After storm Ciara which mercifully caused little damage to our particular neck of the woods, it is good to see a little sunshine to accompany the wind instead of rain and hail.
This was painted from a small, wobbly, very watery scribble in a 5×3″ sketchbook while pausing in a very muddy gateway of a meadow.
It’s been a while since my last post. This has been due to a number of little things which have taken a long time to resolve – nothing major, just irritating.
Today I am housebound waiting for a tradesman I KNOW isn’t going to turn up, so I decided to cheer myself up by painting this bouquet of supermarket tulips. A little colour makes a lot of difference!
And so the year draws to a close..
A very Happy New Year to bloggers everywhere and may you have a healthy and productive 2020. See you there !
Finally I have found December. Sometimes there are just so many things happening there just isn’t enough time to do everything one wants to – not helped by the fact that there have been problems with our internet access.
So before I am submerged in the hurly- burly of the next week or so, I would like to wish everyone Season’s Greetings wherever you may be.
See you in 2020.
A beautiful dazzling Autumn day which despite the cold would be a lovely moment to go and find something to sketch the stunning colours – except we are expecting workmen who turn out to be the type who see no reason to tell us at what time they might be here, despite their hype-filled texts and emails promising otherwise. Instead I take the opportunity to catch up on paperwork and posting on WordPress..
Despite today’s sun, there has been a lot of rain recently though luckily not as devastating as places in Yorkshire where it is waist- deep, which must be soul destroying.
Here, the River Windrush which meanders lazily through our corner of the Cotswolds, has escaped its usual course and flows into the meadows at the lower end of the town of Burford which sits on a steep hill above.
The foreground water here is usually a green field.
7×11 ins. Watercolour on Saunders Waterford 140lb/300gsm CP paper
This is quite a new barn which while it was being constructed looked a bit of an eyesore, but now it is finished with saplings planted in front of it and bathed in autumn light, I think it fits into the landscape well.
We’re about to hit half-term and then unbelievably it will be the run down towards Christmas. How did that happen?
This September I took on a new class in Churchill just over the border into Oxfordshire. This is an existing group who have been together for a while but found themselves in need of a tutor. Life intervenes in a number of ways and the class started off small but now others are able to join or re-join the group and our numbers are rising.
Preparing for this new class has taken a bit of thought and time, but worth every minute.
‘Harvest’ is our latest project. I can never resist a pumpkin..
Built upon a rocky mound in the days when knights in armour roamed these lands, this castle, looking over the town and river of Clun on the Welsh border, has been a ruin for the best part of five hundred years.
The view between these walls faces away from the town but I love the patchwork of fields which have generated a number of ideas for paintings still to be painted.
A peek into a different world, even if it is only eighty miles or so away from one’s natural habitat, can be food for the soul and provide the stimulus one needs.
Autumn/Fall is here. You can tell by the way one minute you are shielding your eyes from the blindingly low sun, and sheltering from a thunderstorm the next.
Also the start of a new term, and this year there is a new class in a new location with new students for me to meet and get to know.
A time of new beginnings. A time to stock up with materials and perhaps a good time to try a few new ones as well as the tried and tested.
So much to do, so many paintings I want to start, so many new projects, and NOW the days decide to get shorter ?
Watercolour paper comes in different qualities such as the weight and texture. Weight is usually given in pounds per ream or grams per square metre such as 140lb/300gsm, and the textures are Hot Pressed (HP), a smooth surface, Cold Pressed (CP or sometimes NOT) which has a slightly textured surface, or ROUGH with a more prominent textured surface.
For the serious painter, equally important is whether the paper is 100% Rag/Cotton or a wood-free bleached chemical pulp. They may both be acid free and archival, but I would suggest they have a different feel to them when painting and may behave in a different manner.
When we start painting in watercolour, we often feel it is not worth spending a lot of money on materials when we don’t really understand what we are doing – much better to wait until we get the hang of it and then decide whether to upgrade or not.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t really work like that, and it can take a lifetime to start to ‘get the hang of it’. However it is a sound idea to use the best materials you can afford to produce the best you can achieve for the level at which you are working.
When you first start it is only natural to follow the advice of the ‘How To…’ books or your tutor, and often they will suggest a good all round middle-of-the-road not too expensive paper, which is fine. But how do you know if this paper will help you to achieve your best work if you never try another one?
Although there may only be three main surfaces of paper, they are not all consistent across all manufacturers. This is not surprising as papers are made in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and the US to name a few, and each mill will have their own recipes often arrived at after centuries of experience while at the same time complying with various environmental standards.
Every artist will have their favourite (which may change over time as the artist becomes more knowledgeable, changes working methods or because the manufacturing changes slightly or even because a certain paper is no longer available).
Try and overcome your fear of the new, or if you are feeling you are not making quite the progress you feel you should be, why not try investing in a sheet of a different paper?
A 22 x 30″ sheet of paper will be a lot cheaper than a pad or a block and you can cut it up into as many sizes as you want. If you like it, it may be the start of a whole new experience. If it is not for you, simply try another and compare results, or return to your original. At least then you will be painting with a better understanding of your materials and the confidence that the one you have chosen is the best suited to the style of your work.
‘August Bales’ 15 x 30 cms above was painted on a piece of Arches Aquarelle 140lb CP/NOT, the last sheet on a block which I used a few years ago and which I forgot I had. I enjoyed using it for this little painting.
Graham Findlay Watercolours 