Jack of all trades …

My last several pieces have been in pencil and so I was keen to get back to watercolours. Apart from anything else, I have just treated myself to a new desk easel and 5 new Windsor & Newton Sceptre Gold brushes. But I am somewhat disappointed … not in the new brushes but my own ability.

Recently I found myself waiting for my wife as she attended a funeral and I couldn’t help but kill time (excuse the pun) by sketching the quaint little chapel. The sketch had to be done standing under the shelter of a tree as the wind brought in the beginnings of a shower. (That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it).

Later, at home, I decided to paint the chapel in watercolours. Fortunately I had taken a couple of reference photo’s which I was very pleased about as my sketch really wasn’t good enough to work from. But the resulting painting was not good. Much too wishy-washy, flat and under-defined. I managed to ‘rescue’ it, to some extent, by using a pen which at least brought in some definition and lifted the flatness … a little.

Another day I decided to paint a Lily from a recent photograph I’d taken. I wanted to make an indistinct background so thought I’d do some wet-in-wet. That soon turned into a mess. I lifted the background off and then reapplied it once the paper was dry, but only managed to achieve the same muddy mess as previously. I considered returning my brushes as “not fit for purpose” but thought better of it. lol. These recent, but not uncommon, struggles with the medium are very frustrating and it has me wondering whether I would be better off concentrating on one medium. Many of my blogging friends seem to work regularly in the same style and medium whereas I am frequently switching back and forth … and that can’t help. You know what they say … “Jack of all trades, master of none”. Ok … so I’m making excuses … I’m off to create a masterpiece … in my dreams. LOL.

Not just a flag.

As we all know, this weekend marks the Diamond Jubilee of the reign of our Queen, Elizabeth II. I'm not sure why we are celebrating THIS weekend as she acceded to the throne on 6th February 1952 and was crowned on 2nd June 1953. Hmmm, I'll have to go and do some research. lol.

My own contribution to the public celebrations going on this weekend is very small .... I have erected my Union Jack outside my front door. But that in itself is a very special thing to do. 

My father-in-law was a very proud and principled man. He served his time during World War II as one of the Desert Rats fighting Rommel. He wore a handle-bar moustache more associated with the Air Force; stood upright; walked with his chest out and stomach in; and was a stickler for time. "Time is time boy!!" he would say. I had a great deal of respect for him and was very sad when we lost him after a very long illness in the early 80's. He was the epitammy of Britishness and would have been as proud as anyone this weekend. 

In 1953, in readiness for the young Queens coronation, my father-in-law obtained two Union Jack flags on short poles. He marked that occasion, and many other events since, by hanging his flags out of his bedroom window. One of his flags made it's way to me after his death, and I treasure it. It is old, worn, grubby and to frail to withstand washing, let alone hanging outside in all weathers. But I can't think of a better thing to help celebrate the Queens Jubilee ......

.... except a large glass of my favourite 21-year old Malt Whisky. "Cheers Ma'am".

As a point of interest, on my web site I have a brief explanation as to the origin of the Union Jack for anyone interested.

Sunset over Buttermere

While working on the Daffodil and appreciating the need to push my darks, I found myself recalling a photograph I took a few years ago and just knew I wouldn't rest until I'd attempted to draw it.

It was late one autumn afternoon and we were driving through the Lake District. It had been raining but had stopped you could sense the sun trying to break through the thick heavy storm clouds. The light was beginning to fade as we headed back in the direction of our cabin. As I rounded a corner I saw the most spectacular of views. Most of the landscape was in near silhouette and the setting sun, though still hidden behind a cloud, was breaking through with powerful beams of light shining down on Buttermere Lake. I stopped the car to take a photograph and the atmosphere was magical. The water was still, there was no breeze, there was no sound. A moment later the spectacle had passed.

Daffodil

My Daffodil drawing was only intended as a quickish drawing just to kill an hour. Following the nice comments you all made, I felt inspired to take it stage further and see where it took me. This is the result. In order to make the Daffodil 'glow' in the sunshine, a darkish background was needed and some strong shadows. I think I may have taken it a step too far, and I'll be very interested to hear what you all think.

White Rabbit

I know I'm not alone in this but sometimes I feel like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland .... "I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date. No time to say Hello, Goodbye! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!!!". With a number of household and family projects that I've taken on since retiring, and given that it's one of the busiest times for the garden,  I seem to have less time than ever for my art. Still, I am getting things done and enjoying catching up on things that have been left far too long.

My art forum forces me to at least dabble with my brushes as I like to take part in all the projects. I painted my square for the Picture Puzzle. Look at the picture at the top of my side bar called "Making art fun". My square is in the top right hand corner of the picture - the body of the bird hanging off the side of the tree trunk.

I also painted this goose for the Monthly Painting Project.




As a treat for myself, I spent an hour yesterday with my pencils and knocked out this Daffodil. It wasn't intended to be a 'proper drawing', just a bit of fun, but it's turned out reasonable and so I might do a bit more to it ... especially the background.


And these small and quick pictures are all it takes to keep me in touch with my art and to 'scratch the itch'. Anyway, can't stop. I'm late, I'm late ......

Rain Stops Play (2)

Following on from the comments in the last post, I decided to do some more to the drawing. Firstly, I darkened the background to push it back as suggested by Sue. To make sure I kept the boy behind the glass I did as Pat suggested and darkened the edges of the raindrops. I also darkened the lower part of the boys shirt to make it look less even and I've done a little work with the hair. 

The changes have significantly increased the contrast of the drawing and given the whole thing much more depth. I don't know if it is something I see because I want to, but I also feel the drawing now has more atmosphere and mood. 

Thanks to everyone who commented previously but especially Sue and Pat.  

Rain stops play!

As I mentioned in my last post, our annual Art in the Park exhibition is starting soon and Entries have to be submitted by Friday. I also mentioned that I had an idea of what to do but that it was ambitious (for me). Well, here it is.

I've called it "Rain stops play" and it's an image I've held in my mind's eye for quite some time, just waiting for an opportunity to have a go at it. I have been working on it for many hours every day for the last 4/5 days. Unusually for me, I haven't had a photo to copy, but I have used a number of photo's of rain for reference. I find with those raindrops that I can keep tweaking and fiddling ad nausium and it's hard to put the pencils away and call it finished.


My main reason for hurrying to get it posted is to invite constructive criticism from my blogger friends, especially those of you who work with pencil. I still have time to make a few adjustments and fine tune the picture. And I'm aware that pencil drawings don't fair too well when up against watercolours and oils so I want to make this as good as I can get it. It's also worth mentioning that I don't consider it to be a very commercial subject matter, so I'm under no illusions with regards to the likelihood of it selling.


Any comments, good or bad, will be very much appreciated. ;-)

More than just a cake

It was a brilliant day for me yesterday .... my last ever day at work. These past few weeks have been frantic and intense as I've tried to cram a couple of months of handover into just a few weeks. My 'team' at work have been the greatest and I'm really proud of them. It's the end of the Payroll year and we had a massive target to reach this week made worse by it being a short week due to Easter. They worked their socks off, especially yesterday while I was out of town at a funeral, and I arrived at work on my last morning to find everything ready and waiting for me to just put the finishing touches to. I was well impressed and told them so.


My colleagues from around the company all chipped in to buy me a really nice  Lead Crystal Whiskey Decanter and 4 glasses. The Silver Nameplate hanging round it's neck simply says "JWJ". Perfect.

My own department ... my A-team ... bought me a cake. It's not really fair to call it a 'cake' as it's a complete masterpiece. The photo doesn't do it justice. The only thing not edible is the rectangle of paper used for the 'painting'. It has been hand-painted and includes my name in the bottom right corner. I couldn't bring myself to cut it. I know I'll have to, but I want to enjoy it a bit more first.


So now I join the ranks of the great unemployed. I've worked since I was 18 so I have done 46 years and can't have had more than a month off in total over that period. I've been 32 years, exactly half of my life, with this one company which could explain why I feel part of the furniture. Things are going to feel just a little bit strange waking up in the mornings for a while. Still, I have a great deal I want to do ... re-modelling part of the garden; redecorating the lounge, kitchen and main bathroom; reading; sifting through my stamp collection; photography ... but most of all, ART!!!


My next art project needs to be started without delay. It is our annual Art in the Park exhibition soon and my entry needs to be in by next Friday. I have an idea as to what to do, but it's ambitious and I'm far from sure I can do it in the time available. LOL .... and I thought hurrying would be a thing of the past. ;-)

We've done it!!!

For several weeks now I haven't had the time to post to my blog nor visit any of the blogs I follow. This hasn't been through any lack of interest, but a simple lack of time. I have only a couple of weeks (3 at most) until I retire and my workloads have gone crazy as I try to effect a proper handover to my replacement. I am determined to leave my office ship-shape and Bristol fashion with everything up-to-date and properly in order.

On top of that, I have also undertaken my biggest ever drawing project. Not huge for many of you, but MASSIVE for me. A little under two years ago my only daughter got married. Right then and there I KNEW I just had to do a portrait of her and my new son-in-law on their wedding day. Whilst a nice sentiment the reality is that I am too technically challenged for such a project ... or was. However, where there's a will there's a way ... right? A book by Lee Hammond, plenty of sketching and shading practice, and the will to 'raise the bar' have all contributed.

Scouring through the hundreds of photo's of the wedding I was struggling to find anything suitable. Nearly all the photo's were of posed groups with the happy couple looking straight at the camera. A few had them looking at each other but were obviously posed. Eventually I found the shot I was looking for. It was a poor photo of a crowd and towards the back, my daughter and new husband were exchanging a glance. It was moments after the ceremony and it didn't need words to be spoken for it to be obvious what they were thinking .... "we've done it!".

Daler Rowney "Heavyweight" paper.  220 gms - 15" x 11" 

The photo was taken with flash with a bright window immediately behind them, so lighting was appalling but, nevertheless, it was good enough to work from, especially with plenty of others to refer to for guidance. It has produced a picture of the day that is not in their album and that pleases me greatly. This has taken me almost 2 weeks and I took a dozen photo's of it during the process in order that I might post a WIP. I've had second thoughts about that now but if there is sufficient interest I would be happy to post the stages.

On Saturday I fixed, mounted and framed the drawing and yesterday my wife and I visited my daughter and son-in-law and presented it to them. They like it. ;-)

Moka Coffee Pot

I almost called this post "Decisions, decisions!". I've been quite busy of late one way or another. As I mentioned a couple of posts back, my en suite bathroom is being remodelled and I've spent a huge amount of time trawling round bathroom showrooms looking for inspiration and buying everything needed. Since the job started I've been involved in clearing the room, removing tiles from the wall and then some of the decorating work like painting the ceiling and woodwork.

At the same time my job has exploded in terms of hours in the day needed. At Xmas I decided the time had come for me to retire and I informed the company on my return back to work in January. I've always promised them as much notice as I could give so set my end date at March 31st. There is a lot to do legally and in terms of organisation and handover and ever since my announcement I've been bombarded with meetings and other matters associated with my departure. Over half my time is now spent on such matters and my real work is suffering badly. I am determined to hand over a tidy ship, with a place for everything and everything in it's place, and everything up to date.

So, between the extra demands of my job and 'keeping up' with the bathroom, leisure time is harder to find. And when I do find some it's that horrible decision, art or computer. And if I choose computer, do I follow my blogger friends or play catch up in my art forum. Decisions, decisions!

I am hugely behind on visiting the blogs I like to follow, so much so that I'm now beginning to miss some of the posts. I WILL catch up, I promise.

"Moka Coffee Pot"
Graphite - 10" x 8"

That said, I had some free time today and chose 'art'. I like drawing silverware (not that I've done a great deal of it) and this months drawing project in my forum is this fine Moka Coffee Pot. With my recent passion for sketching and Pen & Wash, it seems like a long time since I last picked up my pencils with serious intent, and so this subject appealed greatly.

These pots are made of aluminium and used over a flame or electric range for making espresso coffee. It consists of two chambers, the lower one holding water and the upper one collecting the coffee. It produces the coffee by passing hot water pressurised by steam through ground coffee contained in a basket set between the two chambers. It was first patented by inventor Luigi De Ponti in 1933.

Now I'm off to try and catch up with a few more blogs. Hey, from the end of March I ought to have all the time I need for blogging .... and my art ... can't wait!!!