Foxgloves in Watercolour: Garden Painting 2012

Foxglove growing in my cottage garden

The sun has been incredible today and the light playing on the flowers in my garden has been tempting me to work outside and enjoy the summer weather. I didn't really know where to start first as so many wonderful flowers are in bloom at the moment. But a tall foxglove has been standing proud and almost calling my name this last week.

So with a board to lean on and several pieces of paper I sat and studied its' gorgeous colour. I have opted for W&N Opera Rose as the main shade for my compositions.

 First wash working around the bell shapes of each flower on the tall foxglove stem.

It was fantastic days painting especially capturing the light in my first study which seemed to breath with life immediately in sections. 

At this stage I enjoyed leaning my first wash against an old tree stump to see how my colours sat with nature in my garden. They worked perfectly for me.

Leaning my painting in its early stage against an old log that has been surrounded by these flowers all year so far..

Next I added some darks by carefully looking at the flower in real life. I find if you continually work from photographic images your darks can tend to become far too heavy and unrealistic. Painting from life in the fresh air is far healthier for you and can give you an insight into stunning colour combinations learned from observing, which can be missed by painting inside all the time!

Foxgloves building up gradually in a painting from a session in my garden this afternoon.

I know tomorrow I will be racing out to my garden to complete the series and I have one stunning group of white foxgloves which will be truly interesting to capture in a watercolour.

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Readers of my new book "Atmospheric Watercolours"  may be reminded of my "Woodland Fantasy " foxglove painting from inside the opening pages. It is now almost two years since this  original painting was created, as it was then with my publishers until my books release in May of this year. When it was finally returned to me ,it was framed and sold in one of my recent exhibitions. It was, and always will be an all time favourite painting of mine with several galleries wishing to showcase it.

Now its time to create a new " all time favourite" foxglove painting!

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Artists Tip: Please paint outside as much as possible and from life because the colours you will see will be far more interesting and the light effects so much more interesting to paint. In time your eyes search out the patterns within pattersn too so go for gold and paint something new this week!

Lupin in Watercolour: Experimental Wash

 Lupin Appearing in an Experimental Wash.

Having a cottage garden really is a huge asset to an artist especially this one!  Each day I see wonderful shapes and vibrant colour that tempt me to pick up my brush. I am constantly feeling the thrilling urge to capture new subjects in completely different ways. As always light is the most important factor to me so when sunlight hit this particular plant I just had to play with an idea in my mind. I want to try to make the flower seem as though it is literally jumping off my paper at me singing with glorious highlights and a sense of being very delicate.

Lupins have a complex formation of  tiny petals forming one tall bloom. In my workshops I often use the word "Simplify" so I find myself looking at how to do just that in each study of these beautiful flowers. But there is a need to identify the complicated formation as the tiny individual petals tell a story which is so vital to the final composition.

Starting at the top which really was in strong sunlight I used  my W&N No. 10 sable brush and made marks for each  tiny bud.

  Brush marks making each bud appear.

A technique from my Shanghainese mentor of having the brush loaded with two pigments worked well here.

Next I gradually worked down the flower stem adding individual  petals.

Lupin petals forming around the stem.

I have kept my colours very light and transparent in places to capture the feeling of a gentle flower that is soft to touch.

Finally here is one lupin from the flower bed. This image really does demonstrate how painting from a photograph is so different to painting from life. If you look at how flat the image looks to my painting which is full of light and life this becomes a very good example of why working from real subjects is so much more effective.

Lupin Photograph. 

Note the dark background and how it kills the subject. In reality this flower stood among many others which is the reason I have used pinks  for my own composition to enhance my focal point in the foreground.

Tip: An artist once suggested trying to guess which artists paint from life and  those who always paint from photographs when walking around an exhibition. Doing so has taught me so much about my own journey in watercolour. I prefer to paint from life!

If you have time I suggest finding one flower today and a few minutes to capture it on paper or  simply just enjoy it by studying its form, seeing how each petal interacts with the others and while doing so close your mind to any worries of the day.

Let go, relax and smile.

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Working From Life

Owl Eye Demonstration

 I have so many wonderful friends and artists who are  letting me know they  love my latest collection of watercolours. I am also being told my work is evolving so quickly but how  is it that the difference is so great from a few years ago.

In truth writing my book was the biggest surprise to my personal artist development. Closely studying exactly why I choose colour and individual techniques to create paintings full of life really has been an inspirational experience. I have read each section repeatedly.  I understand my way of working and every single decision I make far more now than I ever have before. It was like being on my own workshops but having time to paint for myself rather than to continually demonstrate.

One area that really helps is that I always paint subjects I have seen and I paint from life as much as possible. For example I have spent so much time on farms studying cockerels. Even though I am painting them in a more abstract style I still need to fully understand how they move,their poses and characters.

Owls are fascinating me especially their eyes. So again I have been spending time just sat quietly studying  them closely.Their feather formation is so beautiful and appeals to me as an artist as to how I can capture that incredible effect in watercolour.

I truly believe you achieve more life in your results if you paint from life and know your subject well. Forget painting from photographs and study the real subject in  wonderful light .This leads to far more exciting and unique results.

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Playing With Primroses

Playing with Primroses.

How wonderful to take a walk wiht my four legged family and see so many wild flowers growing in their natural  habitat. It is the time of year when so many gorgeous flowers start forming glowing carpets of glorious colour in the countryside. Primroses are everywhere at the moment.

For me the challenge isn't so much in capturing their shapes or the way they always seem to appear in beautiful clusters. It is in gaining the exact milky lemon shade of their petals. While I work I often wonder what colour other artists use to depict this sweet spring flower.

A little while ago early primroses appeared in our cottage garden.They were in well protected positions under gold coloured hedging and peeping through old autumn leaves on the ground  from last years fall. The difference in  painting them now on location en plein air is evident in the light and freshness of my small study. I can easily see the way these flowers should look as I am painting from life.

Aiming to capture this moment in time in my work with a sense of freshness and spontaneity is sheer joy as an artist.

It is going to be yet another wonderful week!

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