The best of 2011

As the year draws to a close I find myself reflecting back on my art journey over the course of 2011. There have been those successes I have been very pleased with and proud of, and there have been those that I have not been pleased with but have learned a lot from. That's one of the nice things with art ... even when we mess up we learn something, so it's a win-win situation most of the time.

Reflecting on my highlights I have pulled out a few pictures I'd like to share with you again. Firstly, the one and only painting I've sold in exhibition ... "The Steelworker". I got into a real mess with this one because I cleverly decided to try candle wax to create the water on the furnace floor. It was a huge mistake so I tried to overpaint it. That's not easy with watercolour. Anyway, long story short, I wrestled with the wax and created mud on top of mud on top of mud. I became as close as I've ever come to not finishing a painting, but in the end I got there.

2011 was also the year I attempted my first ever portrait. This graphite drawing of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow was a major "dip the toe in the water" exercise. I didn't have proper blenders or tortillons and didn't really appreciate how they would be used, so I managed with some tightly rolled up kitchen paper. It was a learning curve of huge proportions.

This 'discovery' of being able to do realistic drawings in graphite led me on to trying various other subjects and one of my favourites of those is this Leopard, which I stupidly thought was a Cheetah. Duh! Still, whatever it was didn't detract from the enjoyment of gradually watching him come together, spot by spot.

I have always enjoyed drawing with Pen but haven't done any for a long while and these pencil drawings led me back to pen work, but at a new level. I experimented with cross hatching which I'd never tried before and confess to having a long way to go before I'm pleased with what I'm doing, but this drawing of Robin Hoods Bay didn't disappoint me.

But I felt that all of this very tight work was having a negative effect on my watercolouring (if that's possible - lol). So I tried my hand at sketching. I find it difficult to just 'let go' and let whatever happens, happen. But the more loose, free and easy, hurried sketching I did with my pens, the more I felt at one with the paper. Pen sketching and loose watercolours all came together for me in this very simple painting of the river at Staithes. A totally alien style for me, but one which I thoroughly enjoyed.

One of my 2011 highlights was to receive a request from a young couple who are getting married in April at Edinburgh Castle. They wanted to know if they could use my pen sketch on their Wedding Invitations. It is small moments like this that make you feel your work is appreciated for what it is, and that's important for us all.


I can sum up 2011 for me by saying it has been a milestone year. I conquered personal fears by stepping out and sketching in public and I've tried several different techniques and media. I have had the disappointments that have taught me lessons and the successes that have helped my confidence. Most of all, I have enjoyed sharing my journey with all of you, just as I have enjoyed following your own journey's. You are all an inspiration to me.

My goals for 2012? To consolidate on what I've accomplished in 2011 by trying to bring my new found confidence into my watercolour painting, to improve further with my graphite and pen work, and to try some serious work with Charcoal and Pastels. Most of all I intend to get out and about with my sketch book culminating in some watercolour painting en plein air. That is an ultimate goal.

Thank you for your support during 2011 and I wish you all the very best for 2012.
Happy New Year!!!

Confidence?

Though some of my blogger friends are very confident about their art and themselves as artists, I know that there are many, me included, who are less confident. I also see a serious lack of confidence in the beginners and less experienced artists who join my art forum. Sometimes I try and find some words of wisdom that might help them be more confident in their work and I am continually trying to find ways of boosting my own confidence levels. (Yeh, I know ... I should practice what I preach).

One thing that has driven itself home to me recently is that you, my blogger friends, always seem to like my work much more than I do, and I have been giving this a great deal of thought. I've concluded that this is simply because you don't know what I was trying to achieve - what mood I'd wanted to create; what small detail isn't as accurate as I'd have liked; what colour has dried darker than I'd intended; what 'rescues' I performed during the painting process; etc, etc. You look at my work and see it as you find it, with no preconceived notions or expectations. I look at my work and compare it pixel by pixel (figuratively speaking) to the image that I held in my minds eye before I reached for my brushes. It seldom measures up.

So I now offer a new definition of the word 'confidence' ....

Confidence: the ability to see your work as others see it.


Changing the subject completely, which I can do because it's my blog, a while ago I decided to make my own Xmas cards this year. I even said so here on my blog ... like an idiot!!!

 I thought about it all through September and most of October and actually made a start around the end of October just before the auditors arrived. Remember them?

Anyway, during the time of the audit I was distracted from really important matters, like art, and my Christmas cards got put on the back burner ... again. So yet again this year, I rush headlong into the festive season with a long list of uncompleted good intentions.

As you know, I've been developing a growing passion for pen work and, just as an experiment, I wanted to see how effectively I could sketch a snow scene using black ink on white paper. I had just finished a watercolour of a 'made up' scene for a possible Xmas card, so tried it again in pen. Both are posted here. Initially I wasn't at all pleased with either version but coming back to them many weeks later I am seeing them through fresh eyes. I'm much happier with both of them but I have to say I was really very pleased with the pen version. I refer to my comments above about 'confidence'.

I'd like to offer both as cyber Christmas Cards to all my blogger friends, old and new. Throughout my blogging experience you've been a constant source of inspiration and encouragement and not once have you said "John, that's crap!!!"  I wish you the most wonderful Christmas ever and I hope good old Santa brings you plenty by way of new Art supplies.
Merry Christmas.

A tight fight!

My natural style is best described as 'tight' and the long-term followers amongst you may remember that from time to time I try to do something to help me loosen up. I will try quick ink and wash sketches and sketches against the clock, for example.

Eilean Donan Castle

This Sepia Ink pen and wash sketch is a very good example of one problem I struggle to deal with. Many of my verticals lean to the right. Now it happens that my natural handwriting also leans to the right, very much so. I have always written in an 'italic' style with a very pronounced lean. When I am sketching with gay abandon (as gay and abandoned as I ever get), that sloping tendency shows through into my drawing. I know I can do something about it when I try to, but by concentrating on getting the verticals upright, my work becomes tight(er) again. I guess I just need more practice ... either that or a block under one side of my chair. LOL.

So, have you noticed the "Making art fun" picture in the top right corner. It's just a little thing we do in my forum and I'm really pleased I managed to figure out how to have it automatically updating here. My 'square' is the second from the right on the top row.

Perfect remedy

I'm told it happens to us all, but just lately I've been feeling quite low about my art, especially my painting. On top of that, my watercolours aren't coming out too well as I seem to make mud with every brush stroke and a busy period at work is leaving me too mentally drained to want to concentrate on a detailed pen or pencil drawing. I feel myself getting more and more discontent ....

.... so I had some fun!!!

Hat Shop - Robin Hoods Bay

I knocked out a quick pen sketch of this fabulous little Ladies Hat & Bag shop in Robin Hood Bay (I was quite fascinated by the way the window had been shaped to fit in between the two flights of stone steps). After sketching I applied a watery ink wash. This is the first time I've tried washing with ink and it didn't behave quite as I'd expected, although I'm not quite sure what I expected. lol. I found quite small changes to the ink/water ratio made quite noticeable changes to the tone of the wash, hence the darker-than-I wanted steps. Though I hope to do better next time, I really like the effect and will be doing a lot more of these. I've also decided I must get some Sepia ink ... that could be even more fun.

Boats at Staithes

After that I remembered some advice I'd been given about sketching against the clock to help loosen up, so I decided to have a go at that. I allowed myself no more than 2-minutes for the sketch and 8-minutes to apply the paint. I was amazed how quickly the clock ticked as there was barely no time to think about what colours to use. Compared to my usual 'tight' style, this was definitely a case of splashing it about!!. The subject is the small tidal estuary at Staithes in Yorkshire.

These may not be great art but they've certainly put the spring back in my step. Ah, that's better.  ;-)

Back from holiday

Scarborough - South Bay

First of all, I must apologise to all you bloggers I follow regularly for not keeping up with your posts. I have been away on holiday and although I had some limited internet capability with me, there was not enough online time to get round the blogs. Anyway, I'm back now and I'll be catching up just as quickly as I can.

It had been my intention to do lots of drawing and painting especially to push myself to do some more plein aire work. Regrettably, it was so damp and windy that sitting outside for any length of time was not enjoyable. However, needs must, and although I didn't do any plein aire painting, I did manage a few quick sketches. The one of Scarborough was sketched looking through the rain splattered windscreen of my car as we sat on the harbour wall beside the Fishery.

I spent the week near Robin Hoods Bay on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors. As a 'towney' wanting to appreciate the countryside, I decided to stay on a working farm for the week would be a relaxing experience. That said, there were no animals and I don't know what the buildings and machinery were all about but it looked more like a factory than a farm.

One of the things I'd looked forward to was a trip on the old steam railway. When the day came, it was a disaster. Having parked the car I went to buy the tickets and was very disappointed to be told that the steam engine had broken down so the train was being pulled by a Diesel. That's just NOT the same. Still, I couldn't do the trip on another day so decided to do the trip regardless. After a short wait we were finally in the carriage and pulling out of the station.

I was looking forward to seeing the best of the moors from the train and had my camera ready but the worsening rain and reducing visibility were making photo's less likely. Suddenly the train screeched to a halt and the guard ran through the carriage looking most concerned. Long story short, the engine had broken down in the middle of nowhere and we had to wait over an hour for another engine to come and tow us on to the next station. That was actually good news as I was already having visions of us all walking along the railway track to the nearest station. Thankfully I had my sketchpad with me and used the time to attempt a drawing of my camera. Eventually we were pulled to a station where we were told no more trains would be running and a bus would take us back to where we started. Cold, damp and disappointed we arrived back at our starting point several hours later.

Robin Hoods Bay

The highlight of the week was a visit to Robin Hoods Bay itself. The village is built into the cliff face and is a maze of narrow winding alleyway's between the quaint old smugglers cottages. It was fascinating to see how one persons roof was on the same level as another persons garden. An artists paradise as every step I took revealed an ancient doorway, steps worn by centuries of use, crooked windows and cottages built to abnormal shapes in order to fit them in, like 3-dimensional jigsaw pieces. Had I been on my own I would have loved to have sat and sketched all day long but as it was I contented myself with taking scores of photo's. I didn't manage to get as much drawing done as I'd hoped during the week but I have enough reference material to last me a very long time. Can't wait to get started. ;-)

Good for the soul

Some times, for no particular reason, we just can't summon the enthusiasm to paint or draw. We've all experienced it. Some call it 'artists block' and others just that they aren't in the mood. Some times lifes little problems come along and knock us off track. Some of us are more resilient than others but we all have a point beyond which the pursuit of our art seems trivial and unimportant by comparison. This is where I am right now.

However, fearful that my 'mood' would only deepen the longer I allowed it to, I made the decision to spend a short while doing something arty even though my heart and mind just wasn't in it. Not wanting to think a great deal, nor get involved with setting up my stuff or looking for something to paint, I opted for the simplest, quickest solution and the medium I am most comfortable with. I picked up my sketchbook and a water soluble pen and took down from the wall a Wildlife calendar that had been sent to me last Xmas by my good friend Ingrid (Ochil Art). I sketched what I saw before me without any thought as to whether I would apply water later or just abandon it when I'd had enough. As I forced my pen to sketch shapes on the paper I felt more at ease with what I was doing and I started to get more absorbed by the art rather than other things.

The end result is far from a masterpiece (classic understatement) and some of the dark areas are too dark because I didn't give enough thought to how much ink to lay down to give me the right tone, but none of that matters. A little over an hour after I'd started, I put my pen down feeling more satisfied and relaxed than I had for many days ... and keener than ever to pick it up again.

Another sketch.

As is so often the case, yet again I have found myself without time for any serious drawing or painting. I am not one of those loose painters who can quickly splash some paint onto the paper and create a masterpiece. I so envy artists who can do that. To produce anything even half decent I have to mark out some pencil guidelines first, and then the painting itself takes me ages. And when I am drawing, everything takes so long, especially if it's a tricky subject and I decide to do a grid. I know from the feedback I get in my art forum that I am not alone.

Lindisfarne - Water Soluble Pen - A5

Rather than not do any drawing when time is short, I am pushing myself to sketch. A sketch can be very quick and doesn't require the fiddly precision of a proper drawing. In addition, there is nothing better for building confidence than going straight onto the paper with a pen. When sketching with pencil I can't help but reach for the eraser when I make the smallest slip, yet when working with pen, that is not an option.

A sketch doesn't have to be 'good' to be a worthwhile exercise. Take this sketch of Lindisfarne (Holy Island). Although not a great picture it was superb practice at interpreting perspectives, judging proportions and recording the shapes of the buildings. The pen required a confident approach and by using water soluble ink and a wet brush, it also forced me to study the tones in the scene. The picture took just a little over 15 minutes to do and, best of all, it was FUN!!!

Fuchsia - coloured

Fuchsia "Blackie"

I stood the ink drawing of the Fuchsia (see previous post) on my shelf where I could see it as I came and went into my 'study'. I always do this as it helps me to see them through the eyes of others after a while.

Anyway, the starkness of this sketch has been screaming at me to add some colour. In the end I gave in and washed in a weak Cadmium Red on the Sepals, and a weak Purple Lake to the corolla (petals).

In truth, the sepals should be much more vivid and the corolla ought to be very dark, almost black. Even so, I like this much better and have decided to do a proper painting of this flower when I can.

Lost my virginity ...

... or in other words, I've finally had my first plein air experience.

I promised myself that the next opportunity I had, I would try and be courageous and attempt something plein air. I have been inspired entirely by my blogger friends. I have long been a fan of Keith Tilley and thoroughly enjoy his exploits into the wild and rugged Scottish hinterland where he lives. The first urges to try it myself came from Sandra Busby's account of her day with Sue Pownall and I can imagine how wonderful that must have been. More recently, Michael Bailey's quick sketches have inspired me to finally make the effort. There are others whose blogs have contributed to the many small 'kicks' that have ultimately led to me losing my virginity.

Sketch 1 - Beach Gardens

My wife and I have just spent a couple of days on the east coast and the opportunity to embarrass myself in front of scores of strangers finally presented itself. Before I say any more I must say that ALL of the sketches I produced are poor. They were very hastily and nervously scratched out but for me the pleasure, satisfaction and sense of achievement comes NOT from the quality of the sketches, but from the challenge of drawing in public and the barriers I succeeded in breaking down. I am not a confident person and I have a low opinion of my art, so to attempt something in public was a double challenge.

Sketch 2 - Southwold Pier

While doing the first sketch of the Beach Garden at our holiday resort, two ladies who had been sitting nearby, passed behind me and one of them said "Wow, did you just draw that?". We exchanged a few brief pleasantries and they went on their way. Though they couldn't see much since I was using a small A5 pad, it was nice of them to comment and made my first experience a pleasant one.

The second sketch was done sitting on a cliff top bench high above Southwold pier. The bench was on the public pathway and scores of people were passing by. None of them spoke and I kept my head down, but I was aware of the passing eyes.

Sketch 3 - Beach Gardens

The third effort was a more serious attempt at producing a worthwhile picture, though it had to be done standing up, which I found particularly difficult. Again I used pen but this time on an A4 pad. I had my watercolour pencils with me so I was able to add some colour which I then touched up with my Aquabrushes.

My final effort was a very quick doodle of the view in front of me as we stopped beside a lake for a quick snack.

Sketch 4 - Lakeside picnic

As I've previously stated, I'm under no illusion as to how poor these are from an art perspective, but this exercise was never about the art. Whether or not I ever reach the stage of attempting a proper watercolour painting plein air remains to be seen, but I will certainly be making a bigger effort to carry a pen and sketch pad with me when I go out and about. To all my blogger friends who have inspired me, thank you. ;-)

The church with the door

All Saints Church, Earls Barton, Northampton

Well here is the finished version with the washes added. In reality the area to the left of the church is a combination of dark trees, brick walls and rooftops. It looks very unattractive. This is where my 'need' to put in every detail as best I can often lets me down. On this occasion I've made up an alternative view in order to make a better 'painting'. I had considered not including anything there at all but then realised I needed somewhere for the sky to stop.

Love these quickie's

A couple of years ago I was in Chipping Cambden in the Cotswolds waiting for my wife and friend who had popped into a shop. Looking up I was taken by an interesting chimney stack and roof arrangement and just had to take a photo with a view to painting it one day. I still will, but I just came across it and decided it would be a great exercise with the pen. With the interesting perspective and many angles, to attack it without pencil guidelines was a great confidence booster. Taking just 20 minutes tops, it represents another satisfying 'quickie'.

Scratching the itch.

I had that desperate urge to throw out a painting but no time to dip my brushes in water. I scratched my itch with a very quick sketch using my favourite medium, non-permanent ink and a wet brush. My 'instrument of choice' is an Aquabrush. Since these contain their own water they are perfect for taking out into the field. I find these quick ink sketches to be excellent exercises ... not only do they help practice our drawing skills but they're great at building confidence. When you're sketching with a pen you have to just go for it!!!

Portmeirion

My plans to spend more time painting took a set back, both because of unexpected events offline and, of course, the crash of my web sites which took several days to reinstate. However, I've finally taken up pen and brush to do this Line and Wash of Portmeirion in North Wales.

Portmeirion was a very small settlement until 1925 when it was aquired by architect Clough Williams-Ellis. He soon began building and converting cottages, and many were found in other locations and transported brick by brick. Williams-Ellis wanted to prove that architecture didn't need to ruin the landscape but could be sympathetic with it, and you don't need to be there long to see that buildings and landscape are in perfect harmony.

Portmeirion is most famous as the setting for the 1960's TV series "The Prisoner" starring Patrick McGoohan. The unusual shapes and colours of the buildings create a surreal and idyllic environment.

Old Fishing Boat

Probably my favourite medium, certainly at this time, is soluble pen. I just fancied doing a quickie sketch and was trying to think of a subject when a friend posted a photograph of an old fishing boat on another forum. The biggest problem I have with sketches like this is leaving them alone. I see lots of pen lines and brush strokes that cause me to think "why did I do that?" and there is this massive urge to pick up my pen and try to correct things. I think the technical term is 'fiddle'.

Coal Mine - take 2

I enjoyed doing the pen & wash of the Coal Mine so much that I was just bursting to do it again. I've always been a huge fan of water-soluble ink. I enjoy the challenge of sketching with pen, which is so unforgiving, and I get a buzz when I take a brush full of clean water and make that ink run. I decided the soluble ink medium would be just right for this scene and I have to say that I like the result more than the coloured version.

Coal Mine

When in Yorkshire a couple of years ago I visited the National Coal Mining Museum. It was a fabulous day out and I can highly recommend it if you're in the area. As usual, I wandered around with my camera glued to the front of my face and took the usual scores of photo's. In particular I was looking for a scene that adequately summed up the colliery and that would make a nice painting. Of all the photo's I took AT the mine, the view I like the best is this one taken just after we'd left.

Canal Cottages

I haven't had a lot of time for art just lately and I'm itching to get some quality time to get started on that dog portrait. Actually, quality time to get started on anything would be good. In the meantime, here's a small sketch using one of my favourite mediums (media? ). This was made with water soluble pen and a wet brush. The brush was one of those "aquabrush" refillable brushes - perfect for use outdoors. One mistake I may have made is with that door on the right hand side. It is so crooked that it grabs the eye and looks all wrong. The door really is like that, but this may be one of those times when artistic licence should have been used to make it more regular and therefore less obvious. We live and learn. ;-)

Loosening Up!!

My last several paintings have been fairly detailed and I've commented on more than one occassion that I feel my technique is becoming very tight. A few suggestions have been made as to how I can loosen up a bit and I shall be giving them all a try in due course as I try to find the style I know I'm looking for.


Yesterday, I decided to do a pen drawing. I'm rather partial to working in pen and it has been suggested that it is my best medium (though I'm not sure what that says about my watercolours - LOL). I only had about half-an-hour so grabbed an old photo of Edinburgh Castle to do a quick sketch of. I really enjoy this technique of using a soluble pen and then teasing out shadows using a brush and plain water. I can't say the end result is as loose as I would have liked but it is definitely a step in the right direction - and it was great fun.

Knaresborough

A short while ago I did a quick pen sketch of Knaresborough, a small market town in Yorkshire. This was the view from the castle, along the valley towards the railway viaduct.

For a bit of fun I decided to print the sketch onto watercolour paper and add some colour. It was an interesting exercise especially in view of the small size of the paper (7" x 9") and the amount of detail in the sketch.

Brixham Harbour

I recently spent a fabulous week in the Torbay area and visited the beautiful small town of Brixham with its active fishing harbour. In the harbour is a replica of The Golden Hind, Sir Francis Drakes famous ship. This sketch was with non-permanent ink and a brush with clear water was used to 'pull out' the shaded area's. This is a medium I'm particularly fond of.