I’ve been busy painting more watercolours – this time portraits of my family.
Instead of painting pictures of them, I’ve been painting items that describe them. It’s been an interesting exercise, finding out what makes a person. As I’ve been painting them, I’ve shown the portrait to the sitter at each stage, and they’ve always come back with extra items to add. I’ve loved doing them.
Here are the finished articles starting with me.
Daughter
Son
Son
Grandson
Grandson
I’ve been doing some whimsical watercolour paintings. My ten year-old grandson has been my artistic director – making suggestions for additions to the paintings.
The family are playing among the plants, but watch out! The monster is creeping out from the back of the painting to get them. The oldest shows the others the way to safety. It is also interesting the way the succulent has escaped from the painting.
This picture started out as a painting of spring flowers – honesty, bluebells and forget-me-nots which were growing in my garden. Then the toy family decided to hide amongst the flowers. Can you find them?
Out walking one day we came across a young bluetit that had fallen from its nest. I photographed it before moving it to the side of the path. I painted the bluetit from the photograph, then as it looked hungry got one of the toy family to feed it a caterpillar. My grandson suggested the youngest in the family should climb on the back of the bluetit.
At the top of the painting is a caterpillar on some oak leaves. Another caterpillar is either leaving or entering the painting. Which do you think it is doing?
Let me know what you think of these paintings.
Recently I’ve been painting leaves and flowers in watercolour, following workshops held at Firstsite in Colchester with Lisa Temple-Cox.
One of my favourite flowers, I love it that the flowers appear before the leaves
The fuschia are still blooming when most other flowers have finished.
Gorse is in flower any time of the year.
Rose hips were used to make a syrup full of vitamin C.
Ivy is one of the plants associated with Christmas decorations, but it is around all year .
Nerines are another bulb that fowers in the autumn. With their tall stems, the bright pink flowers brighten up any dull day.
Autumn and the oak is the last to lose its leaves. This is an example of the chlorophyll gradually leaching from the leaf.
The holly and its berries, so very much part of Christmas. The leaves are so shiny – I find them very difficult to paint.
I hope you enjoyed these paintings.
Lately I’ve been doing watercolour painting after a break when I couldn’t find the inspiration to pick up a brush. I’ve been out with my camera taking photos, then turning them into paintings.
I’ve found the more I paint, the better my technique becomes. Each picture has something I think I’ve done well and lots of places where I could improve.
Here are a few of the paintings.
This painting of people on the beach was inspired after doing a jigsaw puzzle of the four seasons of Peter Brueghel the Younger. I like all the characters in his paintings.
This painting is of a disused railway building. The area around it has been turned into a beautiful community garden tended by volunteers. I enjoyed painting the building and I feel shadows and depth are improving.
This painting is of a boy walking on a bridge over a stream near where I live. Whenever I walk past the stream the bridge is always in a different place, moved by the local children.
This painting of a man walking his dog on a path through the trees is one of my favourites. I particularly like the simplicity of it. Quite often I’ll overdo things.
I often see dog walkers on my early morning walks. These ladies had been walking their dogs and stopped to have a chat. I like the way their poses are similar, and that all three dogs are watching me.
I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing these paintings. Do let me know what you think.
Since writing Jenny Wren to the rescue and and illustrating the book with my paintings, I decided to paint for fun rather than for a specific purpose.
I’ve been experimenting with both watercolours and gouache. Looking back over some of my earlier works I can see improvements.
Here are some of my recent works.
I regularly walk through the nearby countryside and this hollow oak always looks so good. It is a popular place for children who can go inside and maybe visit secret places…
There is a ruined church near us that caught the morning light so beautifully.
I’ve been trying to find the best way to paint bark and leaves. Here is a study of a tree with ivy growing round it.
I often take photos of birds, both from my walks and those that visit my garden.
Last year we had Great Spotted Woodpeckers bring their young along to show them where the food is. It was great to see the parent feeding the young. This inspired the painting of the three woodpeckers.
Along the river we get many waders. This is a dunlin.
And finally, here is a composite picture of several birds that I have seen nearby. Of course Jenny Wren and Bobby Robin are here, but Jason Jay was away. Can you recognise the others?
Nannie RaRa 