Happy Christmas 2022

 

Snowy Christmas Tree
Watercolour on Paper
26cm x 15cm (10.25" x 6")

Wishing You Peace and Happiness for Christmas and the New Year

Drawing and Painting the Landscape – Monochrome Study

Moorings on the Dart
Monochrome Study - Drawing and Painting the Landscape
Watercolour on Paper
16.5cm x 24cm (6.5" x 9.5")

Chapter 7 of  Drawing and Painting the Landscape by Philip Tyler is about painting. Philip provides an introduction to a variety of media and techniques. The first is watercolour which he suggests is a big mistake for beginners because:

Watercolour is the most difficult painting medium to use well as it is unforgiving, allowing you little room for error.

He also points out:

It is a good idea to create a crisp linear drawing to establish the placement of the key elements of the landscape. 

This advice made me realise I’ve let my drawing practice slip and I need to do something about it.

Lesson 35 is a monochrome study in watercolour. Phillip recommends monochromes as a way to get started with watercolour while avoiding the additional complexity of having to think about colour.

The exercise is similar to Lesson 18 Wash Media, but in watercolour instead of ink. It provided an opportunity to experiment with the composition and approach for two pictures I am planning to paint. In both of them, I overdid the masking fluid and applied it too clumsily – lesson learnt.

The study of the boats on the Dart helped me to work out how to build up the layers of the landscape and how to paint the distant background..

Tree Tunnel - Westonbirt
Monochrome Study - Drawing and Painting the Landscape
Watercolour on Paper
16.5cm x 24cm (6.5" x 9.5")

I wasn’t sure the tree tunnel would work without a lot of painstaking detail. The monochrome has persuaded me it will

Aged Fencing

Aged Fencing
Watercolour on Paper
24.5cm x 15.5cm (9.75" x 6")

Aged Fencing is the fourth topic in the Wood Grain Patterns chapter of  Creating Textures in Pen & Ink with Watercolor by Claudia Nice. 

You can see the preparation for this and the first step of the paining in Thumbnail Sketches and A Fuzzy Background.

Decaying Fencing

The fence post in the main reference photo wasn’t as old as I wanted, so I enhanced it with some elements from this one. Combining bits from multiple images is an important part of painting from photographs.

A Fuzzy Background

Aged Fencing - A Fuzzy Background - 26.5cm x 19cm (10.5" x 7.5")
Watercolour on Paper

Claudia Nice uses soft focus backgrounds for both her examples from the Aged Fencing topic in Creating Textures in Pen & Ink with Watercolor.

This type of background is usually painted wet-on-wet. The challenge is if you try to paint around the foreground shapes, it is difficult to create a cohesive backdrop. Some people can do this, but I’ve ended up with sections that look like they come from different paintings. 

A popular solution is to mask the foreground shapes so you can paint over them. Recently, Steve Mitchell (the Mind of Watercolor) demonstrated how he does this with a combination of masking tape and masking fluid (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTpTZUZ_PA8&t=295s)

The technique worked well for Steve, so I gave it a go. I scaled up the thumbnail from the top of Thumbnail Sketches, masked off the stile, fence and some foreground foliage, so it looked like this.

Aged Fencing - All Masked Up - 26.5cm x 19cm (10.5" x 7.5")

Once the masking fluid was dry, I painted the background over it, left it to dry and then removed the masking to leave the slightly fuzzy setting for the fence - all I have to do now is paint the difficult stuff. 

Thumbnail Sketches

Aged Fencing - Preliminary Thumbnail Sketch - 15cm x 10cm (6" x 4")
Ink and Pencil on Paper
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook

Many art teachers and authors stress the importance of using quick thumbnail sketches to check and improve a composition before investing too much time and material in a painting that is doomed to fail – (see John Lovett - Thumbnail Sketches).

I used this approach recently while preparing for the Aged Fencing topic in Creating Textures in Pen & Ink with Watercolor by Claudia Nice.

Over the summer, I collected a load of reference photos while out walking with Elaine and Doris. 

Aged Fencing

This stile has the makings of an interesting subject, but the composition can probably be improved. I drew a couple of simple thumbnails to explore some ideas using a rectangle with the same proportion as the paper I will paint on. 

Aged Fencing - Preliminary Thumbnail Sketch - 7.5cm x 5cm (3" x 2")
Ink on Paper
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook

Thumbnail sketches are also a good way to find the challenges in the drawing. These highlighted the importance of perspective on the step. If the step is out of whack, it upsets the whole picture.

I drew the slightly larger version at the top of the page to finalize the composition and to think about the tones in the picture. I will do a couple of simple colour studies before starting to paint.

Drawing and Painting the Landscape – Format

Composition for Parkmill Pond (1:2)

Lesson 34 of  Drawing and Painting the Landscape by Philip Tyler is a the last lesson in the chapter on Composition. Phillip starts by pointing out:

Changing the format of your image can have a profound impact on your work.

He urges:

Don’t fall into the trap of complacency, stretch yourself, challenge how you approach the composition of the landscape.

He goes on to suggest a number of ways to train your compositional muscles, but doesn’t suggest a specific exercise. One of his first suggestions is to cut up an image so you can see all the positive and negative shapes because:

Often, good composition is a way of ensuring that each shape in your image is interesting and different, yet their overall effect is to create harmony through the opposition of different forces.

As an exercise I decided to break a photo into shapes and use them as the basis for a composition.

Parkmill Pond, Woodchester Park

This is Parkmill Pond in Woodchester Park.

Parkmill Pond (17 Shapes)

My first attempt at identifying shapes, resulted in 17 shapes. The frilly foreground overlaps the objects behind it, dividing them into multiple small shapes. This is too many - Tom Hoffman suggests a maximum of 10 shapes in the Five-Value Monochrome Study from his Watercolor-Painting. 

Parkmill Pond (10 Shapes)

Simplifying the foreground shape, reduces the overall shape count to 10. I plan to paint the foreground grasses overlapping the water, but these are adornments. The "bulk" of the foreground shape is the simpler object in this second picture.

Parkmill Pond - Separating the Shapes

Separating the shapes shows they are interesting and varied, but they are predominately horizontal - they don't provide any contrast between horizontal and vertical. My plan is this tension will come from the rendering of the shapes. There will be lots of vertical lines to suggest the textures in the grasses, trees and reflections.

After identifying the shapes, the next step was to answer two compositional questions:

• What format to use for the picture?
• What is the focus / centre of interest?

Towards the end of the lesson, Phillip suggests:

By limiting yourself, maybe to a particular format or a particular use of media, you can begin to clarify your intention, to know what you want to say.

My initial format choice was 7 by 10 because I paint in water-based media (watercolour, acrylic and gouache) and I have two Arches watercolour blocks (a small and a large one) both with proportions of 7 by 10.

What is the centre of interest? There is a tower (“The Tower”) tucked away in the background trees, but this is a painting about the lake, so the patch of bright water towards the rear of the lake makes a good focal point.

I investigated a number of ways to resize the image to 7 by 10:

• Just squashing it all in
• Various zooms and crops

I also explored the position of the bright patch of water using a rule of thirds grid and a phi grid (see Drawing and Painting the Landscape – Rule of Thirds)

Composition for Parkmill Pond (7:10)

After a bit of tinkering, this is the result. I prefer the 1 by 2 version at the top of the post. There are some landscapes, probably those with mainly horizontal shapes, that I think look better in a more panoramic format. I've decided to limit myself to 3 formats for watercolour paintings: 7:10, 1:1 and 1:2. I chose 1:1 and 1:2 because they are simple to measure and they seem to work well for some subjects (see Drawing and Painting the Landscape – Root Rectangles).

Weathered Wood ~ Old Paint

Something in the Woodshed
Watercolour on Paper
16.5cm x 24cm (6.5" x 9.5")

“Weathered Wood ~ Old Paint” is the third topic in the Wood Grain Patterns chapter of  Creating Textures in Pen & Ink with Watercolor by Claudia Nice. 

You probably imagine the world is full of slowly decaying painted wood. I did, until I started looking for some to paint - then it all disappeared. I struggled until Elaine, Mum, Doris and I dropped into The Canteen for lunch. There were some great examples in their courtyard, but finding a subject was only the first challenge. This was tricky. It gave me a lot to think about.

Drawing and Painting the Landscape – Compositional Principles

Farm Cottages - Latest Thumbnail - 7cm x 10cm (2.75" x 4")
Compositional Principles - Drawing and Painting the Landscape
Ink and Watercolour on Paper
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook

The bulk of Lesson 33 of  Drawing and Painting the Landscape by Philip Tyler is a review of John Ruskin’s 9 laws of composition from The Elements of Drawing:

• Principality
• Repetition
• Continuity
• Curvature
• Radiation
• Contrast
• Interchange
• Consistency
• Harmony

Phillip sneaks in a couple of extras. Stillness might be accepted unchallenged, but Photo Manipulation isn’t getting on to a list published in 1857.

The exercise for the lesson involves taking as many different photos of a subject as possible and then making a series of compositional studies. 

I selected some local cottages and took a load of photos. My initial experiments concerned the placement of the major horizontal divisions. I tried a few different arrangements before settling on the first one; which is often the way. The next step was a small thumbnail to explore where the buildings fitted into this schema and some initial ideas about tone. 

Farm Cottages - Initial Thumbnails - Each 3.5cm x 5cm (1.5" x 2")
Compositional Principles - Drawing and Painting the Landscape
Ink on Paper
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook

Then I moved on to slightly bigger thumbnails to investigate the drawing, tones and colours. 

Farm Cottages - Thumbnails - Each 7cm x 10cm (2.75" x 4")
Compositional Principles - Drawing and Painting the Landscape
Ink, Watercolour and Graphite on Paper
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook

These studies didn't enthuse me, so I tried a few more small drawings to find a less central placement for the buildings.

Farm Cottages - Off-centre Thumbnails - Each 3.5cm x 5cm (1.5" x 2")
Compositional Principles - Drawing and Painting the Landscape
Ink on Paper
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook

The drawing at the top of the post investigates colour and tone for the repositioned buildings. I also plan to create some texture in the foreground and add some small flashes of bold colour in the focal point amongst the buildings.

Polished Wood

One of Many Lamps
Watercolour on Paper
24.5cm x 15.5cm (9.75" x 6")

Polished Wood is the second topic in the Wood Grain Patterns chapter of  Creating Textures in Pen & Ink with Watercolor by Claudia Nice. 

Claudia observes that polished wood has similarities with shiny metal; it has strong value patterns and the possibility of reflected colours.

Our house came with a separate electric circuit for lamps, so we have a quite a few, most of them with lampshades made by Elaine.

The most difficult decision with the painting was what to do with the pattern in the lampshade. I decided it was best not to try too hard. 

Wood Grain

Wooden Easel
Watercolour on Paper
24.5cm x 15.5cm (9.75" x 6")

Wood Grain is the first topic in the Wood Grain Patterns chapter of  Creating Textures in Pen & Ink with Watercolor by Claudia Nice. The topic includes some excellent swatches of different woods and their grain patterns.

Claudia recommends drawing the grain with a pen or a dry brush. Drawing the pattern in ink proved more difficult than I expected. My initial subject was a plate carved from a piece of Ash. This has a very delicate grain pattern that I couldn’t replicate. I couldn’t match the thinness of the lines or the lightness and variety of the colours. I am probably blaming my tools, but I think you need a collection of technical pens to draw accurate grain studies.

Lesson learnt - I chose the top of Dad's desk easel as my second subject. The grain pattern on this is less subtle and lent itself to be drawn with a brush rather than a pen. The main challenge was making the perspective believable - I had to draw it 5 or 6 times before it looked right.

Holiday Sketches

Too Hot for Doris
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
8.9cm x 14.0cm (3.5" x 5.5")

Elaine, Doris and I spent a lot of May and June on holiday. In May, Elaine and I went to Saundersfoot in Pembrokeshire (Doris went to stay with Pagan - her Old English Sheepdog friend). Last week, all 3 of us went to Talland Bay in Cornwall. 

Courtyard Corner
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 8.9cm (5.5" x 3.5")

While we were away, I focused on small sketches - rather than big complex scenes. There are my favourite sketches from the month.

Scots Pines
Ink
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 8.9cm (5.5" x 3.5")

The perspective of Elaine’s boots was difficult to get right. Making the two boots look the same shape and size was a particular challenge. I drew this after we walked to Looe along the coastal path. We took a taxi back (rather than walking) because Doris made it clear her fur coat was inappropriate attire for a long walk on a sunny day. We had done the usual check to make sure the ground wasn’t too hot, but when we got to Looe, Doris revealed she wanted to spend the rest of the day in the shade. 

Harder than it Looked
Graphite Pencil
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 8.9cm (5.5" x 3.5")

The Scots Pine was part of the view from our window in Cornwall. The courtyard was part of our view in Saundersfoot. The egg sketch was an exercise in using pencil shading to create a sense of volume – I need more practice.

Drawing and Painting the Landscape – Rule of Thirds

 

St Ives Harbour - Buildings - Rule of Thirds

Lesson 32 of  Drawing and Painting the Landscape by Philip Tyler is about the rule of thirds - a popular technique for composing visual images. The “rule” divides a scene into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) using two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines. Aligning important elements of a picture along these lines or at their intersections is supposed to create more visual interest than placing the subject at the centre.

Rule of Thirds Grid

Philip suggests exploring the rule of thirds in your compositions. As an exercise, I tried to improve the two images I picked in the Root Rectangle exercise. I used a rule of thirds and a phi grid to refine the selections - a phi grid is like a rule of thirds grid except it divides the image according to the Divine Proportion resulting in grid lines that are closer together; which in turn moves the more important elements of your picture closer to the centre.

Phi Grid

I looked at over 20 different options for each scene and ended up with selections almost identical to the ones I picked in the original exercise.

St Ives Harbour - Boats - Rule of Thirds

In both cases I favour images in which the lower third is a foreground of empty sand. As I work on the pictures some more, I may try to include some extra details and contrast at some of the points of intersection.

Sunrise

Sunrise
Watercolour on Paper
12cm x 16.5cm (4.75" x 6.5")

Sunrise is the seventh topic in the Skies and Weather chapter of Creating Textures in Pen & Ink with Watercolor by Claudia Nice.

Claudia observes 

Traditionally the sunrise has been thought of as pastel and delicate. In truth the sunrise can rival the sunset in colouration.

This matches my experiences – I’ve seen some spectacular sunrises – but not very many - I am usually asleep. I should make more effort to get up to draw and paint in the early morning. Sunrise is an easier time to draw and paint than sunset because at sunset you are racing to finish before it gets dark - at sunrise you can always finish off from memory as the sky gets lighter.

This is another sky based on a Javid Tabatabaei demonstration - How to paint sky in watercolor painting. This one was a learning experience, this picture is my twelfth attempt at the sky and there is still room for improvement. It is critical to have the right relative intensity of yellow and blue (and the right pigments), so you don’t end up with green. Then there is the timing of the different layers – waiting until the sky has just the right amount of wetness before adding the clouds. Javid’s clouds look much more natural than mine – which is something for me to work on.

Working from Life

 

Green Pepper
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
8.9cm x 14.0cm (3.5" x 5.5")

Katherine Tyrrell on the Making a Mark blog reminded me that  I am not drawing from life enough (see Making a Mark - How to describe art). 

Nibbles
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
8.9cm x 14.0cm (3.5" x 5.5")

Katherine points out the importance some artists put on drawing from life each day. Sadly, I couldn’t remember the last time I had drawn from life. 

Mmm Succulent
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 8.9cm (5.5" x 3.5")

To rectify this, I have been drawing at least a couple of line and wash sketches from life each week. 

Cheeky Gin
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 8.9cm (5.5" x 3.5")

To make this as easy as possible (both psychologically and physically), I am working in a small sketchbook (14.0cm x 8.9cm / 5.5” x 3.5”) using water brushes and a titchy half pan watercolour set. The kit is very portable and it means I can blame any deficiencies on my tools.

How Big?
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
8.9cm x 14.0cm (3.5" x 5.5")

I've never liked water brushes but I am getting on with them better since I’ve realised the importance of keeping them loaded with paint. 

Old Technology
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 8.9cm (5.5" x 3.5")

I plan to keep up the ink and wash and to include some pencil and charcoal sketches - which will allow for more thoughtful studies - and less room to blame my tools.

Drawing and Painting the Landscape – Root Rectangles

 

St Ives Harbour - Root-4 Rectangle

Lesson 31 of  Drawing and Painting the Landscape by Philip Tyler is another lesson about composition with a foundation in mathematics. 

Wikipedia defines a root rectangle as 

A rectangle in which the ratio of the longer side to the shorter is the square root of an integer, such as √2, √3, etc..

Phillip explains how to draw a root-2 rectangle (√2 rectangle) by starting with a square, measuring the diagonal and extending two opposite sides to be the length of the diagonal. 

Root-2 Rectangle

You can then draw a root-3 rectangle by measuring the diagonal of the root-2 rectangle and extending the long sides to be the length of this diagonal.

Root-3 Rectangle

You draw a root-4 rectangle by extending the longer sides to be the length of the root-3 rectangle’s diagonal, and so on.

One of the interesting properties of root rectangles is:

If you divide a root-N rectangle along its long side into N equal subdivisions, all the little rectangles are also root-N rectangles, for example, if you divide a root-5 rectangle into 5 equal slices, all the little rectangles are also root-5 rectangles

Root-5 Rectangle with Subdivisions

Some people believe this symmetry is a thing of beauty and provides a good underlying structure for the composition of a picture (if you are interested, check out the Wikipedia article - Dynamic rectangle). 

Philp points out the paper sizes in the A series (A0, A1, A2, A3, A4, etc) are all root-2 rectangles. If you divide a root-2 rectangle in half, both halves are also root-2 rectangles. Cut a piece of A0 in half and you have 2 pieces of A1, cut a piece of A1 in half and you have 2 pieces of A2, and so on.

A Paper

Phillip suggests a sketchbook exercise creating a series of compositions in squares and different root rectangles. I did a slightly different exercise. I took a holiday photograph which isn't an obvious candidate to paint.

St Ives Harbour - Source Photo

I searched this picture for squares and root rectangles that have the most promise as paintings. My favourites are the image at the top of the post and this one.

St Ives Harbour - Square

I will refine and improve them in the next lessons.

Sunset

 

Javid's Sunset
Watercolour on Paper
12cm x 16.5cm (4.75" x 6.5")

Sunset is the sixth topic in the Skies and Weather chapter of Creating Textures in Pen & Ink with Watercolor by Claudia Nice.

Once again I cross referenced Claudia’s advice with a section in James Gurney’s Color and Light (A Guide for the Realist Painter). I also watched a YouTube video about painting sunsets by Javid Tabatabaei - How to paint sunset and landscape in watercolor. The picture at the top of the post is my version of Javid’s painting. I watched his video in short segments in one room and ran in to another to work on my painting. Elaine asked me to turn off the sound. If you watch the video, you will understand why.

West Pier Sunset
Watercolour on Paper
12cm x 16.5cm (4.75" x 6.5")

This is a view of the approach to the ruined West Pier in Brighton from some photos I took in 2007. I sent the best part of a year working in Brighton – I’ve had worse jobs.

Porth Mellon Sunset
Watercolour on Paper
12cm x 16.5cm (4.75" x 6.5")

This is a view from Porth Mellon beach on St Marys (Isles of Scilly) from some photos I took in 2014. Elaine and I were walking to Juliet’s Garden for dinner.

Drawing and Painting the Landscape - The Divine Proportion

Divine Mousehole Harbour

Lesson 30 of  Drawing and Painting the Landscape by Philip Tyler is about the Divine Proportion – probably the most aesthetically beautiful division of a line in the world. 

The Divine Proportion has many pseudonyms: the golden ratio, the golden section, the golden mean, the golden proportion, the golden cut, the golden number, the divine section, phi, etc, etc. 

If you want to learn more, Wikipedia has an article  (see Golden ratio).

Philip defines the divine proportion:

It is the division of a line into two parts, where the small part relates to the bigger as the bigger part relates to the whole.

This is what it looks like - and some equations for good measure

The Divine Proportion

Philip explains how to draw a golden rectangle (a rectangle with side lengths in the golden ratio) by starting off with a square and adding on a rectangle - using a ruler, setsquare and compass.

Drawing a Golden Rectangle

The interesting thing is, the rectangle we add on is also a golden rectangle because golden rectangles exhibit a form of self-similarity.

If we start off with a golden rectangle, and add a square to its long side, we end up with another golden rectangle

Another Golden Rectangle

Add another square to its long side, we end up with another golden rectangle

And Another

And so, on

Golden Spiral (Approximate)

Look familiar? (see Drawing and Painting the Landscape - What is the proportion of the rectangle?)

Philip suggests analysing some of your favourite landscapes to see if key parts of the composition conform to the divine proportion.

I studied quite a few pictures - new and old. I didn’t find a lot of correlations. One of the panels was almost a golden rectangle. 

The Beach at Trouville (with a Golden Rectangle)
Eugène Boudin
From Wikimedia Commons

The placement of the sun in Monet's "Impression, Sunrise" divides both the horizontal and vertical almost perfectly by their divine proportion.

Impression, Sunrise (with a Phi Grid)
Claude Monet
From Wikimedia Commons

That was about it. This analysis of historic paintings didn’t convince me that the great artists made/make use of the divine proportion, but as an exercise I applied it to a photo I am using as the source for a painting. 

Mousehole Harbour

I thought the composition of the photo was pretty good – lose some of the boats close to the left-hand side – job done. I investigated a lot of different crops using a phi grid to apply the divine proportion. Zooming in, aligning the strong horizontal under the buildings with the upper divine proportion and the major boats with the left-hand divine proportion gives (for me) a more pleasing composition (see the photo at the top of the post). I will emphasise these alignments some more in my preparatory sketches.