What's better than a pimms on a hot summer day? A pimms served from a converted mini van.
Initial wash of watercolour.
The original pen sketch.
Tuesday 30 July 2013
Posted with Blogsy
Saturday 27 July 2013
Parrots and bouncy castles at Woodcote Steam Rally
The parrot man is the UK's only travelling parrot show. I forgot to make a note of his website but he was very entertaining, especially when his untrained parrot bit him. On a more serious note the parrot man owns a parrot sanctuary where he re-homes birds. He goes round schools and entertains the children.
So with an airshow, classic cars, traction engines and the parrot man, what did Samuel like the most at Woodcote steam rally? The bouncy castle.
There were 2 bouncy castles and for a few quid you got 15 minutes but a notice quite clearly said that everyone must pay with no exceptions. I over heard one parent say, 'I'm not paying 3 quid to get my son off of that and the bloke knows it, he's on to a good thing.'
Samel enjoyed the bouncy castles and it did prove difficult to get his attention to get him off. And no I didn't pay. I waited patiently for half an hour. The I bribed him with an ice cream.
Friday 26 July 2013
Woodcote steam rally
Years ago I used to visit the woodcote steam rally as an exhibitor with a traction engine that my dad built. In recent years I have become a regular paying visitor. There are 2 types of weather at woodcote, hot and wet. This year I was lucky that the weather was hot. Too hot.
At the same time as the steam rally there is usually an airshow that is kind enough to do a fly past over the woodcote rally. This year was the turn of spitfires and a Lancaster bomber. Samuel was a bit concerned that the planes would be too noisey and actually hid under a table at lunch to avoid the noise.
More interesting, from my point of view, than the planes was the expressions on people's faces and the way people were using their phone cameras to take pictures. It would seem gone are the days when people shield their eyes from the sun to watch the action, it's now who can take a picture and put it on Facebook first!
Little and large
Sketched from a photo this is the first stage of a painting I may attempt in the future. I find it is always worthwhile making quick sketches (this one took 10minutes) so that when I'm in the mood to paint a watercolour I have something to paint. Too many times in the past I have been in the mood to paint but I have wasted time looking for inspiration.
The original photo was taken on Ryde beach on the isle of wight and when I use photos I generally only use pictures I have taken of places I have been. That way I can try and capture something of the mood when the picture was taken.
Wednesday 24 July 2013
Friday 12 July 2013
Buckets of water
Using my three experimental colours (quinacridone red and gold plus Windsor violet), I aimed to find the lights and darks in my sketch of Samuel on the beach at Ryde. The nice thing about these colours is, they are all transparent and rarely, for me, produce muddy colours. I used a layering technique to get the darks and the final colour I layered in was q.gold to add brightness around the image - particularly on the back of Sams jacket to enrich the orange.
Thursday 11 July 2013
Worlds littlest strongman
We took Samuel for a walk through the local woods. Like most little boys he likes to pick up sticks and crash through the bracken. While we were resting on a seat admiring the view Samuel found himself the biggest log and started to lift it over his head. Rather than take the stick home we confined him to hid it so that we could use it next time we went to the woods. Perhaps it's still there!
Beach huts at Appley Park, Ryde
Sometimes when I need creative inspiration I buy new art materials. This sketch of Appley Park in Ryde uses quinacridone red and gold plus Windsor violet. The colours mix in interesting and unexpected ways producing an unrealistic but bright result. The lights and darks will help me to produce a finished watercolour.
Wednesday 10 July 2013
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