"Lost" ....Watercolour & Ink

These were some quick sketches for some ideas that were whizzing around in my head...Some came from my own photos and some from photos that I have kindly been given permission to use. It's always good to work like this as it develops ideas in your mind, that lead to paintings further on. 

 

I had played with some ink work in a previous short course I took at Adult Education a few years back and really enjoyed it. I was then inspired by some wonderful work I had seen by Sharon Williams.  

I had a photo of a white lion I had taken a couple of years ago and never yet got round to painting. they have so many colours in them and this was the ideal opportunity to try it out. After lightly drawing the main lion in pencil, I very quickly and loosely went over some of the lines with an ink pen. If you do this, don't ink around it all and  try not to be too accurate as it has a much better effect. Then it was on with the washes, mostly wet in wet . Adding in colours and watching them mingle and granulate, I love that part. This was a chance to try out colours and effects to see what worked.   

 

     

This actually turned out a whole lot better than I anticipated which of course is always the way when you are not trying for a masterpiece. The problem was, as I was playing, it was painting on the back of another sketch. This was by no means wasted as it had allowed me to experiment, and there were parts I wasn't keen on so could take all this forward to another painting. 

I drew this out again and took more time to get it as accurate as I could without getting too bogged down with detail. A first I wasn't sure I would capture this little guy in the way I had done in the previous painting, which is often the case when working with watercolour in this way. It has a certain part of it that is uncontrollable and unpredictable, but then that is what gives it it's individuality. I soon went from being unsure to being so pleased with it the more I worked on it. There are lots of subtle washes in the face that you can't seem to capture with the camera, but it's almost there.

Lino Printing....

Now for something different...

This is something I've been itching to try for sometime so put a supply request on my Xmas list. I've been following Sharon's posts on the Painting Friends forum where she has been sharing her step by step as she goes, just amazing and has been so much help. Both Sharon and Tricia have been there while I've bombarded them with questions as to what I would need to get started on this, not wanting to buy expensive and too much equipment just in case I didn't get on with it.  Thank you so much ladies, really appreciate all the advice you gave. 

I must say until you actually try it you just don't realise just how difficult it can be, it is a whole new thinking process. I expect those artists who paint negatively a lot might find this a bit easier, but you really need to be fresh and alert when doing this just to get your head round it.

So there I sat with paper and pencil drawing out little sketches of ideas that were whizzing round my head, of course wanting to try everything, as we do when we get hold of something new and creative. I soon realised that what I had read, written by friends, was of course wise advice. Start simple.... 

 

     The cat in the picture above was the first choice, it's still sitting while I get used to what I need to carve out next, although I did finish carving one of the cats and printed it as you can see, it needs more thought. This one is going to be a reduction print, where I will gradually carve away each layer for each colour I print, well that's the idea anyway. Perhaps now you might understand why it's still sitting there. The saying "Bit off more than I could chew" comes to mind here. I will get there , eventually.

 

 Half way through this when I started to take heed of the advice given, I drew out a duck from one of my photos. Even this turned out to be too complicated, well at least it was for me as a beginner and probably not fine enough tools. I need to get used to knowing what amount of detail I can go into, no doubt this will all come with practice.

I must say though, how much I thoroughly enjoyed this, it is so relaxing where the hours quickly pass and the mess builds up :)  I finally got round to printing some out which was yet another learning curve. You see these little prints for sale and think, "oh that's easy, I'll have a go at that", well not so as I found out, it does take much practice and I will definitely be doing more of this when time allows. 

So what did I learn from my first attempt at lino printing, Well although I don't exclusively paint in watercolours anymore as you can often find me experimenting with oils nowadays,  having found the benefits this brings. It has reiterated to me how important it is not to get tunneled into thinking that your creative time should be spent only using one kind of medium. Creating in more than one leads to inspiration and creativity in other mediums and by the bucket load too, it changes your whole outlook, nothing works better.. Having said that I don't think anything can ever lead me away from my love of working in watercolours, at least I haven't found the same excitement elsewhere yet...

I still need to work on these and perfect the printing of them, as soon as I get the chance to play with them again i'll be back to share it with you.