My latest video demonstrating some wonderful brushes I received last week from the talented David Jackson- ‘The Brushman’. David makes custom brushes for many applications and his watercolour brushes are brilliant. David can be contacted at:
Category Archives: watercolour
Figure sketching….
Continuing the watercolour-y trend, this time here’s a figure (referenced from the wonderful characterdesigns.com). Nothing like painting the human figure, I could happily do this for a living.
watercolour landscape
More watercolour sketching from last night- for therapy. Back to work today…
Stones….
Here’s a new painting. I’ve been rather poorly of late and have found focus rather difficult. here’s something I’ve managed to squeeze in. I’m really enjoying the loose and freeing properties of watercolour right now.
Dragons…
I’ve reached a waiting point with a few of the projects I’ve been working on lately so I’ve decided to get back into this idea I had on the go a couple of years ago, I obviously can’t talk too much about it yet but here’s one of the sketches and a quick watercolour for the interior art. I haven’t nailed down a final look for the dragon yet…
Pencils To Inks… To Colour.
I haven’t drawn or painted anything this past week as I’ve had (what feels like) the most stressful seven days on record. To say it’s been tough would be a very large understatement. I broke the cycle with this little watercolour sketch, here’re the three steps…
Cormorant…
Another telly doodle, I’m having fun with these animal characters lately… An idea for a book is forming. I’ll just keep sketching and see what happens. (watercolour).
More Waterfalls….
I’ve been painting and drawing waterfalls for the past week or so, here’s one I sketched in front of the TV last night (acrylic).
I’m Selling Stuff….
here’s a link to a new blog, I have a fair few sketches, paintings and pieces of line art on offer, feel free to pop over to:
How much fun would THAT be?….
Recent stuff….
Cassius Croc…
Cassius Croc was a lazy, indulgent wastrel who always ate far too much for his own good and (to his poor long-suffering wife’s dismay) constantly forgot to replenish his supply of Enos…
Lucy and Tumnus…
Recently completed this one… Still playing with the watercolours and getting a little more confidence together slowly…
Hubble…Bubble….
I repainted this witchy image yesterday as part of my watercolour practice. (see yesterdays post for the older version…) I liked the painting but wasn’t completely happy with it, then I popped it into photoshop, added a flat blue wash, picked out the highlights and now I’m far more satisfied. Cheat? me?
Furry friends….
A recent watercolour exercise…I’m working on some new stuff for my portfolio right now and this is one of the doodles I produced whilst attempting to get my watercolour skills back up to scratch…
And here’s a quickie from a while back….
More Mer-maidens
A recent sketch with some colour added… Just some more traditional exercises, I’m not tackling anything too elaborate as I’m getting re-aqcuainted with traditional mediums…. I’ve used acrylics here, I don’t play with acrylics very often as the colours seem to get duller as the paint dries and it frustrates me enormously. I thought however, that those particular qualities would work well with this particular scene as I was after a more muted look than normal, allowing for the blue and white of the falls to illuminate the piece.
Bunnies….
Not much to report right now, a couple of projects on the go…keeping busy as always. Here’s a quick Peter Rabbit watercolour doodle I scratched away at before starting work yesterday.
And here’s the initial pencil sketch before I added the inks and colour….
NEW WEBSITE AT LAST!!!
So, at last I have a new website. I’ve spent the last few days on this and not much else, I’ve been wanting something a little more managable for quite a while and took time out of what I was doing to (finally) make sure I represented myself and my art properly. Here’s the link:
Feel free to let me know what you think….
Reflections in Watercolour…
I’ve been pretty hard at it lately with illustration commissions, haven’t had a whole lot of time to just sit and while away the hours doing my own thing, I managed to find a couple of hours of peace and quiet last night and splashed a little watercolour over this small sketch I drew recently.
Stepping Out….
I’ve been feeling the urge to get out the watercolours for the past few weeks, unfortunatley, due to the commisions I have on the go, this hasn’t been possible. As it was Sunday yesterday, I thought I’d do a little something for myself…. Here’s the finished image…
… And here’s the line art before I added the paint…
Long Dress…
Recent watercolour painting. I haven’t finished this as I’ve reached a bit of a ‘stand-off’ with it. I’ve been playing a little in photoshop to see if I can rectify some of the lighting issues etc… This is what I have so far….
model:
Meet and Greet….
I did a demo, meet and greet at the local bookshop yesterday. It was wonderful to see people who had an interest in my art. Signing prints and greetings cards and copies of my art book is a cool part part of doing what I do.
This is what I managed to produce in that time, I’ll finish this off when I’m less busy and will post it when it’s done… (medium- acrylic)
model:
http://sitara-leotastock.deviantart.com
Here’s the cover to the book I was promoting, available from Amazon.com:
link to model on front cover:
More Tree Maidens….
Last nights drawing. This one was crying out to be drawn, perhaps reflecting the way I’m feeling right now?
The Storyteller
Added some paint last night to this old fellow drawn a week or so ago (see earlier posts)…
Red…In Sepia.
I’ve decided to give sepia watercolour a try instead of using indian ink. I’ve been feeling for some time that my inked lines are a bit static and I feel this is largely due to the fact that I use drawing pens. I love using a brush and the variety of line and control it gives me made me think ‘Why not use it instead of inking the way you have Aaron?” obvious right?…nope. Took me ages to get to this point. I’m a wee bit on the slow side, the penny drops in slow-mo for my Taurean brain (insert laughs). Anyway… here’s my first attempt. I sat down in front of the TV til’ the early AM playing and I rather like the results so I’ll take this further, maybe attempt to create more elaborate, more intricate lines.
Neptune’s Daughter….
New commissioned watercolour. This one’s a repainting of an older version.
model:
More watercolour landscapes
Another doodle from last night, just splashing the paint around….
watercolours and Naughty Elves….
The weather was terrible here yesterday, searing heat, harsh thunderstorms… I couldn’t focus on work too well so I doodled instead, here’s what I came up with. (Still on my quest to master watercolours- a tricky medium…)
More telly Doodlings….
I love drawing these old witchy-types…. CACKLE!
Old Tree Bloke Watercolour…
I’ve just added some watercolour to this sketch, as I mentioned in a previous post, I’ll be playing with watercolour for a while, expect to see more of this kind of thing….
Protector…sketch
…Been playing with this sketch for a night or two. With my colour work, I’ve been almost exclusively digital for a few years now but it’s my intention to get my traditional media chops up and move as much back into using ‘real’ paint for projects as I can, I enjoy using watercolours immensely but don’t have the necessary skills to knock the digital colouring on the head so I’ll be doing more and more of these doodles and we’ll see how I go….
the model is the lovely:
Small Colour Studies….
A few small colour doodlings from the weekend (size- roughly 7×5″).
On the go…
I started this one a while ago, I do a little to it every now and again, here’s where it stands right now, still a fair bit to do……
Cauldren… coloured sketch
I posted the line art for this before Christmas (see below somewhere…). a few days later I got out the watercolours and splashed some pigments around:
Finished….
This watercolour has taken a wee while but I got there at last. I’ve been tinkering about with it for over half a year in the evenings in front of the telly. I find watercolour so very relaxing, I’ll definately be doing more…
Leaves In Watercolour…. (still at it)….
I’ve been working on this watercolour for maybe 7-8 months on and off, a little here and a little there around commissioned work, The hard work is starting to pay off and I can (at last) see results, only another 6 months or so to go (hehe).
leaves and polar bears…
I’ve been working on this painting on and off for a fair while now (see earlier posts), I can only sit and look at it in short busts, progress IS being made, albeit very slow progress…
below is a quick watercolour sketch I did for a book proposal, this one was rejected, but I still rather like it…
Peter Rabbit….
Used my sketching time today to doodle up Mr. Rabbit…. I’m going through a love affair with Beatrix Potter’s work again….
here’s the line art before I added the watercolour….
Hand painted print…
I’ve been toying with the idea of adding splashes of watercolour to prints of my line art… here’s what I came up with, I’m very happy with the result and I can see myself doing more of these….
Recent watercolour doodles…
I’ve been playing with my watercolours in front of the telly and warming up before I start working on commissioned stuff lately, here’re a few of them(click for larger view)…
More W/C Sketchings….
Regulars of my blog here’ll know I’ve been in la-la land playing with my watercolours lately. I simply adore them. Here’s a painting from a few weeks ago. I’ve been told it looks like Scotland, in truth, it’s a mindscape, I daresay Scotland influenced it somewhat though….. I love the Scottish Landscape. The finished size for this one is approx 4 x 4″
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Daily Sketches….
I haven’t sketched to loosen myself up before I begin work for a little while so I’m going to get back into it again, here’s today’s little offering, a small 6×4 watercolour wash laid over an older piece of line art…
Painting Unicorns in watercolour video (part three)
Here’s part three of the Painting Unicorns video:
Painting a Unicorn in Watercolour Videos up on Youtube…..
Another interior illustration….
This is one of the interior illustrations for a little book I’ve written and have on the go in between other jobs. Merging both watercolour and digital mediums here, see earlier posts for more art from this story….
My first ACEO….
I’ve seen these things everywhere and thought I’d have a little go. I think I’ll do more, very enjoyable to get the watercolours out and have a play. The finished size for an ACEO card is 3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″. A little smaller than I’m used to but at least I had a good light to work with.
Also, here’s a painting I finished recently (medium- watercolour). The WIP was recorded in stages and uploaded to youtube, here’s the link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/thatspaceinbetween
The videos can also be seen here a few posts ago….
Painting Koalas in watercolour part three
Koalas in watercolour video part two
new video…. Koalas in watercolour (part one)
Mountains In Watercolour
Sketched this one quickly in front of the telly tonight.
Watercolour Demo- Elf and Mushrooms
Watercolours….
I adore watercolour, but for the past 4 years or so, I’ve been so busy working on my illustrations digitally that I haven’t really had much to do with them. Not a day went by when I didn’t see them sitting on my shelf, staring down at me. I’ve been having a play with them for the past week and have come to realise that I simply have to do more, maybe even get into them full-time? who knows….. here’s a little painting I did for the sake of it last night, I’ll shortly be painting up ten or more new illustration samples for my portfolio, I will of course, post them here.
Here’s the line art before painting:
Step-by-step ‘Wizard’.
I’m enjoying documenting my working process lately, it somehow helps me to cement the way I work and makes the creation of each image easier and easier. This one was a quickie I worked on over the weekend, I’ve been wanting to get back into using traditional media as much as possible so I took out the watercolours and painted away…..
Materials used: Arches 300gsm hot press watercolour paper, art spectrum, Daler Rowney, Winsor & Newton and Schminke artists quality watercolours, Art Spectrum white gouache for highlights and my wife’s hairdryer to dry between coats (speeds up the whole process)
Here’s my studio space setup for this painting:
step one
this is the sketch I’ve decided upon. it’s not drawn too tightly but there’s enough info to carry an ink line over the top, (I like to draw with the ink pens a little for a slightly ‘looser’, more spontaneous look.
step two
inking over the lines with generic drawing pens (using a .1 and a .3mm tip) paying particular attention to the main elements of the drawing, remembering at all times we’re painting over the top, so not becoming too bogged down with unnecessary cross-hatching etc. this is a very important step in the process.
step three
Using artists quality watercolours (I’ve chosen tubes rather than pans for this) we begin to lay down flat colours and a little texture for the cave wall. (the texture effect is achieved by dropping clean water into the wet paint, the water causes the paint to disperse).
step four
Moving throughout the whole image, never settling on any one particular area, we’re playing with the ‘form’ of each element within the image. We also lay in some colour inside the cave to give the illustration of depth.
step five
Still working on strengthening form, laying in colour washes and generally keeping a balance of warm and cool colours for harmony.
step six
Here we get down to makindarkening and strengthening the illustration. this is achieved by building up wash after wash of colour washes, all the while building them up and paying particular attention to tonal balance. We’d like our figure to stand out but not dominate the illustration.
step seven
This is my favourite part- getting into the details. More work is done tonally to achieve the look of the cracks and craters in the cave wall, a wash is laid over the entire wall to bring everything into balance, this in turn enables the eye to settle upon the main element of the painting- our wizard. For the details, I’ve mixed a little local colour with white gouache to add touches to the rocks and ground floor and pure white gouache was used on areas such as the hair on the wizard’s face and the trim of his cloak.
Elven lady watercolour sketch….
Quick watercolour sketch to warm-up with yesterday based on the great stock photos of the lovely:
http://faestock.deviantart.com
Website’s Shop now up and running…..
I’ve been working hard on the website lately, giving it a general tidy and I’ve now added a shop section to it where prints of my art, and originals can now be purchased. Here’s the link:
Winter Queen….
A preliminary watercolour for a piece I’m working on right now…..
Owl….
I LOVE painting birds, and I think the owl is just about my favourite of them all. Here’s one I sketched up last night in watercolour, finished off digitally…..
Finn- watercolour WIP….
I’m currently painting a watercolour of my son (at my wife’s constant request)…I’m rather pleased with how it’s going so far and enjoying it immensely- there’s something VERY satisfying about painting in watercolours.
Elf- Coloured…
Just laid some colour down over this drawing from the other night….
and here’s some cover art I painted for a Young Adult book recently entitled ‘Ele mental’ written by Steven O’Connor, for Murdoch Books first YA title.
and here’s an older watercolour sketch…..
Castle In The Mist-watercolour sketch
Another lunchtime watercolour sketch (size: 5×5″) I rather enjoy these little sketches. Improving my watercolour techniques as I work on them-no pressure stuff.
Lunchtime Watercolour Sketching….
This little pic (5 1/2 x 5 1/2″) took me 15 mins this lunchtime. I gave it away to the first person to comment on it (over on my facebook page). I might just do more of these, I don’t get to paint in watercolour anywhere near enough.
Update….
I’ve been tinkering with this painting in my spare time. there’s something very relaxing and satisfying about adding a bit here and a bit there. No pressure stuff. It’s also quite lovely to see it turning into a painting after having stared at lots of incoherent scribble for so long whilst working on it. (watercolour, (and for the w/c purists- not a splot of gouache in sight.))
Leaves WIP……….
Here’s a painting I have on the go and work on in my spare time. I used my warmup time this morning before starting my commissioned work to scribble away and pick out some more details with the watercolours. A great way to start the day- highly recommended.
Watercolour WIP….
I scratched away last night at the drawing I’d done the day before. I had a very relaxing time just making sense of the pencil lines I’d put down.
I must be mad…..
I’ve had the notion lately that I’m not stretching myself artistically, having fallen into some kind of ‘creative comfort zone’. I decided last night, to rectify that. Below is the underdrawing for my latest night-time watercolour endevour. It looks like a complete mess of interlocking pencil scribbles, but trust me, I do have half a plan….. mad? You don’t know the half of it.
The Old Sailor…
I’m on a shameless watercolour kick right now (when time allows)… and I’m very keen to improve. It’s great to look over old work and see that there was maybe something there to build upon. As I mentioned in my last post, watercolour is the most difficult (for me), yet most satisfying medium to work with, it’s totally unpredictable and a constant challenge, and to try and tame it seems to be a worthwhile pursuit, so I’ll keep plugging away at it. the pic below was painted quite a few years ago… I’ll add my newest efforts here as and when I get the chance to paint them.
Watercolour
As an illustrator, I colour my art mostly via the PC, mostly due to the fact that it’s a much quicker medium and I have so much more control over the finished look of the art (most illustrators will agree that it’s a nightmare when a book comes back and the colours have been mercilessly altered). That said, I have another side to my character…fine art. I’m an avid student, wishing to learn as much as I can about the subtle nuances of any medium I happen to be interested in… (which is most mediums. I paint in oils, acrylics, gouache, watercolour… pen and ink, graphite (etcetc)). Watercolour, for me, holds such a mystique about it, and, if I were to be totally honest, it’s just about the only medium where I’m 100% happy on the ‘ journey’ to a finished piece of art. I bought a new travel set of Pebeo (French manufacturer) watercolours last week and received them yesterday, this is the little sketch I did last night- taking approx 2 hours.
Window…. (Old Watercolour).
Haven’t had much time to sketch and I’m not allowed to post anything I’m working on right now, sooo….here’s a very old watercolour painting of my wife.
TV sketching……..
Nothing worth watching on TV tonight so I got out my watercolours and had a play.
Colouring The Cover…WIP
I’ve been scribbling away at coloring the line art for the cover of the Children’s picture book I’m currently working on. I’m enjoying it immensely. After a rather time-consuming false start, this one actually seems to be flowing rather well.
new sketchings….
I’ve been having a bit of a play in photoshop lately with new brushes. Fortunately, I have a whole heap of line art just waiting to be coloured. this tree has been asking for a splash of colour for a while.
I painted this speedy little watercolour last week. (just because).
