On the Shortlist

I have just returned from a very busy and successful week in London.  I was exhibiting (and working) with Beside The Wave Gallery at the Affordable Art Fair. 

It was hard work but very enjoyable, a fantastic buzz to the whole event and I got to meet several people who had only been blogging names to me before. 

I sold a lot of work, both mine and the other artists that the gallery represents, got some commissions and was approached by another gallery about an exhibition. 

So I returned home on a bit of a high to find a message about the Artist of the Year Award which is being run by Artist and Illustrators magazine.  Now I am impossibly excited!  I have been shortlisted!

There is a voting page with all of the images, I am in the landscape section.  Looking through them I think the standard is high so I will be extremely proud to win but I am very proud to have been shortlisted. 

The image above is the painting, the River Helford  (of course) and here is where you can vote . 

Check out the others as well, they are all interesting paintings. 

I had actually forgotten that I had entered, I have to frame the painting now, in super quick time and get it delivered up to London, right by where I was staying a couple of days ago!  I am just relieved that I hadn't exhibited it of sold it!!

Salt and sand

 
I've been experimenting again.  My vision here was to create a piece of sand and sea using natural. The starfish are washed up on the shore, the water and life inches away. 

I printed a starfish and a sand dollar on a lightweight kozo papers that I had randomly torn.  Once it was dry, I added a layer of gesso to half of a piece of 200lb watercolour paper.  I left the surface of the gesso fairly rough as I wanted the texture to show through.   The gesso acted as the glue when I placed my printed kozo paper on top of it.  I patted it in place and started adding colour to it. 

Initial washes to confirm colours and follow torn paper line for water line

Following the torn line of the kozo paper, I used it as the tide line for the water and added washes of blues and turquoises, letting a little of the golds of the sand seep in.  Above the tide line, when the wash as wet, I added some salt.  This pushes pigment away from the crystals leaving lighter areas, almost like foam.  Directly below the tide line, I added fine sand.  Sand absorbs the paint but leaves a granular effect.  It doesn't push pigment away like salt does but seems to diffuse the colour.

Salt added to wet wash above water line and sand added below for texture

The starfish had random colours of sea and sand added to them in varying strengths with some sand added here and there for texture.  The sand dollars while there became too diffused in the process and aren't distinguishable as sand dollars.  I'll pretend they are half buried in sand.

 

Texture of gesso showing through kozo paper when watercolour is added

Detail of starfish and background colour and texture using sand

I spattered the same colours over the sand with a little extending into the tide line.  The piece is not completely dry in these images so will be a bit lighter and I'll likely add a touch of gouache to the tide line for highlights, then let it go.

Watercolor Koi studies.

I have been taken with all my hundreds of photos I took of these koi fish when we were in Hawaii last year. The idea was to come back home and use them in paintings. But true to my nature, procrastination took over and the Koi were admired only in the photo album. Browsing the album lately rekindled that idea and here are some studies, done from the computer screen. When working from photos I always cramp up in tight spasm and lose all spontaneity. so after doing about two or three, I grabbed for my earphones and the Piano concertos of Beethoven 4 and 5 andPiano a La Roque dAntheron to keep me loose. I think in study 3, one of the earlier of 7 studies you can still see the cramped up tightness.
With some more studying of the Koi and their movements and habits and play, I would like to move on to oil and maybe do a series. I efintely want MOVEMENT in the paintings, because Koi are so playful and almost mischievous and I want to capture that, rather than a perfectly painted Koi fish.

Also posted on Africantapestry

All these studies done in pen and watercolor on Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper, CP, 18x26cm.

..koi study 7..

...koi study 4..

..koi study 2..

Saving the boat

I created this watercolour over a period of time.  It was one that I sketched out on a half sheet (15" x 22" ) of 200lb paper a few months ago, then abandoned it for awhile.  I haven't slept well for a few nights so was up very early (4am!) and decided to play around with it again.  Kind of kill or cure.

I added layers of wash to the water and detail to the little dory to bring it to a more finished level.  There are flaws in it, but there are also ways around flaws if I want to preserve this piece from the bin.

1.  Composition.   The boat is dead centre of the painting.  Dead centre is called so because it makes the painting uninteresting and doesn't let the eye wander around the piece, picking up other elements.

2.  The horizon line.   I painted this on a fairly flat surface without standing back as much as I should to see my progress.  As a result, the horizon line is tilted upwards on the right.

So how to correct this?  Instead of scrubbing back and risking making it worse, simple crops can help save this piece.

The first option is to eliminate the horizon altogether, concentrating on the dory and the water.  This isolates the boat and doesn't give any options to the viewer but to look at it, but still has the challenge of a central focal point.

The second option is to crop from the side as well as the horizon.  This knocks the focal point (the dory) off centre and allows the viewer to examine the changes in values in the water, sending the eye around the painting and back to the dory again.

The crop can be from either side depending on how much space there is.  In this option, cropping the left doesn't allow a lot of space to the right and brings the dory into the foreground more, reducing the overall size of the piece.

Which would you choose?

Mission Trails, California

detail from larger work

Katherine and I are taking part in an exhibtion in California in November with friends - details later.

At the end of this post is a slide show of the work I've done - there are 5 paintings, with close up details following.

The work is based around Mission Trails Park in California. I needed to work around how I was going to tackle painting an area that is so different from the usual land and seascapes I paint here, in a very different climate. Needless to say it ended up involving water :>) Unusually for me, I was working on painting a place I don't know personally - a friend had provided photos and I used Google streetview, which was really useful for getting a feel for the area and did lots of research. Still, it was difficult. I usually work plein air and learn the feeling of a place as I sketch.

I started with the coloured pencil drawing of a still pool, reflecting the trees behind, the dry landscape very different from England - but the rocks and trees and reflections all interested me. I was trying to get to grips with the landscape there, the aridity, the rockiness, the mood.

As I thought about it, I realised that I wanted to abstract the images a little, play with texture, time, and shape and colour, experiment and include collage. All the works except for that first one are mixed media, using whatever was going to make the kind of mark I wanted. The joy of collage is the ability to move elements around to work out the composition before finally sticking down.

This is the final version that the above detail is taken from


It went through several incarnations on its way and further work with scissors as it became rather overcrowded and needed room to breathe :>) I would have liked to have given it even more room but had to work to a specific size - 11x14 inches so that it would fit the frames at its destination.

Each tree is a separate piece of paper, with watercolour, monoprinting and drawing to create the bark. The background is also collaged and then painted and drawn into.

Each was pure experiment with only a loose idea of the final result, responding to the marks, moving the trees and background pieces around until I felt they could be fixed.

There is watercolour in there, coloured pencils, ink, acrylic, gouache, biro (ballpen) and charcoal pencil - maybe other things that I've now forgotten!

The dark background helped with the fragmentation of the image, the changes in time/viewpoint and linked to the black of the charcoal and biro. It isn't of a specific place but plays with a mix of elements from many sources and imagination.

The colours play with warm and cool neutrals against the blue of the sky and reflections - the touches of warm apricot tones glowing against the blue (I hope!).

The 'some, a little and a lot' guideline applies - with most of the painting in neutrals, the blue and purple becomes more important.


If I'd had Sarah's instructions on varnishing watercolours in time I would have tried it out on this one - I think it would work best without glass.

you can see earlier versions here

Towards Dusk

This one again plays with the idea of time and fragmenting the image. Daylight moves into dusk.

What do you think?

Varnishing Watercolours

 I have done it!  Varnished watercolours, there if a full explanation of the whole process over on my blog The Red Shoes for anyone who wants to give it a go.

But I have to dash now, got to make supper!

September On The River

September on the Helford  River in Cornwall.  It is so much quieter, many of the holiday craft have gone home, there is a thoughtful quality to the air.  It is peaceful and perfect for a few small plein air watercolours.
These are tiny, the biggest being about 21 cm long, that is just a tadge over 8 inches and all about 8 cm high (3.5 inches).
Also shown here is the scrappy little sketch, done in Biro, which I used to "warm up".
I am planning to varnish the paintings, it is a new process which involves a UV isolation coat then picture varnish.  This gets rid of the need for glass in the framing which, in my opinion has three main advantages: 
Glass makes horrible reflections which I think detract from the painting. 
They are easier to post or transport and therefor sell. 
I can experiment with framing and adding things, these for example will be framed together with tiny found objects that I collected at the time.
I shall make a separate post about that. So be excited, be very excited... I am.

Now, I am off to catch a tiny ferry across this very river to walk the cliff, do some more painting and talk to a little gallery there... its a very tough life!

Bluegill II

I'm still plodding away with my gyotaku project and have all kinds of fish from the weird to the wonderful.  These little bluegills are found all over North America and I love the shape and size - pan size and very good eating I'm told.

I did a study of them to work out colours and composition.  The paper was pretty absorbent - Okawara - so I thought I'd take it to the next level and really add a shot of colour. I flooded the surface with a highly pigmented wash of watercolour in various colours that complement the natural colours of these fish.  Its as if they're swimming in a dream world now and I rather like the outcome.  The print below is the original study print with a small amount of colour added.

The paper was still damp when I took this image so it will be slightly more subdued when dry.

Experimentation is what this project is all about after all and testing the abilities of Japanese papers. I'm quite amazed at their strength when wet.  The papers have a perceived fragility when you pick them up as they're so lightweight and flexible, and, like most papers, are fragile when wet.  However, I can put a lot of water and manipulate paint on them very well without the paper or the print breaking down.

Japanese papers vary so much in type and price.  They're not cheap papers which is why I often work out pieces as studies first on newsprint or cheap mulberry paper before I pull out something more expensive.  I would recommend people try some Japanese paper if they can access it.  Its a unique experience and has so many possibilities.   My source for good quality paper is The Japanese Paper Place in Toronto.

And now for a quick smile from one of the more different fish that I am printing.  This is a smile from an ocean pout.  I was given this fish and didn't realize it had quite the set of teeth til I started prepping it for printing.  The fish is about 16 inches long and rather like a cross between a sculpin and an eel with a big bony head.  I'm rapidly getting over my fear of strange and weird fish that, in the past, would have had me in the horrors.

From the moor above Pendeen and the lighthouse

Moorland lane above Pendeen, Vivien Blackburn

Coming down the single track, twisty lanes from the moor down to the coast you get these views. Often the horizon is indistinct as it was in the close up of the lighthouse and there is a wall of blue ahead.

The earth banked stone walls are covered with bushes - mainly gorse up in the harsher conditions of the moor - and hundreds of wild flowers.

You see stone built moorland farms, built-into-the-landscape, huddled against the winter gales, old mine engines and small stone walled fields. You are totally enveloped within the banks of flowers and then suddenly turn a corner like this or see through a gateway - one painting opportunity after another!

see why I love it so much?

Pendeen Lighthouse

Pendeen Lighthouse, mixed media

It's a while since I've been able to do much painting for a variety of reasons :>(

But .... here is one of Pendeen Lighhouse. It was one of those days when the sea and sky almost blur and the horizon isn't clear - all is soft pearly blues, turning viridian in the shallows. (the black at the bottom is simply the marker ribbon in the Canson watercolour book)

The cliffs a mass of wildflowers, the lighthouse buildings tumbling down the cliffside with the foghorns silhouetted against the sea.

quick sketch of tiny covelet next to Porthcurno beach

watercolour and coloured pencil sketch, tiny cove next to Porthcurno beach. Vivien Blackburn

The sea really was this colour, even though the wind was cool. The cliffs were covered in flowers - especially pink seathrift and these white flowers that I always thought were wild garlic but I think are actually called Three Cornered Leeks. (Sarah may know?)

A slow worm (small legless lizard that looks like a snake) was basking on the path in the sunshine.

by Sam, aged 2yrs 8 months

This is Sam's version of the sea - I really like it. I have to admit I loaded the brushes for him - I wasn't actually doting enough to let him loose on my watercolour box :>D

Going Large With Watercolour

A detail of one of the windows

Signs on the rusty railings

And the only splash of colour

Here I am, painting away so that you can see the scale of the painting

I keep my paint in old plastic trays that used to hold screws, the colours are written on the lid so that I know what to order when I run out!

An assortment of brushes, none are too huge as you can see

Looking down from the clifftop to the lifeboat house at Lizard Point.

 This is the finished painting measuring 84 cm x 74 cm or 33 inches x 29 inches.

Koi on masa

I have completed a painting of a koi carp pool, thanks to a blizzard removing the distractions of tv, telephone and internet for 24 hours.  Its on a half sheet of masa which is then glued onto a half sheet of Bockingford 140lb watercolour paper.  The full painting is below, and a close up of two of the fish in the top image.

 

The process is a little time consuming in the set up but once that is complete it's fairly straightforward in watercolour painting.  However, masa paper does become quite fragile when wet, so manipulating the paint on the paper is impossible without it turning to fibres under your brush, then tearing.  So painting on this makes you think carefully before you place your brush and to let layers dry throughly before adding more.

I'm working on another fishy piece using the same technique that's coming together slowly and I will give you a sneak preview of it now.  You can visit my blog  - Illustrated Life - over the next few days to see more and to read details on how the whole thing is created using this technique.

 

Islands

Piana, Southern Corsica, France

Watercolour 6 x 12 

Studying islands, whether small rocks rising out of the ocean, or larger land masses supporting population and economy has an appeal.  There are islands in all regions of the world and I can think of a number of them off Newfoundland, some supporting life and others isolated outcrops in the Atlantic. Accessing them to draw or paint on site or even take photos could be a challenge, but it may be worth exploring.

I have been meaning to do a little sketch of a view in Corsica this month through The Virtual Paintout, but haven't had much time lately.  I've wandered around the island and it has many similarities to Newfoundland in terms of geography - well just not the weather perhaps.  Islands tend to be rocky outcrops with links to the sea and land for income. Corsica has the benefit of warm weather for citrus and olive crops and the fame of being Napoleon Bonaparte's place of birth to aid tourism.


To those who don't live on an island, island life seems idyllic and in some ways it is.  In other ways it is problematic with services not as easily accessible as on a mainland.   The isolation of an island creates unique cultures in the arts, whether visual, music, literary or theatre.  Islands usually have flourishing artistic communities and tend to be welcoming places to those who want to become involved.

I wandered through parts of Corsica and found this vantage point overlooking the Mediterranean.  The rocky outcrops of cliffs and the sea stretching out to the clouds on the horizon remind me that all islands are connected to each other no matter where they are.

Anatomy of Winter

Or... "Why I love winter"
It is very simple really, winter is the time to see the bones of the landscape.  Shape and form simplify, the way the hill tucks into its self, how the woods run along the ridge, blurring edges.  Sometimes the gift is even greater, the world goes black and white! (almost!)  The usual colours are leached from the landscape leaving a very limited pallet and highlighting some very unexpected splashes of colour.

I find that I go for many walks in the wind and rain, usually, the snow and ice when I am lucky.  Just recently we were blessed with snow, a rare event down in Cornwall.  So I was out armed with camera and sketchbook, little bits of watercolour paper and small gessoed cards.  I have mini versions of almost everything I might need, including a tiny flask of hot coffee.  I have a terrible old coat that smells but is made of waxed cotton and is long enough to provide instant protection from a wet bottom on most occasions.  The good dog Coco comes along as well.

One of the best features of these winter art forays is the lack of people.  Not having to explain what I am doing, or having someone looking over my sketchbook while I try to draw is bliss!

What I tend to do is scribble a lot, in different mediums.  Small watercolours to use as they are or to turn into larger ones back in the studio.  Little oils, which look like rubbish but provide essential colour refrence and are worked into later.  Here is one such oil, sitting in the studio awaiting its "makeover"!  Look at it tho, I dont think those greens in the water would be there any other way.

I often make the same walk, I like to see a place in different weathers, times of day, seasons.  To really know trees and places, like talking to your subject while making their portrait.

Watercolour sketches provide something different again, it seems to me that they are like poems where oils are like stories,the poems are smaller in length, often more consice and more about a feeling or one thought?

And then it snows again, it is irristible so out I go again and paint some more.Making the most of this stripped down landscape, trying to learn my winter anatomy.
Back at home, in the warm, long evenings, good things on TV provide yet another oppertunity...snoozing models!