painting. But this silent time drew me into a beautiful mood of silence where only bird song interrupted the connection between me and my brushstrokes.

Soon the hazy daisies came to life on my paper and I felt peaceful, happy and relaxed.

As always I cannot wait to paint tomorrow.

I am inspired with new energy to pour into the next pages of my new book.

My artists tip for today?

Stop what you are doing, find something beautiful and paint it in silence. Just for a few minutes clear your mind and escape into the world of watercolour. It is after all the most magical of worlds. And we are so privileged to be able to escape into it from time to time.

 Woodland section of our cottage garden. A grass pathway leads you through beautiful wild flowers and natural grasses.

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Watercolour Lessons from Nature

 

 

"And why are you anxious about what to wear? Consider the
    lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they
    spin. And yet I say to you, that even Solomon in all his glory
    is not arrayed like one of these".
                                                                                 - Matthew 6:28-29

 

Behind my cottage is a field full of daisies.  This morning I wandered through the many heads of white touching a few as I passed, feeling their shape and  delicate petals between my fingers. I couldn't help but think about the garden I am designing. How I choose where I put colour. How I worry about  using too little or too much water to keep each plant healthy. And how I remove weeds to ensure the plants I so carefully chose can survive.

 

And yet here is this field  full of beauty growing completely naturally. I have watched the colours change and merge with the seasons  randomly creating patterns.

 

How  we learn from nature.

 

When I work in watercolour I see shapes of colour. I am aware that too much planning can ruin a wonderful result. Too little and the result may  not be successful either. Patterns formed by random placement of colour can break up an otherwise orderly and almost boring composition. Too much water and we could dilute the pigment far too much.Too little and we could have easily moved to another medium where water isn't required.  The " weeds" in a watercolour are the flaws or watermarks which others may see as a crisis whilst I see them as interesting features.

 

Seeing beauty around us no matter how simple or complex is probably the very best lesson we all need to learn as artists.Seeing it, appreciating it and understanding what makes it so.

 

Simply. 

 

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Daisies in Watercolour

Daisy Daze

The beginning of a large watercolour

Yesterday morning I walked with my dogs through a beautiful meadow that is  full of wild flowers. From a distance all you see are dots of golden yellow buttercups and white of wild daisies.These are the larger ox eye daisies that stand tall and move in the breeze. Unlike the smaller daisies that sit flat to the ground these flowers seem to have personalities of their own.

The combination of colours in the field which stands on a hill when against a clear blue sky is so dramatic. This scene really tempted me to  pick up my brushes and experiment. I sat quietly listening to  birdsong and allowed colour to  work its magic on paper. There is nothing compared to painting on location in natural light for capturing clean fresh exciting colour.

I decided to paint the position of the flowers as they grew but made a choice to bring  everything I felt about the colour in the location into the background. A trick that has always worked well for me. Once I had my three main subjects  in their places it was simple to work on the  interesting texture and effects else where in each section of this large painting.

" Seaweed Effect" 

My new texture technique.

I have been delighted to look into new ways to add texture in simple techniques that are easy to call upon in a variety of ways. My new " Seaweed Effect" adds almost 3D effects which are really enjoyable to bring into any painting.

 Reverse " Seaweed Effect" leading away from the subject.

Creating Beautiful Petal Edges and Careful Use of Watermarks

The outer edge of the daisy in this section is really beautiful and sits against gentle granulation from French Ultramarine Blue. The watermarks really create soft patterns bringing drama and impact to the piece in such a subtle way.

A warm edge against glowing  yellows.

With the focus on gorgeous petalks I need a background to make them sing beautifully too!

I have been painting flowers since I was around five years old and daisies have always without fail appeared every year. I feel many more paintings of these simple white flowers about to appear and I can't wait to pick up my brushes today!

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