St Agnes Lighthouse

St Agnes Lighthouse
Mixed Media on Paper
28cm x 18cm (11" x 7") 

The lighthouse on St Agnes in the Isles of Scilly no longer contains a light, but is still the most prominent landmark on the island. St Agnes is a wonderful place to spend an evening. Elaine and I have twice celebrated my birthday in Hight Tide Seafood Restaurant. The food, wine and views are excellent, but it has to compete against the Turks Head - which is a great pub. What a choice - you just have to spend two evenings on the island.

I started the picture using oil pastel to add some colour and to resist the watercolour - as suggested by Chris Forsey in his DVDs. The scribble in the centre of the picture is a bit unnecessary, but the blue flowers in the left foreground have worked well.

The painting also makes use of a technique I am learning from regular sketching in watercolour – don’t fiddle or correct. It’s a difficult lesson to learn, but I'm finally beginning to realise that you rarely improve a watercolour painting by trying to correct things. You are best to leave your original marks because they at least look spontaneous and heartfelt.

February 2016 Sketches

Honeybuns
25 February 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

Elaine gave me a selection of cakes from Honeybuns as a Valentine’s Day gift. Amazingly, eleven days later there were still a few left to draw, but we (mainly me) finished them the next day.

Red Tulip

7 February 2016

Ink and Watercolour

Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook

14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

February has not been my most prolific month for sketching, but I still managed a few.

The sketches on this post all employ the same basic approach - adapted from The Urban Sketcher by Marc Taro Holmes (Citizen Sketcher). It starts with a scribbled drawing in pencil, followed by an ink drawing on top and then a few passes of watercolour - starting with a fairly watery mix becoming progressively thicker in each pass
.

White Rose
26 February 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

The picture of Ducky was slightly more hurried than the other three - this was a pencil sketch, with an ink drawing on top, then more ink applied with a brush pen and then a single pass of watercolour.

Ducky's Perch
11 February 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Daler Rowney A6 Ebony Sketchbook
10.5cm x 14.9cm (4.1" x 5.9")

I'm trying to include watercolour in most sketches because it is good practice, but I plan to do some pencil sketches in March and to brave the great outdoors.