Sunday, 28 August 2011

Magic Moments

First and foremost, my thoughts and best wishes go out to all my lovely followers and readers in the USA, particularly Joan in Long Island and BJ in Florida. Hope you and your families and friends are all ok over there and keeping safe from Hurricane Irene :)

I know the weather here is incomparable to what is happening across the east coast of the USA at the moment but we have had a few downpours recently and so my plein air activity for the weekend has been scuppered :( However, I have been playing and practicing with watercolour techniques and have managed to do a couple of reasonable small but finished paintings. I use Winsor and Newton pans and tubes for most of my work but I couldn't resist getting a nice big set of Jackson's own brand whole pans with my own choice of pigments. I really like them and, because they are mixed with honey, they are easy to wet and very similar to the Schmincke set I use for plein air.

This is one I did this morning using my new paints. The scene is from a photograph I took on holiday in Swanage three years ago. We had been for a long walk up to Durlston Head and were on our way back into Swanage town, The view of the bay as we walked down from out of the shade of the hiiltop woodland was gorgeous and I just had to get a snap of it. One of those Magic Moments.
 


Swanage Bay, watercolour, 9.5" x 12"
Posted by at 11:15
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21 comments:

  1. Judy28 August 2011 at 11:56

    I think it's a beautiful view and your painting is beautiful too! I love the shadows of the trees and the cliffs in the distance. It makes a wonderful sunny picture.

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  2. Rolina28 August 2011 at 12:10

    This is very nicely composed with a great sense of light. Hope the weather improves enough for you to get out and about with your new paints soon!

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  3. Roger Seddon28 August 2011 at 12:56

    This is a delightful watercolour. Well done my friend. I especially like the way you have painted the cliffs of Swanage Bay, the light tone of the sky and the subtle cloud effects. The very small flecks of white in the sea add a fresh and convincing dimension to the water.

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  4. Lucia B.28 August 2011 at 13:21

    What a lovely view, Michael! I especially appreciate your choice to paint the bushes and trees in the shadow in the foreground: their dark, fresh colours emphasize the beautiful light of the sun in the scene, which you have represented with great sensitivity for the different quality of each element of the landscape, depending on its distance.

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  5. Unknown28 August 2011 at 15:20

    Dankje Judy. I'm so pleased you like it and that I managed to get the sunny feeling across :)

    Hi Rolina. Thank you and I hope you had a great birthday! Fingers crosssed for some plein air weather again soon :)

    Hi Roger and thank you. It was a great composition and I pretty much stuck to the photo - with a little license here and there of course ;)


    Hi Lucia and thank you. Your comments are very encouraging and mean a great deal to me :)

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  6. Anonymous28 August 2011 at 18:56

    Gorgeous, Michael! I do not know if you know this phrase, but this is just off.

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  7. Unknown28 August 2011 at 19:55

    Wow, thank you Renske. No, we do not have a phrase like that in English. You used it before in a comment. I tried translating it into Dutch and then back again into English - lol. I'm sure it is a very nice compliment :)

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  8. Pat28 August 2011 at 20:35

    Lovely painting, Michael. Particularly like the shadows - very nicely done xx

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  9. Unknown28 August 2011 at 22:04

    Hi Pat! Thank you very much. The shadows went in last of course and the colour I used seemed wrong and I was concerned about spoiling the whole thing but it all turned out well :)

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  10. Keith Tilley28 August 2011 at 22:57

    There's a nice atmosphere in this one. You've certainly caught that feeling of suddenly emerging into a beautiful sunny view.

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  11. Anonymous29 August 2011 at 10:24

    LOL Yes, it is a very nice compliment. It means that it is so good that you absolutely shouldn't make any changes anymore.

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  12. Unknown29 August 2011 at 10:47

    Hi Renske and thank you again for your comment and for explaining that compliment! LOL, this is great, I'm not just learning about art but also a little bit about the Dutch language too!

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  13. Sandra Busby29 August 2011 at 15:11

    I haven't heard of watercolours mixed with honey before. How unusual! I suppose perhaps it has a similar effect to using gum arabic? The painting is lovely! I love the light coming out of the dark foreground trees :0)

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  14. Unknown29 August 2011 at 15:35

    Happy Bank Holiday Sandra! Thank you very much for your lovely comment. Honey is a humectant which means it attracts moisture and so makes the paints easier to rewet and stops them from drying out. I think Daniel Smith also use honey but W&N use glycerine which has similar properties. Humectants are also good for hair and skin conditioners apparently :)

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  15. Anonymous29 August 2011 at 19:24

    Well, than you have to know the words in Dutch: 'het schilderijtje is gewoon af'. ;-)

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  16. Unknown29 August 2011 at 20:50

    Thanks Renske. I shall learn that Dutch phrase now :)

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  17. Unknown30 August 2011 at 12:55

    Keith - Thank your very much for your comment. I'm sorry but I lost the flow of comments here and missed replying to you!

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  18. Concetta Flore30 August 2011 at 14:53

    hi Michael, you've been working along! nice crisp colours.

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  19. Victor Errington1 September 2011 at 13:00

    Hi Michael.
    You call it a sketch? I call it a lovely painting. There are a couple of things that really strike me in this painting, and that is The figures, The difference in the Tone between the foreground Foliage, and the clift`s in the distance. All are excellently painted. Well done Michael and all the best.
    Vic.

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  20. Unknown1 September 2011 at 22:42

    Hi Vic and thank you for your lovely comments. It's a really lovely place and I hope to move there sometime soon so I can paint it even more! Many thanks, Michael.

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  21. Unknown1 September 2011 at 22:43

    Hi Concetta. Thank you very much for stopping by and leaving such a kind comment. Ciao!

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

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