Fields of Gold

I can't believe it ... A year ago yesterday I posted my very first entry to this blog. How time flies! So, in celebration of Blogiversary No 1, I thought it would be a nice idea to run a little competition. The lucky winner will receive one of my watercolours, chosen personally by me, and framed by a local gallery. Second prize is TWO of my paintings, third prize is THREE ... Chuckle, chuckle, you get the idea ;)

So, I decided that I would keep things simple and just pick the winner based solely on Google statistics. Based on the trafffic from referring sites, made to my blog in the last year and without further prevarication, the outright winner is ......

Tah ta-ta-ta ta taaaaaah .... Judy at De Draad Aquarellen !!!

Congratulations Judy, and a special thankyou for all your support over the last year, I believe you have commented on almost every single post I have made. Of course the same thankyou goes out to everyone that has taken the trouble to follow me, to leave comments and suggestions, or to just simply 'pop by' now and then. It is all very much appreciated and so thank you again, everyone. A special thankyou also goes out to Sandra at Sandraws,  for encouraging me to start my own blog in the first place !

And last, but not least, I offer this watercolour, with fond memories of my much missed mum, Iris, who was born 85 years ago on the 17th April. 'Fields of Gold' was one of her favourite songs in her later years.

Happy painting, sketching and drawing!

Fields of Gold, watercolour and BrushPen on Cotman Cold Pressed, 25.4 x 17.8cm/10 x 7in

Rough Stuff

The two watercolours posted here were painted with Winsor &Newton Artists tube colours on 140lb/300gsm rough paper, the first on Daler Rowney Langton A4 and the second on Arches 9x12/23x31.
Hope you are all well ... Me, I'm still feeling a little rough but generally on the mend :)
Happy painting!

A Close Shave !

Yet again I have to apologise to everyone for my huge lack of posting and commenting! I have been extremely busy at work with the debugging of new software releases for two of our main products. Additionally, I am now at home for a few weeks, recovering and relaxing following surgery last Tuesday. Not wishing to go into too much graphic detail, I think the title of this post may give you enough information as to the nature and whereabouts of the operation :) Ouch ... But I feel at least 100% better now !

Shortly before I went into hospital, I managed to move my art gear out to the garden shed (aka The Summer House/Mike's studio) and although it has been a little chilly and rainy of late, it is nice to have everything in one place and to be able to get some fresh air whilst I am working on my art.

I have also had a little time to review my colour choices and I now have whittled my excessive array of tube and pan paints down to a set of sixteen single pigment colours. Before you all start shouting MINIMAL PALETTE at me, I only use about four or five pigments on each painting, but the ones I use give a fairly good coverage of most required hues. I will discuss my palette choices in a future post but for now you can see it all laid out in a Holbein palette in the photograph of my studio below. As a start, I offer two small paintings. The first was done using a black Pentel Colorbrush and water, the second using Winsor & Newton watercolours and Daler Rowney watercolour pencils ... both from imagination. Wishing you a peaceful Easter and happy painting :)

 The garden studio - at last!