Another Beauty from our Garden, this hot pink bougainvillaea with magenta undertones has a lovely curving grace to her. Beautiful lines. Plenty of foliage greens to complement the hot pink flowers and the soft edges in the background serve to advance the flower even further into the front. Upon close inspection you can see the […]
A simple, yet effective flower study using a new triad of colours in a fun combination. Quinacridone Sienna PO49, Prussian blue Pb27 and Raw Umber PBr7 created all these yellow golds, oranges and the blue greens. I used a bare minimum of brushstrokes help to create a more compelling and clean image. One stroke […]
A lovely small watercolour landscape using just 3 colours – prussian blue, permanent brown, yellow green. These created quite a great range of natural foliage greens, fiery reds, yellows – perfect for autumn colours. Limited Palette I usually try to use just 3 – 4 colours in my paintings, as this will help me […]
How do I fix my paintings? How can I tell what needs to be fixed? How do I critique my work? A phrase I prefer over self critique is self assessment, a much more positive and hopeful turn of phrase. I also prefer the term ‘not yet resolved’ over the dismal, its a ‘failure’. […]
The humble honey bee, attracted to my lavender was a cheery, busy little thing inspiring me to get busy myself and take some photos. Which in turn gave rise to the bee inspired semi abstracted prints. Taking the actual photos this close to the bee was just a bit daunting, without my telephoto I […]
In Spain the lovely passion flower has been called “Espina de Christo” Christ’s thorns. Apparently around the 15th century Spanish Christian missionaries decided that this flower with its unique structures would make a good symbolic flower. The sharp leaf tips were to symbolise the Holy Lance; the tendrils symbolise the whips used on the […]
Passionfruit flower photos just in time for the holidays ! It is an exquisite flower, with the lovely cobalt-lavender and yellow complementing each other. I love the tendril like fronds that seem to be stretching right out, reaching out to touch and connect. The bottom image with its gorgeous misty soft edges in the […]
After a busy week and a weekend workshop teaching – its time to kick back and watch the sun set.
Browns and greens are watercolour beginners two main challenges. But with these 5 tips you can master mixing browns! 5 Problem solving tips for browns that have somehow gone awry: 1. If Brown has gone too muddy, dense and thick, wipe half the mix away then add water to it and test on […]
I love leaves. All sorts of leaves – scarlet, yellow spring green, fallen leaves, skeleton leaves. I do not like snails! Yet here I am featuring a snail in my art post. How did this happen? I was in my garden having a quiet morning amble, a little zen, yoga, relaxation, enjoying the refreshing cool […]