Wednesday 31 July 2019

Watercolour Paintings 57

Here are this months batch which I've again tried to make as varied as possible. Some new artists as well as those who are famous and well-known. I keep finding more and more!. If any names are wrong feel free to correct me. I think all are watercolours but corrections here are welcomed also.



Lucy Newton.  Recently discovered. Great wildlife artist.



Elke Memmler


Claude Buckle




Another from Lucy Newton



Charles Reid




John Singer Sargent



Luis Camara



Lorna Holdcroft


Faustino Martin Gonzalez



Lorna Kirin
Ian Baxter


Junwei Dai


Rob Piercy


David Howell



Barry Hilton Is this a watercolour?


Adisora Pornsirikarn


Z L Feng



Robert Wade



Catherine Rey


Jeannellylandre



Sandy Strohschein

Monday 22 July 2019

Kingfisher

This is the finished painting of the  Kingfisher.



Kingfisher 16" x 12" Watercolour

Friday 19 July 2019

My Latest Paintings

Here is what I've been painting, mostly drawing the subject at home and then painting them at my AVA Thursday group. All are 16" x 12" and painted on the reverse of my many failed paintings. It can be done providing the paper is good quality. Mostly these are on Waterford. A couple I'm not sure.


Proud Dad and chicks


Mother and Son


Water Buffalo


Red Grouse


Unfinished - Kingfisher I'll publish the finished article when completed.

Tuesday 9 July 2019

Van Gogh Watercolours

I recently reviewed the new increased range of Van Gogh watercolours,  made by Talens who also produce  Rembrandt. Van Gogh, although originally only 40 colours, have never been a strict student  quality brand more of a mid-range type with the student quality range called Amsterdam. I used them for a time in the distant past before being seduced by the alluring charms of Artist Quality watercolours.

With the steep escalation of prices of artists quality I thought I'd try some of the cheaper ranges starting with Van Gogh. Incidentally Jacksons recently published a 'Materials  Guide'. In the section referring to watercolour I was surprised to see they are now splitting them into three groups. 'Artist Quality' are no longer the top of the range which they now classify as 'Professional'. Interestingly Winsor & Newton now call them 'The Professional Range'. Artist Quality are now somewhere in the middle with 'Student Quality' the bottom range. Is this a ploy to claim they are better than some competitors or just to justify the eye-watering prices.? Cynical me looks at all this with a jaundiced eye. They also claim that 'professional quality' have a much higher concentration of pigment. This is something I once accepted until reading what the Handprint man Bruce McEvoy had to say about it. Bruce said that pigment concentrations varied from paint to paint and I suggest anyone interested find this in the relevant Handprint page and see  for themselves. Although Handprint is no longer updated - sadly - it's still available tp peruse. Now on to van Gogh.







I apologise that these swatches are less than ideal, in particular the top one where the paint appears streaky. I think this is because the paper I used isn't either Waterford or Fabriano and of a lesser quality.

The bottom one is Fabriano which is better and certainly less streaky. Together they will just give you an idea which you may or may not wish to explore further.

My overall impression of the paint when sqeezing it out of the tubes is that it is quite fluid. The two dusk colours are obviously influenced by Daniel Smith introducing several similar ones. The single interference colour 'Gold' seems quite weak on first impressions, although the Dusk colours are fairly strong. They are available in 10ml tubes and half pans. Prices are too good to be true Just over £3 for a 10ml tube. This works out at 30p a ml compared  to roughly 71p for a leading make.

I can't really say a lot more as I haven't attempted a painting with them yet. I probably shall as I have the complimentary colours and a few others. My main criticism of the new range is that many are multi-pigment paints, although there are  sufficient single pigment paints for a moderate sized palette. Yes they aren't up to the quality of the leading makes but are quite adequate for most amateurs who are not affluent possibly a little beyond that.

My current 'best picks', using my criterion of quality and price taken together, are Lukas and Sennelier. This of course applies to the UK and most of Europe only as prices vary considerably across the globe.
Of the two I'd give Sennelier the edge with both 10ml and 21ml tubes, as well as pans, and a larger range. Lukas are limited by having a 24ml tube - although they do pan colours as well - which may be too large for many hobby painters. Sennelier paints are fairly liquid due to the use of honey but not as much as Graham. Lukas are like toothpaste consistency out of the tube but dissolve very easily and well when water is applied. This is the position at the moment but things change. Daler Rowney  were once a 'best buy' but no longer with a substantial price hike. They are in the same group as Lukas so I'm wondering whether Lukas will change at some stage. Difficult isn't it.
NOTE: As Miquel says Talens have also upgraded and re formulated some paints in a major upgrade. There are now 120 colours including some 'specials'. 70 of the normal colours are single pigment paints, a big change for the Rembrandt range. Further details when I obtain them.

Saturday 6 July 2019

My Latest Paintings

Here are some of my latest paintings. One or two others I did have been binned. This is my work warts and all!


Red Squirrel 16" x 12" 'Where's that Nut?"


A Male Capercaillie - iconic Highland bird 16" x 12"



'Big cat" 16" x 12"


Isn't he cute- 16" x 12"




"Nice Horse" 16" x 12"

These were partly painted at home and finished off at my AVA Summer sessions where we do our own thing rather than a programme. I do the drawings in my tiny converted bedroom studio and then start the painting. This is usually the small areas of detail like the eyes. IF (in my opinion) I get them right I then proceed to complete the painting in stages. After completion I usually wait a day or two and look at it again when I often see things that need a little  more work. I try and avoid over finishing though. Charles Reid used to say 'you don't finish a painting you stop when you reach a point when you don't know what more to do". He also said be a little crude and also don't be precious it's only a painting".



This was our recent Avon Valley Artists exhibition as part of Saltford Festival. A decent standard, although the group is smaller than it used to be, with 85 paintings exhibited.




Monday 1 July 2019

Watercolour Paintings 56

Here are this months batch. Once again I've tried to get as good a variety as possible, although my personal preferences - which may shine through - are loose and impressionistic. One problem I have is not always being able to identify the artist. This is frustrating as there are some wonderful ones out there where the name is written in Cyrillic,  or the painting in not identified by artist ! Unfortunately I'm unable to translate Cyrillic and I  am reluctant to include paintings without knowing the artists.The other slight problem is whether all are actually watercolours. I think the odd one may slip in that isn't. If watercolour is involved I do include mixed media. Any corrections welcome.


The late Charles Reid



Gerard Hendriks


Bev Jozwiak


Jean Haines (?) Rather more detailed than most of her work. Is it Her?


Viktoria Prischedko


Sarah Yeoman - Does she not like painting crows!


Janina B


Christian Graniou


Roger Simpson



Rachel (?)



Stan Miller


Alvaro Castagnet


 

Michele Clamp


Catherine Rey - Always clocks!


 

Charles Reid - little different for him


Ann Mortimer


Corneliu Dragan- Targoviste


Ingrid Buchthal


Sue Zimmerman



Ann Blockley


Pol Ledent

That's it folks hope you like them,