DISCOVERING ART THROUGH EXPLORATION
Raoul Dufy exploration A French Post-Impressionists who, for me, is one of those rare masters whose work has appeal for both fine artists and graphic illustrators. He painted in a time where graphic design or commercial illustration wasn’t seen as a serious artistic discipline so his career path was, like most of his peers, in fine... Continue Reading →
Masking Fluid One of the greatest partnerships with watercolour paint is masking fluid. However some like it and others dont. I feel it has its place for the right occasion. For those not familiar with it, this material is a pre-preparation tool to keep those areas of your picture clean while you’re busily painting in... Continue Reading →
This exercise was inspired by an earlier one in relation to negative painting. It became very apparent when I finished the picture, where I wanted to create both atmospheric and spatial depth, that the results turned out much better than expected. So this new exercise was to find out whether I completely fluked it or... Continue Reading →
I have very little experience with negative painting, if I have practiced it, it would have been done unknowingly. It confuses me even more when I want to incorporate it into a picture that's complex and cant work out if I am actually using a negative painting technique or I’m just... painting, like normal. Needing... Continue Reading →
Washes This was a small exercise to try and loosen up my mind about using watercolours – attempting to not control them so much and letting them bleed and blur into each other. The previous exercise with the different types of cakes was meant to cover this technique, but felt like I only just skimmed... Continue Reading →
This was not so much an exercise in watercolour usage but in colour exploration. It’s something I keep trying to push myself to be brave about and go all out. My taste is very conservative and using multiple colours in one design is not an instinctive thing for me. So when you get lost... Continue Reading →
Cakes Playing around with watercolours has opened my eyes up to how much fun they can be. The way the colours move and bleed into each other is wonderful. It's a great way to allow yourself to be expressive and free. The challenge is how to manipulate it so that it works for you while... Continue Reading →
The aim of this exercise wasn’t so much about creating nice backgrounds like how to do a beautiful sunset but painting fantastical or imaginary settings. I guess, this was a way of getting myself out of using watercolours in a more traditional or assumed manner. So much of my use has been on location where... Continue Reading →
This exercise was focussing on using watercolours in an expressive way. What immediately comes to mind when hearing the word “expressive” and “painting” is using bright, fluorescent-like colours or splattering and throwing paint in a very random, uninhibited manner. I’m not the biggest fan of splashing paint around, particularly if there is no intent to... Continue Reading →
I’ve never taken any lessons in watercolours possibly because I’ve only ever used them to add colour to a drawing, but to get the most out of this project, like all my past activities, I have to respect the way they would be traditionally used. My selection of artists ranged from the big guns like... Continue Reading →