Knaresborough

In the Autumn of 2008 my wife and I holidayed in Yorkshire, not far from the market town of Knaresborough. The town is situated on a cliff top overlooking the River Nidd. The cliff makes a fine natural defence and so it was a logical choice to build a castle. The castle has largely gone now but it's remnants are well displayed in a perfectly manicured park area that overlooks the river valley. The view from the park towards the railway viaduct with it's fine arches bridging the valley, is quite breathtaking.

This pen study will never do justice to the beautiful view, but it was fun to do. I find the challenge of going straight in with the pen (no pencil guidelines first) very rewarding.

Ingrid J Ormestad

I'm delighted that my very good friend Ingrid Ormestad has agreed to be the subject of my first "Artist Showcase". For this first showcase we have selected a range of her work from one of her first watercolours, through to her most recent acrylic. In future showcases we will concentrate more on a particular genre, such as Ingrids superb mountain landscapes.

Artist Showcase

As a new feature in my art forum I've decided to 'showcase' the work of selected artists. Each Showcase will be a selection of up to 6 paintings or drawings, complete with text that can either be about the artist, or about their art. The Showcase will be by way of a dedicated page on my web site and will also be linked to from my other art site, the forum and this blog, as well as being mentioned on Facebook and Twitter. Each Showcase will stay on the net for at least one full month, or until such time as another artist requests Showcasing. Any artist who already has a web presence will be able to link to their site from the Showcase.

The first Showcase is under construction and I hope to launch it any day.

Hover Fly

I am gradually building a collection of photo's of the flowers in my garden with the objective of showing that the garden has something flowering every month of the year.

You can see what I have so far on "My Garden" page.

On this particular occasion I was taking a photo of a Dwarf Dahlia that has a lovely peachy/orange colour but it was being visited by a Hover Fly.

I brushed the fly away a couple of times, but he insisted on coming back, so in the time proven spirit of working with what we have, I made the fly the subject.

For the technically minded, I was interested to learn that there are over 6000 species of Hover Fly. Looking at the most common, I suspect this one is Episyrphus Balteatus. Despite their wasp-like markings, they are harmless and gardeners should delight in their presence as they feed on Aphids.

Before taking these photo's I hadn't realised how colourful and beneficial these little chappies can be. We live and learn. ;-)

Cadair Bronwen

Cadair Bronwen is another peak in the Berwyn range of Mountains in Denbighshire, North Wales. This view is looking South towards Cadair Berwyn.

More watercolour paintings can be seen in the Gallery's on my main web site.

Here are links to the Art Galleries on my main site ...

Watercolours

Pencil

Pen and Ink

Line and Wash

Other and Mixed Media

Art Forum

Moel Fferna

This is a painting of Moel Fferna, one of the peaks in the Berwyn Range of mountains in North Wales. It's an odd thing that many enthusiasts rush right across North Wales heading to Snowdonia, and they pass through Denbighshire without even realising that it has this superb range of mountains with breathtaking views.

Making art fun!!

It's been a while since my Art Forum ran what we call the 'Picture Puzzle' so a number of the members are again pooling their resources to contribute to another painting.

None of the artists have seen the photograph that the painting will be taken from. They have each been sent a small portion of the photo, which they will paint in their own way. Each painted segment will then be slotted into place on a blank template, and the complete painting will gradually take shape.

Although the main purpose of the 'puzzle' is to have some fun with our art, there is a serious side to it. The sides of each segment must be accuratey reproduced or the portion won't fit very well with it's neighbours.

At the time of writing this, the first two segments are in place. Others will 'appear' as they are completed, and I'm posting the painting here so that everyone can monitor it's progress.

Animating Art

Here is something I did a long time ago, but I came across it recently and thought it would be nice to share it.

I did this pencil drawing of the Spurn Lightship, which I saw in dock at Hull a few years ago. I scanned the image and then opened it in Paint Shop Pro. I added a new layer to the image and filled it with a dark grey. I then adjusted the transparency settings of that layer until I'd created an image that made the ship look as if it was a thick fog at night.

From there it was a case of 'painting in' some lights. I painted the lights as if the main beam was pointing to the right, and saved the image. Then I undid that light and repainted it as if the beam was almost pointing at me. I repeated the process until I had 8 'frames'. These were then pulled together in PSP's Animation Shop, where it was then just a case of adjusting the frame timings to give the right effect.

I've slightly oversimplified the process for the sake of a short explanation, but I'm sure you get the general idea. The result is an animation that brings a new dimension to the static drawn image. Regrettably, hosting the animation on the net causes some problems with the frame speed, and it will sometimes run too slowly, and sometimes too quickly. If anyone is interested in seeing the original, drop me a line and I'll happily send it.

Making art fun!!!

As some of you know, my art forum runs a periodic 'Picture Puzzle' where a number of members paint sections of a painting, which is then assembled to make one composite picture. Our latest one, Number 9, has just been finished and looks great. Thanks to all the members who have contributed.

As we start to look around for a subject for our next puzzle, I wonder whether it might be feasable to allow artists who are not members of the forum to join in. If you are interested, let me know.

Song Thrush

Last week, a very good friend came to visit. The weather was absolutely fabulous as Britain basked in week-long heatwave hitting temperatures around 32 degrees. Although we went out to see a few local sites, a great deal of our time was spent in the garden. We were eating breakfast on the patio, enjoying a midday snack in whatever shade we could find, and wining and dining into the evening. But the biggest joy was this Song Thrush who would arrive in the tree tops whenever we ventured out, and would sing his heart out for hour after hour.

Though not the sort of subject I would normally paint, I can't wait to have a go at painting this shot.