Cactus Flowers and their spines, in Aquarelle

For our latest sessions I brought wonderful examples of Cactus flowers. They are so well-defined, colourful and often contrasting with the sharp spines of the plants they are growing on. Most of the aquarellistas found it interesting to try them out and some of them just couldn't get enough! And of course there were other interesting projects going on! Have a look below and enjoy the colours and shapes...
 

Martine started an ambitious one with the best red colours and lots of spines! She solved that problem with a mix of masking fluid and water to get the really thin lines...

Also thin masking fluid for Denise, who couldn't get enough of the subject and she did a truly masterful job on not two but three versions!

This is my favourite. It reminds me of Denise, swirling and colourful!

Sylvia was not keen on her cactus flower painting, but adding the background with dark purple, Payne's grey & lots of salt and then removing the tape to have a neat white border, the rest of the group absolutely loved it

 

Anna Karin chose a non-cactus flower and really spent time to find the perfect red for her poppy! This is a work in progress yet it already looks stunning.



Ingrid finished the excellent watercolour landscape below,and then started a fabulous blue flower and finished that too! She even sketched a third one - but you will have to wait for that until next week...



 Laura was also productive, she finished her cupcakes, they look so good now! And then re-started the Pike painting, good that she did that because this time it worked out perfectly. It is a truly wonderful watercolour!

Here is Sandra's experiment with watercolours on an 'all paints' canvas that did not accept watercolour paint (grrr). So she then added a layer of transparent gesso, that instantly began to mix with the watercolours (grrr).

Yet in the end it all worked out and this WIP of a Siren will no doubt become another fab work of art.

Brenda has not been painting for almost half a year but it looks like the 'Why do you think I ate the chocolate' - painting of her nephew will be great and very funny! Watch this space for the next stages...

And last but not least, two paintings by Judith. She hasn't been for quite a while for good (sportive) reasons but is truly missed by me and others and I hope she will return later in the year, As you can see, even after a long absence her ability to express things like the eternal flow of love (that's what I see) or the interaction between the earth and the sun, is still there! Such a pleasure for all of us to see this happen...

 

Crumpled paper - a cool subject for watercolours

We had a good time painting last week's subject: crumpled paper. It is a delightful combination between very precise painting and objective abstract observing! And as an extra element Dark, Light and Shadows.
Shape not too important as no one knows exactly what a crumpled paper looks like. Below 4 very different styles, in no particular order and I am sure you believe them all!

First of all Roxane's: It was quickly painted 'live' from a real crumpled piece of paper. And because it is quite abstract, there is so much more to see! I love it.


Amazing work by Charlie. What a beautiful, peaceful  painting. This was quite small, but I can imagine that it could also work on a much larger scale. O, and I see a smiley face in it...

Corinne painted this one, a bit less crumpled but so perfect in colour and light/dark balance! The lines make it extra believable. Super well done.

And Martin's painting, without any pencil drawing!  It looks like a hydrangea (his words), 

Complicated, thorough work, spot on for the colour. (And I see a face again).


WIP by Laura, she did such a good job on these cup cakes. They look sweet and will no doubt be very popular once they adorn the spare bedroom 😄

Roxane also finished her Teddy bear-painting-present. It is a combination of memories of the landscape and the favourite toys of her friend. She will no doubt make that friend happy with such a thoughtful gift

And last but not least, in our Expo Corner:

Painting Candy and Pikes with Watercolours & EXPO pics

Because of the Easter Holidays (internationally) we were with a small group last week - but that didn't matter, the weather was great and the conversation of high quality. Not to mention the watercolours!

Corinne painted healthy lemon-candy in less than an hour, and then did a playful and kind of friendly Pike-watercolour in the rest of the time... Excellent work!




Anna Karin finished the Pike eye. It is so well done and has the character of a fish. Fabulous!

I also gave it a try and loved the process. 

 Pikes are not the friendliest fish but so interesting to paint with their colours and patterns...

 

How lucky am I to need a page filler when I have just had an exhibition! In the neighbouring Village of Valbonne, in the fantastic Salle St Esprit, with 2 colleagues of mine, Sally Ducrow and Cathy Cuby, landartists, we showed work to over 850 visitors! We sold, and made new friends and got enoygh admiration to last until the next expo. 😄Of course we hardly had time to take pictures, but here are some that give an impression...

Koi Carp - and the Pike

During the finissage we had a 'spectacle' of butterflies and wonderful music

And during lunch break I managed to draw one view. Luckily we'll go on the Drawing trip soon, we'll draw loads of them - and landscapes!

And that was all folks... More about your work next week when everyone is back!

Beautiful Patterns: PIkes in watercolours

Pikes, a beautiful subject that you will see more of in the coming weeks: many Aquarellistas are on holiday or otherwise occupied during the Easter period, yet have already let me know that they want to paint one when they are back... 

Anna showed her talent with this wonderful Pike Painting! I love it. It is a combination of the beautiful and graphic pattern of the fish and the random effect of the salt in the blue pigment. Well done!


The eye of the Pike - WIP by Anna Karin. It will still change big time, you may see the masking fluid, and there will be volume and blue - but still, impressive. In the lower right corner there's  salt. Different pigment, different effect...

WIP on the pike by Laura. She will definitely continue with it because she wants to experiment with the patterns and maybe also a bit of salt. Looking forward to seeing the next stages!


This Amazing City View was painted by Corinne II. It is the 'Layers' exercise, but she took it to a whole new level! Fantastic, I am very proud of her. And so is she 😉 (good candidate for our Hidden Villages expo next year!)


WIP by Roxane, she is creating a very thoughtful personalized watercolour for a friend. I keep it vague just in case the friend sees the blog too...

Two fabulous paintings by Laura. She finished the cute Teddy bear, with a great background; And then finished her stll life with the help of a picture she cleverly took! I think the light and shadows are very well done!



Sandra has finished her second Village. It is mysterious and misty. She also worked on the tulip-y flower below, as many of her paintings it has an interesting, poetic darkness. And is that a big spider or stamens...

Ingrid is back from a long absence, and she finished her hidden village. Super well done and lovely looking!

And lastly, a WIP by Anna. Looking great already. She will finish it when she is back!  

A 'white' Still Life in watercolours

 The Second Still life Session this spring was a challenge again, but met with bravery and perseverance by the participants. Everyone was squinting to better see the light and shadows and looking with one eye closed for the proportions. Lots of deep sighing and soft grumbling, but in the end it worked out as you can see below. I am very proud of my group, they did all this in 2 hours! We're going to repeat it for sure

Denise created a fabulous still life, really, so well done, with Payne's Grey and lemon Yellow only. And a happy accident (my fault). Can you find it?
She had time left to do a lovely flower composition in more or less primary colours.

Completely different take on the subject by Martin. I love the delicacy. Not finished obviously, but gives a very good impression of what was there. 

This is Charlie's impression, again completely different in style and atmosphere, much warmer and  loosely painted. 

Laura had even less time as she had to go early - she cleverly took a photograph and will finish it later. It looks good already!

Corinne II was participating for the second time and did the 'Volume' exercise. Plenty of volume there, and I can't help seeing a lovely little air plane... What do you see?

Fruit Peels, a wonderful subject for watercolours

In our latest watercolour session we painted 'Fruit Peels'. It was great fun to do, and the results were so good! See for yourselves:

Charlie's mandarine with peel... It is so juicy and fruity! I especially like how she painted the peeled fruit, leaving out the base colour (not white, a first layer of very diluted ochre). Clever - and wonderful effect.

This near-perfect apple-peel was painted by Martin. So well and patiently done, with a sparkle of light and very true colours. And if you look carefully you can see that the apple is in there too. Super.

Denise's WIP of limes and peels. She will still work on it - but for now, I am loving the whites both on the peels and the limes. Looking forward to seeing the next stage.

As we were not with many, I had time to paint a simple peel. Such fun! If you look close you can see that I mainly 'dotted' the colours, for the orange-y effect...

Now finished: Anna's Kiwi. She worked really serious on it and perfectly matched the colours. It looks so gorgeous and sweet, and there was a 'happy accident' with the shadow underneath that is now a delicate lace tablecloth...


Laura came in late and still got this far with the cutest teddy bear ever! What a lovely little bloke he is, WIP of course but can't miss, this is going to be another jewel for the kid's bedrooms...

This wild, wet, marvelous fountain sculpture of Helena of Troy (I think) was painted by Sonya. WIP, the masking fluid will come off and change the image and there will be other tweaks, yet the basis is excellent!