A whole year and a bit later, with this watercolour painting of a field of cosmos - this is where I am up to now. It has been on my easel board for so long.
I add a bit to it every now and then - always thinking it is unfinished. Layers of different coloured green constantly (every other month) added to the background.

I keep asking, "Where is the focal point?" but since it is a field of cosmos flowers, there isn't really one point of focus. Maybe there is too much sap green in this painting - maybe this and maybe that...
So I have declared it finished and ready for the postal service to get it to the recipient.

Your thoughts?

Field Of Cosmos

watercolour and ink

Having a little playful time with watercolour and ink, I decided to copy an acrylic painting by R W Lawrence of Arniston in South Africa...

Arniston whitewashed cottages

I rather like the whitewashed walls and thatch roofs of these iconic cottages

painting people - watercolour

Another watercolour - originally landscape - cropped and framed to portrait...

painting people in watercolour

Trying to keep things simple here and not be so realistic...
This was done from a photo I took last year.

My thoughts were to capture the essence of sitting outside in the sun, watching Southern Right whales - to give as a gift.





I first started with a simple drawing of the elements I wanted to include

then came a basic/light wash of cobalt
whilst the paint was still wet, I put a blob of raw sienna where the faces are. you'll notice how it expanded...
when that was all dry, I painted the background mountains of Hermanus in ultramarine - making sure that they gradiated light to darker.

painting people - process

I was going to incorporate the foliage of the plant you can see in the photo, but then that is the beauty about painting - you're in charge, so you can decide what elements to incorporate and what elements you want left out.
Had I included the foliage, I think it would have come out in the painting looking like a shadowy monster that detracts from the essence of what I wanted to show.


more to follow...