Regular visitors to my blog will know how much I love the ocean and all things seaside related. I can’t be near the ocean right now but I can paint it. So this was yesterday’s “masterpiece”…
Ocean
A huge curling ocean wave… ! Large sweeping strokes of bold colour very quickly covered the paper. I painted this on Arches NOT paper, 140 lb. Daniel Smith watercolors were used, namely Phthalo Blue GS, Prussian Blue, Green Gold and Cobalt Blue. A little bit of sea spray was added at the end courtesy of a little Titanium White Winsor & Newton designer gouache. I used Rosemary & Co kolinsky sable brushes. It measures 29 cm x 19 cm.
Please click on the image to view it larger, the smaller one here doesn’t really do it justice. Also I did struggle a bit to capture the colours accurately in the photograph. The reality is much better than the photo.
This was so much fun to paint. I love having more time to paint right now; I’m not bored being stuck at home and I don’t miss work one little bit… ! Bye for now…
Since my last post life here in England has changed beyond recognition. We are halfway through our second week of a three week lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic. We are allowed out only to buy food, medicine and ONE form of exercise per day! Town centres and roads, once very busy, are now deserted. I’m one of those who have no work to go to at the moment because of the Coronavirus. And actually, I LOVE not having to go to work… !
But although the situation we all find ourselves in is very serious, there are positive things to embrace at the moment. Right now I have all the time in the world to paint with my watercolours… ! A situation I’m not used to at all but I’m going to make the most of it…
Above was a watercolour experiment that didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. So I cut it up into small squares and made a watercolour mosaic of it. Each little square is a lovely, unique abstract landscape or seascape. They all consist of only two colours – Prussian Blue and Monte Amiata Natural Sienna both by Daniel Smith. If you click the image to view it larger you may also notice a little gold shimmer on some of the squares courtesy of a little gold mica powder. My mosaic measures 10 cm x 13.5 cm.
Each little square is beautiful and inspiring. I’m inspired to explore abstract landscapes and seascapes more over the coming weeks. I hope every one stays safe and I will share more watercolour experiments soon…
I’ve recently been working a series of small watercolour landscapes, inspired by places I’ve visited over the past year…
Lochbroom, Ullapool
My first is a view of Lochbroom, Ullapool in the Scottish Highlands. It was a very damp and misty drive to Ullapool last September but once we arrived the mist started to lift, some blue sky appeared and distant mountains emerged. I used my very own FLINT GREY for the mountains and sky in this painting.
Rosemarkie Beach, Looking North
Above is a view of Rosemarkie Beach, looking towards the north. Rosemarkie is a tiny little village on the Black Isle in the Highlands. Rosemarkie Beach is what I call an “everything beach” – it has lovely sand, pebbles & shingle, rocky outcrops, rock pools and lots of interesting things get washed up on the shore…
Wells-Next-The-Sea – Abstract
Here I’ve done an abstract seascape inspired by my trip to Wells-Next-The-Sea last spring. The landscape here is striped with layers of sand, grasses and sea which disappear and reappear as the tide goes in and out. Boats sit high and dry on the sand as the tide goes out. The colours I’ve used here are Prussian Blue, Monte Amiata Natural Sienna and a little Cascade Green – all by Daniel Smith. The white boats were done with a little white gouache.
Next are two more abstract landscapes:
Sea Storm
First is an abstract watercolour inspired by the turbulent, powerful ocean. The colours I used here were Mayan Blue Genuine and Cascade Green by Daniel Smith. They’re colours that work together beautifully – I will be using this colour combination again…
And finally…
Earth Storm
A stormy abstract landscape created using Daniel Smith’s Indigo, Transparent Red Oxide and Quinacridone Burnt Orange. Beautiful colours that complement each other perfectly and lovely added granulation from the Transparent Red Oxide.
All these landscapes measure 16 cm x 12.5 cm. They were painted on Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour Paper, 140 lb, NOT, which is 100% cotton. This is very lovely paper to paint on and I would definitely buy more. Brushes used were by Rosemary & Co and Silver Black Velvet. Daniel Smith watercolours were used for all the paintings.
All of these watercolours I will post on Instagram – @evelynflintwatercolours – over the next couple of days, please drop in and say hello. That’s all for now and thank you for visiting.
Those of you who are familiar with Daniel Smith’s awesome range of watercolour paints will know that last year they bought out a new range of grey watercolours, some of which are named after well known watercolour artists. I was quite excited about this range of grey watercolours coming onto the market. There was (and still is) a definite gap in the market where grey watercolour paints are concerned – in many ranges of watercolours the choice of ready made greys is very limited. When the new greys arrived, lovely as they all are in their own way, I found none of them quite matched up to what I was looking for. I am a bit picky with my colours…
This is the point when I decided that I’m just going to have to create my own “ready made” grey… ! Here it is – FLINT GREY:
Flint Grey – mixed from Daniel Smith Ultramarine Blue + Yellow Ochre
My grey is a mix of Daniel Smith’s Ultramarine Blue and Yellow Ochre. Both of these watercolour paints are transparent, granulating and have an excellent lightfastness rating. Mixed in the correct proportions they make a soft, stunningly beautiful and totally neutral grey that is just what I was looking for.
In mass tone Flint Grey is a lovely charcoal grey and it will wash out to the most beautiful light delicate grey. It is perfect for skies, landscapes. winter seascapes, soft shadows and shading. It’s uses are endless. It also mixes well with other colours to create lovely soft muted colours. To my grey I can add a tiny bit more Ultramarine Blue in the palette to cool it down if needed and I can add a touch more Yellow Ochre to warm it up if needed:
Flint Grey (middle), + more Ultramarine Blue (left) & + more Yellow Ochre (right)
Sometimes when I run clean water through a dark wash of Flint Grey I get a subtle separation of colour and some lovely granulation:
Flint Grey is named after myself (Flint being my surname) but also appropriately named because flint stone comes in lovely shades of grey, blue-grey and yellow ochre. Flint Grey is now going to be a permanent part of my watercolour palette. I will just mix more as I need it. I store my Flint Grey in a large watercolour pan, which you can see in the first image above. I am so excited about this grey – it is so beautiful!
There are so many different ways of mixing grey. Any mix of red, yellow and blue in the correct proportions will make some form of a grey. For example: a green (blue + yellow) mixed with a red (in the correct proportions) will make a grey. Blue plus a small amount of orange (red + yellow) will make a shade of grey. Different primary colour combinations will make different shades of grey. Why not have a go at creating your own greys? It’s fun…
A watercolour sketch of a razor shell I found on the beach. Daniel Smith watercolours used were Undersea Green, Yellow Ochre and Sepia. You can see my little colour mixing experiments down the right side of the paper. The paper used was Saunders Waterford high white 200 lb Rough and measures 19 cm x 29 cm.
Anything connected to the sea, beach or coast will always be a primary source of inspiration for my watercolours. No pencil sketch used – drawing done with my paint brush. Much enjoyment gained as I saw the razor shell “appear” on the paper…
A little splash of colour from my bleak winter garden – some rosehips, painted in watercolour of course. I used Daniel Smith watercolours, Saunders Waterford high white watercolour paper (100% cotton, 200 lb, NOT) and it measures 19 cm x 29 cm.
I haven’t blogged much lately but things are happening in my watercolour world and I will post more in the new year.
Here’s another fun watercolour I did a couple of weeks ago:
Beach Time
Looking forward to some beach time next year! My watercolour measures 15 cm x 19cm and was painted on Saunders Waterford high white paper – 100% cotton, 200 lb NOT. Daniel Smith and Winsor & Newton watercolours were used. It was fun and puts a smile on my face when I look at it. More watercolour updates in the new year…
We all know that we’re supposed to try and eat at least five portions of fruit and veg a day but how about painting them instead… ?
Cherry Tomatoes
This was a really fun way of getting “one of your 5 a day”. This watercolour is only small – 14cm x 17cm. It was painted on Arches Aquarelle NOT paper, 140lb. Paints used were Aussie Red Gold, Perylene Red, Green Gold and Undersea Green – all by Daniel Smith. I used two sable brushes by Rosemary & Co for the tomatoes and a Silver Black Velvet Script Liner for the green stuff.
The colour of the tomatoes was built up gradually in about 3 layers, letting each layer of colour dry before applying the next. Letting areas of a painting dry before continuing is a lesson that’s taken time for me to learn. Watercolour painting requires patience and I have to work at it continually!
Also, red is a colour I don’t often use in my watercolour painting so it made a nice change to paint these vibrant red cherry tomatoes. Why not see what veggies you’ve got and have a go at painting them – just for fun… !
I have three very different watercolour offerings to show you today. The first is a watercolour sketch painted on my recent holiday to the Scottish Highlands…
Grey Pebbles – a watercolour sketch
Our holiday home in Scotland was right on the seafront in a very quiet little village in the Highlands. I enjoyed walking along the beach early each morning. It was so quiet and peaceful, very relaxing and soothing to the soul. On these walks I enjoyed picking up sea shells (see previous post), pebbles and other items of interest. Above is a watercolour sketch of some grey pebbles I found on the beach. All the pebbles were grey but all different shades of grey. I tried to capture all the differing shades of grey by mixing all my own grey’s in the palette first and testing them out on a piece of scrap paper before painting. Each of the pebbles were different shapes and had very different patterns and markings, which I also tried to capture in my watercolour sketch. They were very enjoyable to paint.
Dark Patterns
Above are patterns made by dropping dark watercolour shades into circles of water on watercolour paper. This was an exercise from Jean Haines’ latest book Paint Yourself Positive. I’m not going to explain the purpose of this exercise (you’ll have to buy the book to find out that… !) but it was a very simple and fun exercise to do. The colours I chose to use were Lunar Black, Paynes Blue Gray and Sepia – all by Daniel Smith. I love how the Lunar Black granulates – it’s a very useful shade of black to have in your palette. I love these darker colours but I also love brighter ones too…
Squashed – a watercolour sketch
Above is a watercolour painting of three bright, colourful squashes and was inspired by the veggie section in Jean Haines’ Paint Yourself Positive book (link above). I bought these squashes from my local supermarket (Morrison’s to be exact) – they are such wonderful colours and shapes. They were just begging to be painted! But I do have to add that no food was wasted in the creation of this watercolour – these squashes are absolutely delicious roasted… !
Three very different watercolour offerings here today but all beautiful in their own way and much fun to paint.
Over the past week I’ve been gathering a modest collection of sea shells from the beach in the Scottish Highlands of the UK. Yesterday I made time to sit down and paint a selection of them…
Sea Shell Watercolour Sketches
I painted my sea shell selection on a sheet of Bokingford paper, by St Cuthberts Mill. The paper measured 14″ x 10″, 140 lb NOT. Great paper for water colour practice. Here’s a better view of the watercolour painting setup I use whilst travelling…
My travelling watercolour setup…
You can see above I had my sea shells laid out in front of me on a sheet of paper. I have two custom built paint boxes I use – one Daniel Smith (on the left) and one Windsor & Newton (on the right). Both are perfect for travelling and fit neatly in my art bag. In the bottom right corner you can just see my brush case -I just bring the essentials. On the table you can also see that I have kitchen roll to hand and a plastic container for water.
Watercolours are so easy to travel with. I really had fun painting these. Maybe some plein air sketching on the beach might be in order next…
“It’s Time” is a small watercolour interpretation of one of my own images. It measures 19 cm x 17 cm and was painted on Arches rough paper. I used Daniel Smith watercolours. Just 4 colours were used, namely, Quinacridone Gold, Transparent Red Oxide, Lunar Black and Cobalt Teal Blue. No preliminary pencil sketch was used.
This watercolour nearly ended up in the bin. I was working on one particular section and as soon as I’d done it I knew instantly that it was wrong. It wouldn’t lift off. I’m stuck with it. My heart sank. I’ve ruined it… and it was going so well. It was at this point I spent a couple of minutes seriously considering whether or not I should just bin it and start again. I decided not to bin it. I simply left it on the desk in my studio and walked away. I shut the studio door and didn’t return to it till the next morning. Looking at it with fresh eyes I could see that maybe there was a way to recover the situation. I’m glad I didn’t throw it away now and I like how it finished up.
“It’s Time…” is an appropriate title for this watercolour as I’ve decided it’s time I knuckled down to some more intensive watercolour practice… !
