Something unexpected

Softly Swaying
acrylic ink and watercolour
19x25cm (image size)
©2011 Lisa Le Quelenec

I'm pleased to report that yesterday was a very successful framing day. I really enjoy mount cutting and framing and I'm very lucky to have a picture framer friend who allows me to use their workshop. The above picture started as a little sketch for drawing practise but when my friend saw it she insisted that I let her frame it - not long after she'd worked her magic on it and this was the result.

The subject came from a bouquet of flowers that I was given and unfortunately I don't know what they are. They look like a thistle/sea holly type of plant and have dried really well.

Serene seas

Serene Seas
watercolour 14x17cm
©2011 Lisa Le Quelenec

I used perylene maroon, indigo and raw sienna, the same combination as the still life of mugs here . This time though the emphasis was more on indigo in the colour mixing. I like these bruise-like colours. Whilst waiting for the washes to dry I was busy colour washing frames, tomorrow is a framing day and between you and me I'm quite looking forward to it.

Watercolour sky sketching



Sketching at Kimmeridge

A beautiful warm spring day, perfect for sketching at Kimmeridge. The sun warmed the rocks and provided a perfect spot to sketch the the view to Clavell Tower. I love the patterns of cracks in the flat rock beds, the larger ones making it seem almost like a chequer board. There's lots of rock pools to explore, lots of critters and so many different types of seaweed.

The pencil sketch is a kind of visual note on how to use the cracks in the rocks to lead the eye through the painting. A bit more thought is needed on that to get a proper sense of perspective methinks.

 



watercolour and coloured pencils sketch

Sketchbook ideas and colour plans

A4 sketchbook pages of plans and ideas in watercolour pencil.

I've been playing with initial ideas in my sketchbook today planning my next set of paintings. I like to have a few things on the go so that when I need to rest my eyes from one there is something else to be working on. The idea for the first two are from the charcoal drawings that I did a short while back combined with other sketches. The moon ones are memory pieces from Saturdays perigee moon, it looked amazing reflected in the sea. Early evening it seemed huge, hard edged and was so orangey yellow turning paler and brighter with a soft halo around the edge as the night wore on. I'm particularly looking forward to painting the moon reflected on the sea with groynes silhouetted.

Now I have a rough concept of what I want to do I'll get out gathering some more references and going through old sketchbooks to see what will be useful. I'd like to keep these fairly small, maybe about 14cm squared, pretty much the scale these initial ideas are. It's so exciting to have a plan....

Did anyone else get out sketching the moon at the weekend?

Wave Watching II - work in progress...



Wave Watching II
acrylic on board 20x20cm
©2011 Lisa Le Quelenec

The blues were mixed with cobalt and indanthrene in stage 1 and were, I felt, looking too wintry so I glazed with an azure blue mix to warm everything up. Stage 2 is the better version when judging on neutral criteria but I like the the final version with the extra azure glazing which for me makes it more of a balmy summers evening. I think you have to let the painting dictate where it wants to go and this is where it whispered that it wanted to be. Between stage 2 and 3 I didn't touch the sand area but what a difference in it's appearance with the change of blue next to it. I'll spend a little more time just finishing up on the wave areas and post final versions and conclusions later.

Stacked



Stacked
watercolour 14x22cm
©2011 Lisa Le Quelenec


The theme for the critique at the art group I belong to this month was 'cafe life', above is the study that I took. It's solely watercolour and painting the glaze of white ceramic was a big challenge - there was also the difficulty of getting the ellipses drawn correctly. The colours that I used were indigo, perylene maroon and raw sienna. Having to paint pieces on subjects that I wouldn't normally do is keeping me on my toes.

Wave Watching I - work in progress...

 




Wave Watching I
acrylic on board 20x20cm
©2011 Lisa Le Quelenec


After taking some colours for a walk last week and mixing some colourful greys and neutrals I thought I would use them for the basis of two paintings. Fundamentally the same composition but using the warm tones in one and the cool ones in the other. I wanted to see how much of a different atmosphere I could create by just changing the leanings of the colours.

In theory the warm neutrals should give a warmer atmosphere but for me this is developing a more wintry feel. This is where I've got to so far with the warmer colours, I'll start on the bluer, cooler version now and see where that leaves me.

Relections in the sand



Reflections in the Sand
acrylic on board 15x15cm
©2011 Lisa Le Quelenec

The texture is built up in this painting by many layers of drybrushing and scumbling. In contrast the wet sand and reflections are smoother as I've tried to catch the silkyness of the wet sand.

No title



Towards Christchurch
sketchbook page

 Like many people I've watched the news in horror as images of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami played out over the news. This morning I've heard reports of the second explosion at the nuclear plant. Each of these events devastating and truly disastrous in themselves but to have one on top of another is just unimaginable. My thoughts are with all the people this has affected, I just can't begin to imagine what they are going through.