Sketching on Holiday

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Leisure Painter magazine has articles by both David and myself this month. David’s article interprets a scene in Yorkshire painted by Turner two centuries ago and my article reflects on autumn colour in pastel. There is also a bonus feature by me at Painters Online, (scroll to the bottom of the page) the online branch of the magazine, on the subject of Rapid Sketching which shows a number of  sketches from my journey through Vietnam and Cambodia. A good way to improve your sketching is to restrict yourself to 5 or 10 minute sketches. This forces you to concentrate on the most important features and to leave out unimportant details. It also improves your hand to eye co-ordination. As an exercise try sketching without looking at the drawing, keeping your eye on the subject and use quick fluid lines. It may not work first time but it can be quite liberating and often surprisingly good images emerge.

Mekong River sketch

Sketch of Mekong River, Vietnam

Farm in Mid Wales

Farm in Mid Wales, pastel by Jenny Keal
David and I are taking part in an exhibition in Mid Wales next month (October 2012)  entitled Our Fragile Heritage at the Crossroads, to highlight the threats to our precious wild landscapes. The whole of Mid Wales, from the English border to the Celtic Sea, from Snowdonia to the Brecon Beacons is under unprecedented pressure from industrialisation.  David and Jenny will be exhibiting landscape paintings to highlight the threats to these endangered landscapes. They will be joined by other artists and local campaign groups working to protect their environment. Jenny will be demonstrating Pastel Techniques and David will be giving an illustrated talk on 9th October click here  for details.

 

Woodland magic

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One day recently I planned a walk, and arriving at the start point I was about to set off when I heard the sound of falling water in the opposite direction. When I investigated the falling water it failed to interest me, but beyond it I could see a lovely woodland scene with a river gliding serenely amidst the pinewood. I forgot my original walk and followed the stream as it meandered along through the sunlit-dappled wood. Normally I can pinpoint likely spots of interest as an artist, but this took me by surprise, rather like entering the magical kingdom of Narnia.

Mossy banks, sunlit glades and artistically-placed fallen trunks added to the visual delight. I crossed a makeshift bridge and continued, photographing and sketching. The pines stood not in regimented rows, but as though placed by some great artist. Soon they gave way to a deciduous woodland, the stream became a more lively companion, tumbling and sparkling.

I sat on a mossy bump and ate my lunch, sketching at the same time the scene shown on the right. I also photographed it about 20 times, zooming in and out and trying different exposures. The results gave quite a startling variety of tones and even colours, driving home the lesson that these days, with digital cameras, it is worth taking loads of shots, trying to slightly change position, exposure and length of zoom with each one.

Looking at the scene here, the two bottom corners disturb me in that they are lit up, thus drawing the eye away from the centre, so I would subdue them with a dark wash, probably highlighting the right-hand ferns closer to the centre. Several of the trees also need subduing and simplifying, otherwise it becomes overwhelmingly detailed.

These landscape surprises are typical in Wales, and we shall be seeking out more in Pembrokeshire next month during my course in St Davids  There are still a few vacancies on the course.

The importance of light in paintings

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    Light is precious to all painters, whatever medium they use. Without it we would have no picture, but how much thought do we give it when we are about to embark on another painting? To avoid dull, lifeless paintings it is worth taking a few minutes to consider how you will organise the lighting effects in your painting. Strong lighting does give the composition a boost – think about highlighting part or parts of the work to emphasise features, or create overall cast shadows that suggest strong sunshine coming from one side, or even backlit with haloes of light around prominent features.
Of course, you need an image to reference if you are going to make a decent job of depicting the light, so sketches and photographs of what you have in mind are vital to success. This sketch of an old house-boat in Amsterdam was achieved with a water-soluble graphite pencil, brushed over with water once the image and tones had been put in. It was a glorious evening and I returned with many sketches and photographs of features lit by stunning lighting effects which can be used on other subjects. Take advantage of such days: not only do they supply you with excellent reference material, but they teach you how to treat a variety of lighting situations.

This approach to light and atmosphere is a strong element in the watercolours I shall have on display at the Barnabas Arts House in Newport, Monmouthshire from 15th September to 3rd October, in their exhibition on Welsh landscapes in support of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales  tel. 01633 673739

You can see more on achieving lighting and atmospheric effects in my book and DVD, both entitled David Bellamy’s Skies, Light & Atmosphere in Watercolour and currently there is a special offer if you buy the pair. The DVD is only available from our website  www.davidbellamy.co.uk

Rapid sketching on the move

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When I’m travelling, especially in a foreign country, I like to make the most of every minute, and this includes my sketching. So often when in a train, bus or other vehicle I see things flash past that I really wish I could have captured on paper. Obviously a lot of the time it is impossible to record a fleeting image, even with a camera, especially if it is in close proximity to your mode of transport. There is, however, a lot you can to to catch those fleeting images.

Firstly, make sure you are prepared with camera, sketchbook and pencils or pens. You can do a lot with ordinary pencils, and watersoluble pencils are also really effective when combined with a brush-pen filled with water. A few watercolour pencils can also be useful if colour is important, but attempting watercolour paints can be extremely tricky at speed! In open country it is so much easier because often the subject is some distance from you, thus giving you time to react and get the essentials down quickly.

This photograph, taken by my friend Torben Sorensen, shows me rather laid-back sketching on a dog-sledge. Yes, we are moving steadily along, across the Greenland sea-ice, with vast vistas all round. This is one of the easiest forms of sketching on the move – very comfortable until the sledge hits a series of ice-ridges, or sastrugis, when the sketching becomes a series of jabs which you have to link up later with lines and tone. A few miles of that and your teeth start dropping out!

When sketching like this I use a sort of visual short-hand, not including much by way of repetitive features, applying tone only to parts of critical areas, and outlining objects like trees, rocks, mountains, then filling in more detail once I have the basic outlines done, if time permits. Later on I then fill in those features that I have only suggested, and inserting tone over the rest of the main areas. It is interesting to learn how your visual memory responds to these challenges once you’ve sketched in this way a few times. You can, of course, practise rapid sketching at home, or perhaps in the car when someone else is driving, and this will teach you how to instantly register the most important aspects of a scene. The added bonus to all this is that it really does help your normal sketching immensely, because it is teaching you to seek out the essentials of a scene. And of course, it’s great fun!!!

Demonstrating in Pastel

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Watercolour sketch of Llyn Gwynant
Below is the demonstration painting that I did for Sandpiper Studio last weekend. This event was organised by owner Julie McLean who also teaches painting. The subject of the demonstration was water and reflections so I chose this view of Llyn Gwynant which I had sketched on a damp day. (Above) You can see the speckles where the rain has fallen on the sketch whilst the wash was still wet. I quite like painting watercolour sketches in the rain. It keeps the washes fluid and prevents you fussing about with the detail. I emphasised to the audience the importance of sketching to capture mood and atmosphere. Something that is difficult to capture in a photograph.

Llyn Gwynant, pastel by Jenny Keal
The painting was done with Unison Pastels on Fisher 400 Art paper, which is an abrasive surface and extremely good for creating mood and atmosphere and for portraying reflections. The distant mountain was kept cooler in colour, lighter in tone and without any detail. These three tips will help with the illusion of recession. The autumn colours on the foreground trees also help with this illusion, as their bright, warm colours  and stronger tones stand out well against the soft blue grey background.
If you are anywhere near Llandrindod Wells this week please come along to Art in the Park on Wednesday 22nd August where I will be demonstrating in pastel and on Thursday 23rd August where David will be demonstrating in watercolour. You can even join in and do your own painting of the Rock Park for the exhibition at the weekend.