Saturday 16 July 2011

Wave theory

'Then the tide rushes in
And washes my castles away.'


The second in my seascape practice runs. This was done entirely in Winsor & Newton designer's gouache in a small Canson watercolour sketchbook, filled with 230gsm hot pressed archival paper. The sky was a mix of Ultramarine and Cerulean blue applied wet in wet with the paint diluted to a watercolour consistency. The sea was painted with a mixture of the sky colour and Pemanent Green for the turquoise colours, then pure Ultramarine for the deep water colour and finally Zinc white applied quite dry for the surf. The distant coastline was a variegated wash using a mixture of Ultramarine and Spectrum Red (or possibly Permanent Rose). Five pigments .... Simples!


Seascape II, gouache, 6" x 8"

16 comments:

  1. It is simple and beautiful! The sky is fabulous! And I like the white gouache effect in the sea!

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  2. Good morning Judy. Thank you! Yes it gives some fabulous effects for wet in wet skies, quite different to transparent watercolour :)

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  3. Michael, this is lovely. Your colors are outstanding. Beautifully done.

    I will go to your previous post, Ive missed so much of your work this past week.

    Have a great weekend.
    Joan

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  4. Joan - Thank you again for your lovely comments. Yes, I have been a little more productive than usual this week! Have a great weekend yourself too!

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  5. Wow! What fantastic waves! This really is lovely Michael. So much for you not having enough work to keep up a blog - I can hardly keep up with you! :0)

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  6. Hi Sandra and thank you for such wonderful comments. I remember very well what I said last year so I knew it was only a matter of time before you said that LOL ;-)

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  7. Wonderful painting. Has a very harmonious feel to it - and makes me want to be sitting near that sea! xx

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  8. Good morning Pat and thank you very much. I hope to sitting somewhere similar in two weeks time :)

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  9. Simples?!? Methinks you're being modest. It's never that simples to paint the movement of the waves. There's a nice rolling motion in these.

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  10. Hi Lisa and thank you. Methinks you may be right ;) It is difficult, not just in terms of getting the paint consistency right, getting the form of the waves and finding a brush technique that works, but also making it look real. It's a branch of mathematics and science in itself, hence the nerdy title of the post! Happy painting :O)

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  11. This appears to me as a very difficult subject, but I'm impressed by the way you have managed to render the waves and the sky... It's really beautiful!!!

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  12. Hi Lucia and thank you very much for your lovely comments. It was purely from imagination but it was quite tricky :)

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  13. What a lovely colourful scene. Love it. I agree with Sandra ... I can't keep up. LOL. ;-)

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  14. Thank you very much John, that's very kind of you. Yes, I have to admit, I have been a bit prolific lately !

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  15. Nicely painted. Different colors give it depth. Waves are beautifully made. You feel that you just stands and you hear the murmur of water. There's action in this painting. Really nice Michael.

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  16. Hi Renske. Thank you very much indeed! I concentrated a lot on this piece, especially the colours and the movement, so I'm really pleased that you have made such lovely comments on those things and that it made you feel you were there :)

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No silly verification words here - all comments are appreciated! Thank you :)