I love sunsets, especially the stunning ones we get here in Cambridgeshire which remind me very much of the ones from my childhood and teenage years when I lived up in Cheshire. I was travelling home last Saturday evening on the bus and just as the light was beginning to fade, the lower part of the sky seemed to have ignited across the flat landscape. These two watercolours were painted from my recollection of that journey home, relying on my memory of the colours I saw, but with the foreground landscape based largely on imagination. Happy weekend to you all!
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| Cambridgeshire sunset II, watercolour on Arches 300gsm/140lb Not, 180mm x 260mm/7" x 10" |
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| Cambridgeshire sunset I, watercolour on Arches 300gsm/140lb Not, 260mm x 180mm/10" x 7" |
Fabulous work! Especially the first one. I would love to see that printed on canvas and made ino a holdall bag!
ReplyDeleteThe skies, the washes, the paintings are all "prachtig", Michael! An inspiring busride!
ReplyDeleteLovely colours in your washes, Michael. The sky here was amazing very early this morning too......
ReplyDeleteHi Rose and a big welcome too! Thank you for your comments and for following my blog. Yes, I love skies and like you I'm always trying to get mine to look believable:) I've had a few successes along the way but it is all about controlling washes and understanding pigments and controlling the amount of water both in the brush and on the paper! Sounds obvious but it certainly isn't easy as you know :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Sharon. Wow, now there's an idea. I can see all the trendy people on the beach next year with a Bailey bag!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Judy. It's not often I feel inspired on a bus LOL but this was an awesome exception :)
Thank you Maggie. Yes, I know from my holidays in Dorset that you have some really stunning skies in the South West.
Sunsets are inspiring, but change too fast to paint from live. You did a great job painting from memory! Lovely colors!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much, Blaga. They are so transient aren't they!
ReplyDeleteYou did a very good job both with colors and water. For my part, I do no like so much Arches paper to work with. It depends of the subject you see. I tried many kind of paper but I prefer smooth surface.
ReplyDeleteI was looking forward to your sunsets and you haven't disappointed. Thank you for sharing these, have a great week.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could paint like this just looking into myself :-) The sunset does have fantastic colors. Well done!
ReplyDeleteHi Hoghart and thank you very much for stopping by and following me! I find Arches Cold Press and Rough lovely for dry brush effects but I'm beginning to do a little more wet-in-wet work now and favour Hot Pressed papers for that method.
ReplyDeleteGood morning Lisa. Thank you very much for your comments! I threw at least four or five atttempts away last weekend - they were so hideous :) But these seemed to work, although the greens are a little bit muddy. I'm reading 'The watercolour artist's guide to exceptional colour' at the moment, playing around with pigment properties and combinations. I think a long overdue palette change may be happening quite soon ;) Have a great week yourself too :)
Good morning Jane and thank you very much for stopping by and for your lovely comments. Your recent sunset is absolutely gorgeous!
Being a pedestrian/non-driver I spend more time than most gazing at the landscape and remembering what I see, so I guess that is why I find it easy to pull something from my imagination.
This is so lovely painted Michael. The sunsets is exactly as we see here every day as the sun go down and it is clear weather. Really wonderful Michael!
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon Renske! Thank you very much! I love the hills and mountains but I think that sunsets are so much prettier when there is nothing in the way :)
ReplyDeleteHi Michael.
ReplyDeleteLovely paintings both. My favourite is the top one, it`s gorgeouse my friend. This posting only came through to me this morning, just a moment ago actually. I was surprised to see so many comments already, I would have liked to have been the first, joking. Well done Michael. Have a nice day for whats left of it. All the best.
Vic.
Wonderful work Michael. Love your colors and the beautiful gradation of tones. Really well done.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend.
Joan
Wow, the colours are stunning! What a lovely painting! We get some amazing sky displays here at this time of year too. Have you ever attempted a rainbow? :0)
ReplyDeleteHi Victor. Thank you very much my friend. Yes, I seem to be doing ok for comments on this one which surprised me as I wasn't too sure whether to post them or not but I'm glad I did now!
ReplyDeleteHi Joan. Thank you very much! It was tricky to blend the sky colours without losing them completely and I had several attempts and wipes with kitchen towel before I thought it looked reasonable.
Hi Sandra. Thank you very much! Yes, I bet you get some stunning skies in Sussex. I haven't tried a rainbow yet, but now I'm thinking about tying seven brushes together .. one loaded with red, one with orange, one with yellow ... you get the idea LOL :O)
Beautiful paintings! These sunsets look somehow "nordic" to me, I am fascinated not only by the vivid colours of the sky and clouds but most of all by the twilight spreading all over the landscape, something that is very difficult to reproduce, especially when one works by memory or imagination and not looking directly at the subject!!! I also think it would be interesting if you made an oil painting from one of these works!
ReplyDeleteHave a good week! :-)
Dear Lucia, thank you so much for your lovely comments. Nordic you say - perhaps I have some Viking blood mixed in with the Celt, Moor, Angle, Saxon etc etc lol. I will certainly have a think about doing an oil painting based on one of these - a winter evening project I feel :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work, Michael.. but what's a bus? ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you very much, Pat. Buses are a bit like my blog posts. None for days and then three at once ;)
ReplyDeleteMichael, I couldn't let this pass by without telling you how much I enjoy looking at it. , BJ
ReplyDeleteThank you again, BJ. I'm quite proud of this one and absolutely delighted that you enjoyed it.
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