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.

September storms

Gathering cloud - the Needles   13x10cm watercolour on paper   ©2012 Lisa Le Quelenec

I have been continuing my experiments with 'black' watercolour that I started last year. You can see the original posts  here  and  here .  Since Sunday we have been 'blessed' with really heavy rain storms occasionally shot through with blazing sunshine. The sky has been very changeable with dramatic rain clouds and yesterday when they had rained themselves out and the sun shone I escaped to the beach. There was a very strong wind - too strong for painting down there but I did have a good walk and took some photos that may be used as reference. The sea was very choppy with lots of big crashing waves sending spray flying. I love this weather!

Towards Swanage 24/09/12 photograph

Below are a couple of postcard sized experiments  - more to follow.....

Haze at Old Harry

Haze at Old Harry   acrylic on canvas 50x50cm   ©2012 Lisa Le Quelenec

I definitely seem to have been going through a blue period this summer. It has taken a lot of experimenting with layering glazes of different blues but I finally feel close to capturing that special glowing blue you see at dusk. When I see it in the sky I drink it in greedily knowing that it won't last long and I will have to wait for completely clear skies to see it again. The white water isn't as stark in the painting, it's warmer and bluer. I wanted to show a lazy kind of movement in the wave - sometimes they build up slowly and fizzle out in a short distance as they near the sand.

Turning the painting into a grey scale in editing software is useful to check the tonal values. I've been doing this at different stages throughout this painting and it has helped particularly in getting smooth graduations of tone with the different blues.

Haze at Old Harry grey scale ©2012

Just for fun I flipped the photo horizontally, a slight adjustment to the land mass and it could be the other side of the bay showing the Isle of Wight and the Needles. It could be an idea for another painting for another day...

Charcoal and chalk at the beach

Charcoal & chalk on toned paper 30x40cm ©2012 Lisa Le Quelenec

I love using charcoal and chalk and I wonder why I don't use it more often.....

As Venice sleeps

As Venice Sleeps   acrylic on paper 17x27cm ©2012 Lisa Le Quelenec

I had forgotten, I hadn't posted this painting that was completed just before my visitors arrived. This was the last painting that I will do of Venice for a while. Duty calls and I am returning to the beach as exhibitions are fast approaching. I really enjoyed the change of location even if the themes running through are similar. I always shy away from buildings and architecture so it was a challenge for me to find a way of representing them without going into too much detail. Do you think it works?

A new term & back to school

Shiny and bright sparkly new materials for a new term of learning and experimenting

As a child the new school term heralded exciting times to learn new skills and gain knowledge. Aside from the activity inside the classroom there was the excitement of new friends to be made and games to be played out in the playground.

It seems to me that there are a lot of similarities between life now and life back then. Every time we pick up pencil or brush we are adding to the knowledge, experience and skills that started during those first days of school, which were filled with concentration, making tentative marks on paper. At break times I am catching up with friends in the real and those friends made in the blogging playground - it's really not so different.

A parcel of new materials for a new term of work has arrived, the smell of the new pencils took me right back to the little wooden hut of my reception class taught by Mrs Hockey. Then Mrs Romeril whose love of art and nature was infectious. Fast forward to the art room of Mr Bailey my first art teacher who opened the door to a whole new and exciting world. Good teachers stay with you forever and I was very lucky to have never had a bad one.

manky old tubes and scruffy brushes facing retirement

These were the empty tubes and tired brushes left from a 'term' of working. The two brushes on the left were my favourite scruffies but are now in need of retirement. The other five are well into their scruffy phase and will last another year for scrubby jobs.

Looking at this replacement order of paint I can see that I have painted a lot of blue recently! I bought the daisy palette at a charity shop it was in a stack of the kind of dishes used for party nibbles! What a piece of luck.

Do you look forward to a new 'term'? What do you do to prepare? Which teachers have stayed with you?

A postcard from Jazz Green!

Drawing Postcard I   acrylic & ink on paper 10.3x14.7cm   ©Jazz Green2012

Just look what the Postie delivered to me! At the same time I was offering a give away of a painting, Jazz Green was running one herself over at her blog. I entered and low and behold I my name was drawn to receive this beautiful artwork. I am over the moon and I can't wait to get it framed and up on the wall. Thank you Jazz so much.

I've been a regular reader of Jazz's journal blog and admirer of her work since I happened across it a couple of years ago. The portrayal of the passing of time, decay and regeneration are explored in her abstract works, capturing the fleeting beauty and sumptuous surface textures of subjects eroded by nature and time . Amongst my favourites are the lichen drawings and the mouldscapes. Pop over to her blog for a visit, there is much to explore as she has a very well presented archive of her work as well as recent work on show.

Jazz will be exhibiting at;

Artworks 2012 Blackthorpe Barn Suffolk
8 - 30 September 2012

and

Ad Libitum Apex Gallery
29 October - 28 November 2012

Silver birch moon

 

Silver birch moon   30x40cm acrylic on canvas ©2012 Lisa Le Quelenec

Although my last visit to the New Forest was during a perfect summer day it did inspire me to return to an older theme of the forest lit by the full moon. This seems to be a series that I am not quite finished exploring yet. The strong back lighting of the trees and capturing the depth of space keep pulling me back to explore further.

This painting will be amongst the works I am exhibiting at the Hayloft Gallery in Christchurch from 7th - 20th September. A percentage from all the sales will be donated to two local wildlife charities. Do pop along if you are in the area and support this worthy cause.

Drumroll please.........

Last night all entries were put into the hat and His Nibbs dutifully picked out a slip.



And the winner is ......

Zoe of  Pentamento . 

Your painting will be flying across the ocean to you just as soon as the post office reopens on Monday.

Thank you to everyone who entered and for everyone's continued support over the year. It means such a lot and I truly value the friendships and connections that I have been able to make through blogging. It's something that I would have never dreamed possible a few years ago. Isn't the world a wonderful place!