Lisa Le Quelenec Seaside studios paintings, prints and mixed media: colour

Showing posts with label colour. Show all posts

Thursday, 26 February 2026

Colour palettes for a new Fabric and Wallpaper Collection.

I thought I would share how I start to play with colours and choose palettes for new pattern collections in fabric and wallpaper. I am very drawn at the moment to yellows, ochres and soft lilacs which feels like a big leap from the teals, blues and turquoise I have turned to in painting and printmaking lately.

I am very inspired by this postcard that I picked up at the Russell-Cotes Museum of 'Magpie or Still Life with Magpie by Clementina M Hull 1866-1908. It may not come across in this picture but the colours are both subtle and vibrant and the complimentaries sing beautifully against each other. I need the cheerful colour in the middle of Winter amidst all the grey and dark.

Isolating the colours and curating them with shells, objects from my collections and paint swatches that I have painted is an interesting exercise. I like to move physical objects around and lay them on painted swatches as it feels more real than just manipulating on a screen. I want to see how colour behaves in different light and how it will drape around a form like fabric will in real life. It helps me to imagine how it can be used within a real setting.

Isn't the koi door handle and plate above stunningly beautiful? This is from the Russell-Cotes Museum too. The stripes are from corrugated plastic roofing on Boscombe pier - not quite so artisan and romantic but colour inspiring in its own way.

This gorgeous botanical sample was photographed at an exhibition of May Morris designs last year. It was amazing to see the drawings, watercolours and evolution of her designs along side the finished work.

You can see from these palettes that I am a bit of a magpie too, always collecting treasures, making connections. Sometimes the flotsam and jetsam takes years to surface and influence work but I think the benefit of time is important, ideas need to evolve and percolate waiting for the right moment.

The new Collection will hopefully be ready to share next week or the week after, I have been working away on them since December and am partway through loading them onto Spoonflower.

Thursday, 20 March 2025

Ran's Daughters - Bara, Unnor & Dufa

The tempo is quickening....the breeze grows in strength....something is brewing.

A stronger current, colder, deeper waters, a more insistent tug to the depths.

Wednesday, 5 March 2025

Ran's Daughters - Himinglæva, Kólga & Hrönn

So far these ladies have been a little playful but I think we are about to see a sea change....

Wednesday, 26 February 2025

Ran's Daughters - Blóðughadda first steps and experiments

Daughter no.1 Blóðughadda ;

I began with mixing my inks using quite a bit of extender to aid transparency. To apply the ink to the lino block I used a palette knife varying the thickness of ink and intuitively laying down the colour. Whilst the initial image is starting as a lino print my intention is to layer different materials and techniques to result in a mixed media series. The print process will achieve a variation in textures that will enhance further layers.

You can see from the first six prints the variations in colour and tone. There is also good variations in texture between very fine flat ink and thicker raised areas and bare paper, this will make interesting surfaces to work with other materials.

I printed a few more variations, my intention is to make some art books (a page for each daughter) and it feels right that there will be nine - maybe with Ran linking each page, or possibly to present each of the daughters mounted as one image. I am sure I will disappear down a few rabbit holes along the way. It feels good to be working on a big long term project.

I have started using one print and drew into it with coloured pencils, pencils and ink. I am still feeling my way a bit. A minutes sunshine drew some lovely shadows across the page.

Thursday, 3 October 2024

Shades of Autumn - Acorns drypoint prints

Acorns that found their way into my pocket whilst out walking my dog. Each printed in a different autumnal shade and one in a soft warm charcoal black. I have two proof prints made whilst the plate was being tested for the edition which I may work into with mixed media at a later date. I have put a couple of the prints in both my Etsy and Folksy stores.

I enjoyed printing the edition one print after another mixing the ink as I went adding to the colour left by the previous mix. I think I may do more of these with different motifs. It was nice to try something different.

Friday, 14 June 2024

Little treasures from the shore

Look at these little beauties found in Scotland. I have never found these before though I believe they can be found here in the South. I may have jigged a little happy dance when I spotted the first one 😊 The colours are many and are really subtle when you look closely. I picked up these three for the variation in their colouring, the photo doesn't do them justice.

The treasures in the photo below are from a more recent trip to Kimmeridge, I think they make a nice potential palette.

Thursday, 9 November 2023

Turquoise Sea Gloaming - acrylic on canvas board

Cool, crisp Autumn - that special blue in the gloaming is possibly my favourite colour.

This painting is available in my Folksy store, it's just the right size to sit on a shelf or mantle - framed or unframed.

Thursday, 5 October 2023

New Dry points and mixed media beachscapes on Folksy

Well I'm not sure where September went but it has been busy! I have been having a bit of a jujjjjge around with all my shops making new store fronts, profile pictures and even a new blog banner (I hope that you like it) to refresh everything. It feels much more co-ordinated and coherent now - hopefully it will become more recognisable too around the interweb.

Of course I have also been creating some more work, I have just been lapse at getting it onto the blog - so many balls to juggle and so little time. I have been thinking hard about new ways to present work and I think sometimes it would be nice to show the inspiration behind my process. This is the latest set of work that I have produced over the last little while shown with the inspiration behind colour choices, shapes, marks and textures. I often have trouble putting that kind of thing into words but hope that these montages of images might go some way to explaining.

These will all be in my Folksy shop by Friday for Folksy's 'Shop Early for Christmas' weekend 7th-8th October.

All of the above are mounted ready to frame in cream 20x20cm (8x8 inch) mounts - example below:

Friday, 5 August 2022

A trip home....and refilling the inspiration well

I have just come back from a trip home (I call it home even though I haven't actually lived there for nearly thirty years..) to Jersey. It had been far too long. My last stay had been pre-covid. It was lovely to catch up with my folks and walk along the beaches which are so different to the ones in Dorset. For a start there is a much, much wider tidal ranges so interesting treasures are waiting to be found that are left by the tide. Also my eyes were opened to just how much litter is unfortunately left on the beach in Bournemouth during the summer, which is a sad observation to make. Jersey beaches are immaculately clean at any time of day or evening.

Anyway I thought I would bore you with some holiday snaps ;o)

So many colours, shapes and textures.. I think a lifetimes work could be made just within these nine photos.

Whilst on the way to visit the Maritime Museum I was fascinated by the reflection patterns in the marina. The museum is absolutely wonderful and I would definitely recommend a visit.

We fitted in two castles and La Hougue Bie Museum too. The passage grave at La Hougue Bie is thought to be one of the ten oldest buildings in the world! It was lovely and cool to walk doubled over and crablike through the tunnel on what was a very hot day.

Unfortunately we came across this compass jellyfish left by the tide on one of our beach walks. Such a beautiful pattern of markings, I think I will be revisiting this page in the not too distant future.

As you can see someone else enjoyed her first visit too, especially the paddling and extra treats from Nanny and Grumpy.

So lots of new inspiration and ideas are now whizzing through head and waiting to emerge from my brushes.

Thursday, 14 July 2022

Sea worn textures shaped by the tide

We are experiencing a heatwave here in the UK. I find hot summer days a trial at the best of times without it going to extremes so I'm not looking forward to the weekend and early part of next week. Instead of heading to the beach I will be inside with my collections revisiting inspirations already found.

Arranging my beach findings, photographing and playing digitally with them always inspires new colour combinations, marks, textures etc, It is something to take time over and meditate on, to recognise connections and I don't get frustrated with paint or ink drying too quickly ;o) although a sketchbook will probably be pulled out for a play at some point. So that is where I will be for a while, looking at pretty things and refilling the well. I hope you enjoy the sunshine if that is your thing and if not enjoy the shade like me. Best wishes.

Monday, 22 November 2021

Sailing where the sea met the sky - watercolour

We have been treated to some beautiful sunsets this Autumn, absolute stunners full of firey reds and oranges with rich cerise and purples. Breath taking as they are, my favourite kind to paint are these more mellow late summer ones.

This painting is available in my Etsy store.

Thursday, 1 July 2021

Shore - variations in colour - drypoint

A varied edition of 15 'Shore' each print will be an experiment in printing different combinations of mulitple colours which is something I haven't really tried before. This is part of my challenge to widen my palette this year.

These prints are available at Folksy.

Friday, 23 August 2019

Warming up my palette - dog days of summer

It seems we are to have another period of warmer weather before autumn gets underway. I will head to the beach earlier or later as it cools down - kinder to 'not-so-little-now' paws.

Paintings available at Seaside Studios UK.

Thursday, 4 July 2019

Palette inspirations - digital sketchbook pages and colour notes

I forget to show images of the things I use as as palette inspiration. I have posted about my colour notebook before here and I thought I would show a little of my notebook, digital sketchbook and scrapbook that I refer to when I work. I make these grids and medleys on down days as a way of getting my self going again. Just like looking at old sketchbooks and photos can be the little spark I need that leads to an inferno of ideas.

Ideas are not in short supply at the moment but unfortunately the small dexterity issue that I am experiencing with my hand means I cannot proceed with the work that I had intended. A lesson in patience for me but there is always something else that can be done. For now I am filling notebooks with thumbnails, catching up on admin and making some more medleys like these.

Thursday, 4 October 2018

Colour charts and colour sketchbook pages

The colour that I used in the previous post was Daniel Smith's Sodalite Genuine. I like using this colour on it's own for tonal studies for it's unpredictable granulation and the way the blue and the black sometimes separate as it's drying. I think of it as a soft faded denim and as comfortable to use as a pair of well loved jeans is to wear. It occured to me that although I have used this colour often and have used it in mixes with other blues I hadn't actually made a colour recipe chart for it with the other colours in my palette.

Above is the chart painted this week on the left. To the right are some charts made previously - you can see posts about previous expermients with black watercolours here. It was well worth doing the chart as I don't think I would have discovered these beautiful greens that can be mixed otherwise. I particularly like the way Sodalite Genuine mixes with Cobalt Turquoise Light, Green Gold and Indanthrene Blue (all Winsor & Newton)

This another chart to add to my colour sketchbook or recipe book. Below are a few pages from it that I have been refering to lately with all the greys, blues and aquas. It's filled with experiments, clippings, charts, notes and all sorts - even a couple of disposable palettes have been stuck in. To be honest it is an unruly mess with splats and spodges and scribbles but it is well thumbed, dog earred in places and beyond value to me. It's been added to over a number of years and as I am running out of room I will have to re-bind it to add more pages at some point in the future. It could end up as thick as a brick :o) .

Pages