'Painting Animals in Watercolour'

I was at Margam Discovery Centre, Port Talbot, last weekend, for a 'Painting Animals in Watercolour' course for the FSC. I concentrated on drawing first as, with subjects as complicated as animals, getting proportions right is so important.
We then went on build up the paintings in about three washes, using just 5 colours (just sepia for the Tiger). These are some of my demonstration paintings from the course.

Demonstration, West Dartmoor Art Group

Yesterday, I did a demonstration for West Dartmoor Art Group, at Peter Tavy. 'Seascape in Watercolour' was the subject, so I did this rocky coastal scene of Lundy Island.
Thank you to Dick Brown, who recorded my progress in these photos.

Limited Palette Demonstration

I was at Derriford Art Club, Plymouth, yesterday for a demo/workshop. Here's my demonstration painting of the ruins at Margam Abbey, Port Talbot. Painted on a half imperial sheet of 200lb Saunders Waterford (NOT surface), which was stretched on a board.
My aim was to show what a range of mixes you can get using a limited palette. I used 5 for this one: Cobalt blue, Alizarin crimson, Raw sienna, Burnt sienna & Aureolin.

A few demonstration paintings...

My most recent painting holiday was at Art Holidays in Dorset. We were fortunate enough to have some good weather, which meant my group of ten experienced some outdoor painting at several locations.
In the evening though, I did some watercolour demonstrations in the studio. The painting above is a view by the lake at St Fagan's, near Cardiff.

Above: Ruins at Margam Park, S.Wales

Above: Bigbury Bay, Devon
In this painting I used a very rough watercolour paper (Jackson's Eco). The paper is handmade and has a very different feel and look to the Bockingford paper I used for the other two. Colours appear to be more intense, even though I used the same limited palette of 5 colours* for all three. I like to try different papers from time to time, and some papers suit different subjects. I think I'll probably use this one again.

*Cobalt blue, Alizarin crimson, Raw sienna, Aureolin yellow & Burnt sienna

'Saltern Cove'

  This peaceful little cove is quite near to where we live. It was a warm, hazy scene and I wanted this to come through in the painting. After drawing the outline onto a sheet of stretched paper, I diluted several colours, separately, in the wells of my palette (cobalt blue, raw sienne, raw umber & alizarin crimson).

  I then wetted the entire surface of the sheet with clean water. After allowing this to settle in, I began dropping in these colours, wet-in-wet, allowing them to mix on the paper. This inititial wash creates a very atmospheric look, which will influence any washes that are applied on top.

  Once dry, I began working from the distant headland to the foreground, with wet-on-dry washes.

bid for this painting

'Seen Better Days'

  I don't know what it is about old wrecks like this, but they make irresistible subjects for many artists and I'm no different. 

  What makes it interesting for me personally, is the light and shade effect and the way that the light is visible through the cracks in the hull.

  This rests by the Exeter Canal, just along by the Turf Locks hotel. We ended up here after a long walk from the relatively busy city, along the canal path, to the very peaceful spot here.

  I chose a very limited palette to keep the colours subtle.

bid for this painting

New Article in Leisure Painter

The new issue of Leisure Painter magazine contains a three-page article I have written. The subject is one that I am keen to get across at my workshops, and that is painting with a limited palette. I tend to work with 4 or 5 colours, for a particular painting. Some subjects, like floral studies, may require more but, in general, I make do with just a few. It creates a harmonious look to the painting. For the above painting I used only 3.

For those of you outside the UK, you can view the article online by following this link:

http://www.painters-online.co.uk/Features/Using-a-Limited-Palette-to-Create-Effective-Watercolours/_ft351_mg12