Thursday 27 September 2012

September storms - part 2



Before the Storm Broke   watercolour on paper 17x17cm   ©2012 Lisa Le Quelenec


The rain, it kept on coming. The news was reporting the worst September storms for thirty years and seventy flood warnings were in place, mostly in the North. Flood water has caused a lot of destruction already and I hope everyone stays safe.

On the coast the rain clouds started to disperse and we had intervals of intense, bright sun. Intuition is now taking over painting these watercolours as I start to add tiny amounts of other colours. In the painting above small hints of raw sienna are used in the sky at the horizon and in some of the cloud.  I've also added a tiny amount of gouache for the sails and sparkle of the water. Unusually for me this one is painted on rough Arches. Whilst I frequently used to use rough paper in the passed the last couple of years I have preferred hot press. I shall continue to experiment with it for now.

Today the sun is shining and it feels like a crisp autumnal day so I will head to the beach to walk and make the most of it whilst it's here.




 More postcard sized experiments.

7 comments:

Theresa Evans said...

The sky is wonderful ... so broody and atmospheric! These paintings are little gems.

Caroline Simmill said...

I second what Theresa says these are indeed wee gems. Great handling of the watercolour medium Lisa.

vivien said...

lovely threatening skies

and I've come to exactly the same conclusion on papers - I want the textures to be ones I make, not ones imposed by the paper.

Bruce Sherman said...

Hi there Lisa!... You have captured that atmospheric "storminess" in all areas of your painting!

The sky-cloud passages are cool... yet possess enough subtle warmth to maintain to keep a "friendly" appeal.

Your aerial perspective is spot on following those tiny sails right to the vague horizon. Well done!

Stay warm and dry!

Good Painting!
Warmest regards,
Bruce

Lisa Le Quelenec said...

Hi Theresa, thank you. We've had some beautiful skies this last week, it's definitely the time for cloud watching.

Hello Caroline, I'm starting to really enjoy watercolours again. It's nice to be working on small scale things too. I'm looking forward to your next post.

Thank you Vivien, I seem to go through phases with paper. Sometimes I find the weave of canvas frustrating and switch to boards. It can feel like you are fighting the materials at times which is never a good place to start.

Thank you Bruce! Even when the wind is blowing it's hardest and the skies seem at their darkest I am noticing the variation in the warm/cool tones of the clouds. The water has been a lovely grey/turquoise where the sand has been churned up lately - it sings against the grey.

JANE MINTER said...

these are super lisa ..wonderful white sails and the stormy atmosphere ..all the best with the show

Lisa Le Quelenec said...

Thank you Jane, the weather has been pretty wet and stormy here lately. Today the sun is shining so I will head to the beach. Have a great weekend.