Purple and violet in Watercolours

Yup, clearly holiday time - our groups get smaller every week. This means that we have better focus and great discussions about our art, so not all bad! This is a short blog with not much work as the Thursday group didn't happen at all, but the quality is high as ever! We 'll have one more session next week and then -  it is August and the Aquarellistas are closed...

The theme of last week was 'purple'. Subject was free, everyone could paint what they wanted as long as it was purple. And here are the results:
 

Thecla painted this purple abstract fantasy. I absolutely love it, it is so deep and moving! Note that it is pretty big in real life. The irregular borders were a happy accident from re-used masking tape...


 

Bevfinished her tremendous turtle from last week and couldn't help herself, she had to paint something purple too and it came out in this lovely flower that seems to jump off the paper!

Judith used a bit of purple too  - but that was not the main drive of this painting. Judith lets her brush be led by lovely movements that feel comfortable and the result is not everyone's taste yet very interesting.

Judith II - is she the same person? We had a good laugh about how it is possible to be able to create perfect cat portraits and at the same time have the talent to stop thinking and let your hand do the work, in a spontaneous way. Like below... We find it very inspiring and are super interested in the next stage - to be continued in the next season!

Judith III

Bev finished her turtle. It is such a good painting, so very deep-sea! I absolutely love it, well done!

Tony always creates little stories and this is one about wild flowers from the garden in an old bottle surrounded by 2 mustards from Dijon, some sweets from there as well, a necklace from Frankfurt that he gave his wife, a necklace with stones and his dog's toy. He wanted to add much more but we forbid that 😀We thought it was exactly right like this...


And last but not least, Laura's poster of Opio, almost finished. It is gorgeous, and I am really entitled to say that because this is the view from my atelier! Super painting and it will have words on it too - to be added later...

 

Under Water - in watercolours!

It is summer season, more and more Aquarellistas are on holiday or otherwise occupied. For instance, Yours truly was in Amsterdam last week, so no Thursday group in Atelier M - but luckily there were a couple of die-hards in the Hangar who worked very very well on the subject 'Under Water'

Anne painted this amazing under-water landscape. Such a brilliant painting, Everybody loved it.

WIP from Bev, gorgeous turtle, especially if you know that she painted it in one hour as she had to leave early. Details next week!

Gorgeous turtle by Charlie. It has so much character, it is struggling to get to the next stage. Or so. Anyway, well done!

And from Bretagne came this other version of the turtle, monochrome in a beautiful green turqoise , an amazing interpretation by Michele. So wonderful that she shows her true interest and appreciation, by painting - and still growing in her skill!


Small group, so yours truly had time for a wet-in-wet experiment. This is copied from a photo and here's how I did it:

I started with painting the paper blue. In our weather it dries in 2 minutes. Then i added the tiny air bubbles in masking fluid. After that dried I added water where the colour stayed light or red or yellow and then added plenty of pretty dark blue. Then while it was still wet I added the red and the yellow in his little face and then had to re-wet it to add the hair. Then some details with wet paint on the dry surface and a pizce of kitchen paper to make everything a bit 'unsharp'. When I removed the masking, the air bubbles seemed so white (although they were blue) so I added a bit of blue to them... It didn't take much time from start to finish and I love the result...


Charlie tweaked her Maria Magdalena a bit more and she will finish it next week with a surprising twist. Maybe. 😀

Laura missed out on the posters subject so she started that today and this is WIP but already so spot on! It is her village Opio, with the church and the Town hall and it will have text and - o well you'll see next week! 

 

Glass Hearts in Watercolours

The subject of our latest session was 'Glass Hearts'. It is a book, it is jewellery, it is decoration - and now it is art as well! See below for the results of the Amazing Aquarellista-efforts!

We open with Corinne's fabulous purple heart. It is so delicate!

This is a very modern glass heart, daringly painted by Anne

Michèle sends her love to us from Bretagne, with all of her blue heart...

Avril is a bit rusty but during the session, she got back into it! I love seeing her black and white hearts, they are so glassy. The WIP below will be finished next week!

Janine surprised everyone with her Murano glass hearts! They are very different yet both typical. The red one above is WIP but already breathtaking. 

The one below is finished and looks so great, with that subtle shadow. Well done!

Brenda created two similar but not identical heart-watercolours for her two granddaughters. 

They will be so happy with them!

There was a bit of time left so that I could also paint a glass heart watercolour.
Marina



And then there was an explosion of Judith-discoveries and experiments.
Interesting to see how it develops and also how the 'movement' gets stronger...

 

French Riviera Posters, Peppers and Abstracts. And a wave. In Watercolours

The summer is here and although the weather is still pretty cool, the time in the South of France is used in a different way, even with the Aquarellistas! They are travelling, have houses full of visitors, and lots of fun summer-stuff. We paint together in much smaller groups. That said, I am not complaining because we have a great time and the results are stunning and special! Have a look for yourself:

Anne finished her lovely and very French Riviera Poster (below) and then went on to paint the breathtaking picture above. We were all in awe, so very well painted, subtle and at the same time incredibly powerful. And the opposite of the calm and quiet sea in her poster...

Michele, our correspondent in Bretagne painted this beautiful little bay with anchoring boats. This is the still authentic Mediterranean Port du Crouton...
Michele

Brenda also chose anchoring boats, and did a great job on the painting as a whole, I very much like the subtle green, that give the picture such a peaceful character

Ingrid tackled two posters and both worked out great - it is really very much how she works, simplified and with clear lines, very suitable for posters!

Not many present so I could try one too. Fun to do! I created a very very simple one from scratch. Could use a striped towel and some shadows, but it was fun!

Bev painted a poster allright, inspired by a poster that was actually put up in the Hangar. I love the expression of the Chameleon... She created this after she had painted the shiny chilli's. She's so fast! 

Martine has a commission to create small paintings for a kitchen. Here's the first - that will be a success I am sure, those peppers are gorgeous!

Thecla's pepper plant is fabulous as well, the dark background gives it something extra.
But her main achievement of the afternoon was the abstract, based on braincells and their communication. I absolutely love it!

Judith is also back to experimenting and discovering new shapes and colour combinations. It may not be everybody's cup of tea, but you have to admire her adventurous splashing. The latest research is about the white stripes, what do they do to the overall composition, what do they show, what do they hide.

So Interesting! I wonder what you think when you see this.

 

Posters for the Cote d'Azur - French Riviera, painted in Watercolours

The subject of last week, to create a poster for the French Riviera, was a challenging one! Almost none of the Aquarellistas in the South of France got the whole thing done and we decided to spend the next session to finish the job. So note that the affiches below are mostly works in progress (WIP) .

But first 2 exceptions - our correspondent in Bretagne worked a bit longer on it and created this beauty! Well done Michèle!

For the coming weeks Tony is our correspondent in Frankfurt and he too finished this amazing and complete poster, with all the ways to get to the Côte d'Azur. He has not forgotten anything if you ask me. Except maybe a spaceship 😃. Very original!

Ingrid is working on her version of an existing poster by Roger Broder for PJM (the most popular choice) and it is exciting to see all those different takes. Can't wait to see them finished.

Another interpretation, by Sue. Great to see her colours, the greens and blues are different mixes of turquoise and ochre...

Brenda picked another example, very representative for our area, with anchoring boats on the med, eucalyptus trees and a nice villa...

Anne used the same inspiration and her version is looking gorgeous as well - and very different, but we can't say anything yet as none are finished! Exciting...

Martine's WIP is amazing already! She joked that at this point there are ghosts in the foreground but that will change in the next round. Can't wait to see it finished...

And the last of the posters is painted by one of our correspondents from the UK, Barbara. It is finished and it has writing on it - it must have been a lot of work! Well done Bar, love it!

And in the meantime...

Charlie started & finished her peppers and mennnn do they look sharp & fabulous!! 

Janine also gave the peppers a try - hers are more soft and I really love the soft and warm atmosphere she has achieved using ochre. She also very loosely painted an avocado and two onions in 2 minutes. Good stuff!

And we finish with Sue's simple and loose bouquet. It looks lovely, could be a wonderful postcard...