Painting Metal in Aquarelle Watercolours

It was 39°C in our area and despite the airco it was too warm for truly creative brain activity. Still, the results of our 'painting metal objects' subject are pretty good and pretty interesting. We were only 5 and that is it for this week as I am off to Amsterdam, no more watercolour sessions. Now sit back and enjoy the quality of the paintings shown below!

 

Corinne-1 looked around in our Hangar and hand-picked an old metallic tin with brushes, as well as a small metal box, for her still life. It has come out so lovely and peaceful. Well done!

Anna found a spoon and a fork and combined them with two geometrical, neon-coloured shapes into a stunning composition! So Cool.

Martin elevated a padlock with key and key ring -also found in the Hangar- to a monumental visualisation of daydreams of tropical islands

 
These amazing drops of Mercury were painted by Corinne-Ii. They are absolutely amazing and have the irregular reflection of the real stuff

 

Corinne-I had time left (what else is new 😁) and painted one of the small copper napkin rings I brought

With such good painters I also had time to do some metal painting. Not perfect, yet lots of reflection here. I like the Hangar doors, reflected in the handle...

Ornaments in Watercolours

The subject of our last session was 'Ornaments'. A lovely subject that involves working monochrome, the importance of light, working precise yet in areas instead of lines and, in some cases, working with extra pigment or textures. Everyone loved messing around with it and the results show that we had a good time, check it out:

 
The most challenging one was painted by Corinne Bu - she chose the two cherubs, somersaulting on a relief. At the end she decorated it with a wide feather brush and somehow that made it so 'mobile'! Well done

On the other end of the spectrum Corinne Br painted three versions of the same classic pillar ornament. In less than 2 hours, and it looks absolutely stunning! Also I could use it as an example for 'monochrome' in the next session. Good stuff!

 
Anna tried a pure ornament on Tuesday, using Payne's Grey and a bit of Ochre, not as a mixture but for separate accents.She worked hard on it, starting with pencil and a rubber, then adding paint as well as loose pigment on the wet surfaces - but was not over the moon with the results. 

 
Charlie used the same ornament-example and by working in her own style, got a different outcome of the same shape. I think it looks admirably antique and classic. 
 

Ingrid painted with Payne's Grey and Ochre, both separately and mixed - and then used Texture Paste for the 'old' look - and it worked so well!! The sharp shadows make it even more interesting.

Brenda used her signature graphic style for this absolutely stunning ornament. Stylised and simplified - very recognisable. And pretty in pink 😍

Anna gave it another try, without pencils or erasers, just out of hand. The picture doesn't do it justice, the original looks better, more symmetrical, loose and strong. And it shows a lot of character!

 

 
I also doodled a bit on an ornament. It is on his head. With a mixture of ochre and Payne's Grey and a lot of water. It was fun.

In the meantime

 

Charlie did the last tiny tweakings to her fabulous echinaceas. To me it looks the same, note  that those last tiny changes are often just for yourself. So go ahead, but know when to stop!

Judith is back and she treated us to the next stages of her 'veils' . Breathtaking as always, loved by all and to me they look defined and finished now. Especially the one above. But she's the artist so things might still change...

Judith

For her expo in Cabris (beginning August) Sandra's search for the perfect siren continues! And at the same time she works on other paintings for that same show, here's one - for the rest, visit the expo when it is on. I will keep you posted of course...

 

 

Mushrooms - a wonderful subject for Watercolours!

The latest Aquarellista sessions we painted all kinds of mushrooms. It was very rewarding to do; from realistic to imaginary! There were also other subjects - and we have a Denise corner today! But first, check out these beautiful impressions of mushrooms...

It took Corinne less than an hour to paint these delicate little guys. She's so clever & fast, we all admire this! And she is getting better every week... After this she painted a little dog with an I-am-so-sorry-face - see below. That was another hour. Amazing.

Glen used one example as inspiration and designed 3! She will give them names and a description and make a whole story of it. So cool! And below a luminous mushroom, a wonderful subject in itself that we will revisit some day. Great effect!

Ingrid painted this amazing landscape with mushroom and added - very appropriate- a gnome. Can you find it? 

This poetic luminous mushroom was painted by Anna. It became luminous when she painted the background. It is the kind of mushroom you want to see in the forest...

In the meantime...

Tony did what he does best, paint the environment. The Hangar can use this drawing as an example! It is so accurate, big compliment!

Here's the doggy that definitely has done something to be ashamed of, Corinne calls his expression 'Penaud' if I remember the word correctly! 

 

Meet Sonya's Magazine clipping, or rather, don't meet it because it has disappeared (ok, the borders stick out but otherwise you wouldn't know where the clipping ends and the painting begins) I am in awe. also about the endless creative imagination that this piece of magazine released. It is awesome Sonya!

Just to prove my point... 

The finished 'La Joconde' (French for Mona Lisa) exquisitely painted by Brenda! A lot of work but the result is absolutely fabulous


Sandra's Siren - almost finished. An experiment with watercolours and texture medium on canvas!


And as promised The Denise Corner: 

Denise has worked very hard at home and finished a lot of work. It is all good and interesting (and recognisable! Do you see why and how?) so I did not make a selection and just put all of it here! 

Lots of blue glass to begin with, and what a good job she did here! The actual box, and a close-up, both in typical Denise colours...

 

She also finished her 'magazine clipping' (so clever!!) as well as the painting that was inspired by a magazine clipping, yet came out as something completely different - and stunning! Interesting, delicate, weird - and completely believable. Love it.

Creating your version of the Mona Lisa in Watercolours

This will be a blog with short comments, I am on the Hangar trip in the Gard, drawing, painting, having great meals with my peeps and do not have much time left t write. 

The past Aquarellista session we did another 'Create Your own Version of a Famous Painting'. Guess which famous painting:

This is a very beautiful, poetic, light version. Martin created it and absolutely wins the prize for best resemblance. Big compliment, very well done! It was a challenge for everyone and most of us will continue next time(s). 

This is Martine's WIP. She really constructed the portrait, and did not even make it to painting it! But she will persevere and plans an impressionist version, as our correspondent from Auvergne!

Corinne painted an almost monochrome version, definitely different though still with a mysterious smile - and a tear... 


Here's another wonderful Mona Lisa seen through the eyes of Brenda. She is looking quite determined. WIP - we are looking forward to seeing the inventive background colours and shapes...


Anna is back! She created this slightly naughty looking version of the Mana Lisa. I love the simplicity, Cool stuff.


I gave it a try too: meet the young Mona Lisa. She has been swimming in the river with her friend and that memory lingers - she definitely does not want to go home. O, and she has elf-ears, nobody knows that, because they are normally hidden under her hair 😊

 

In the meantime

This amazing echinacea painting was created by Charlie, who missed the 'experiments' and wanted to use salt. Below her final result of the magazine-clipping exercise. The clipping all but disappeared!  Well done.

And here is another part of the clipping above. Sonya is creating something fabulous with it as well! It is such a wonderful exercise, that stimulates the creative mind. This WIP will be finished in the coming month, when she paints with us from Grenoble...


Ingrid all but finished her 'Let the mystery be the mystery'. It looks really good and very typical of her style. She will probably make it slightly darker but the mystery is there for sure! 

Glen was on a roll and painted the gorgeous pine cone. She also finished the pods, we were all very enthusiastic about that background! Super.

Awww - a quickie (no, a baby bat) by Corinne, who had (of course) time left after her Mona Lisa

Painting Blue Glass in Aquarelle

The South of France, where we paint and have a good time, is at it's best at the moment. It is warm but not crazy hot yet. And we experimented last week with Arabic Gum and Ox Gall, so we now know that by adding a tiny bit of Gum Arabic to the wet paint in your palette, with a small brush for example,the paint will not dry so fast. And we used that knowledge while painting the subject, Blue Glass. Great stuff.

Corinne did an amazing job on the logo on this glass, she is so talented! Yet I prefer the weird little random lines on the bottom (they are there on the actuals glass). It looks condensed and extra chilly because of the warm background.

 
On different travels, Glen hadn't painted for two months but she hasn't forgotten how it is done! Look at that gorgeous dark blue glass, so well understood and executed. 

 
Above a still life that I set up just in case, from my own well used kitchen glasses and Martin took the challenge. He did them more than justice, and now it's my famous glass! Then there was still time to paint a  delicate bottle - that he liked better (but I don't 😀) 

 
Roxane went graphic vs realistic with this blue glass still life with bright red background. It may be WIP, as we were all interested and gave input and couldn't decide if it would be better if the red would come through the transparent bottle and maybe the green should be done in a similar way. What do you think? To be continued...

Our artist Denise was not delighted with her 3 WIPs but we were! Man, I am seriously enthusiastic now that I see them back. No idea how they will be finished, but no doubt original and interesting! 

Don't stop Denise...

Awesome blue delicate glass in the making, also by Denise

In the meantime...

Laura worked on her magazine-clipping-painting and al-most made the clipping disappear. Original stuff, We look forward to seeing the next stage! She finished her cool Greek tiny Island with house and reflection. I want to live there!

Glen started with these pods and will finish them next session. The background will be dark and flowy, a nice challenge.

After her chilled glass, Corinne still had time to paint a loose version of some pine cones. It is so well done, and the best part is (as always) the light, the unpainted parts.

Celina, at the moment our correspondent in Sweden, painted this fantastic, playful tin of sardines. I love it and may someday steal the idea to see what the French Aquarellistas make of it!

this is a magazine clipping, and a painting, hard to see where one ends and the other begins. Fantastic, clever work by Brenda

Sue had 2 projects going on, the magazine cutting, which looks very good - she will do something with the letters next week! And the romantic English Village House with wisteria, is also ready to be finished next week!