Painting Dew Drops in watercolours

The Aquarellistas were at it again last week, with a small but talented and dedicated group. We painted Dew Drops, not super difficult in itself, and giving a wonderful effect! I gave a small introduction and demo on how to add a dew drop to a flower of another coloured surface, very similar to the 'spheres' but just a little bit different:

On an existing surface, paint an ellipse in a similar colour, and decide where the highlight will be. Make the colour darker (more pigment) there.


When it is dry, paint a dark sharp shadow underneath

With a (Stanley-)knife scratch away the paint where the highlight should be. Because that is the the colour of the paper, thus the lightest colour, it will become quite spectacular!

Fabulous painting and very well done on the light and transparent dewdrop by Anne

A foursome to be, by Anna Karin. Going to be so great!

Luckily Thecla became happier and happier with this fabulous bamboo with dew. Love it!

Charlie 'upped' a painting by adding a dewdrop. So delicate! and rather quick, as she painted 3 other works (below)

Elisabeth works with us from Sweden and missed the demo, but watched some YouTube instructions and look at this! Great stuff really well done. Looks like she aways paints 1  that is close to the example and 1 that is 'wild'. Love them both!

 

I did one too because there were not so many takers last week, so plenty of time. No masterpiece but I had great fun... It is a tomato 😀



As I mentioned already, Charlie was on a roll, next to a lovely dewdrop, she finished 2 gorgeous butterflies and started a new one (below) It is superb, also because it really jumps from the paper.

And also by Charlie, this butterfly with amazing colours. I also love the background! so lush and suppe and very watercolour!

And another productive individual - Judith. 

This is the start of something, that may lead to a completely different painting, or hardly change... Always exciting and you will see the result in due time. 

And she also has her other side, where she draws very precise, sweet portraits of dogs and children. Couldn't help myself, it is not watercolours but had to show them anyway. Lovely right?!

Butterflies in Watercolours - and more

In the latest Watercolour session, the (well some) Aquarellistas painted butterflies! A subject that is poetic, light, soft and at the same time colourful, with clear graphic shapes. It was super hard to do but the results are really good. Next week something simple (or more butterflies)

Corinne's butterfly is so absolutely fantastic. you can see those wings subtly moving. And the colours in the photo are a bit more flat than in the actual painting, can you imagine...

Charlie is planning a set of 4 butterflies, the first two are as good as finished, with a wonderful subtlety and a refined use of colours. Love those green backgrounds!!!

Anne did an amazing job on her butterfly, I am impressed. Background to come, might be green but we'll see, next week I hope...

Elisabeth will be 'our correspondent in Sweden' for the coming months She works hard and gets results I love the sweet butterfly above, and the wild one below maybe even more! Those splashes make the painting so lively 💜

And this seahorse, Elisabeth's WIP last week, is now finished, I love the contrast of the red background with the blue face - this gives it so much depth!

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Laura's seahorse also finished and it is still SO good!!! I love everything about it, the style, the colours, the technique (different layers) the light. Superb. And she finished her bird, a big tough Jay with a lot of character.



Sandra is working on a new lotus flower-composition and it already looks fabulous and interesting! Depending on how it develops, it may become the 'Couleur Locale' painting for the Hangar Expo...

Sylvie's WIP - Couleur Locale with the sea and the beach and a set of beautiful porcelain pots...

 

Two beautiful 'Greek Pillars' paintings in watercolours (and a lot of other stuff)

In the latest watercolour session, there was a suggestion to paint Greek pillars - but everyone had their own subjects. It was such an original afternoon, in which everyone inspired each other - and a lot of orange was used!.

 
Corinne felt like painting the pillars. She used a very complicated example and created a simplified version that is breathtaking and very deep

And in far-away Brittany Michele also felt like painting a Pillar! It it has extra appeal to her because she will travel to Greece next month! We hope for more inspiration from that trip...

Laura hadn't been for a while, she missed out on the seahorses and  really wanted to paint one next to the bird-watercolour she was finishing . This is a WIP and to quote Charlie "it is a REAL watercolour"


Charlie finished her seahorse. it has a lovey face and expression now. The orange is very strong when backed by its complementary colour blue!

Sandra had a good old struggle with this version of 'Couleur Locale'. It is not yet done and more versions may be posted in the coming weeks - whatever it ends up like, the process is very interesting!

Roxane also practised for 'Couleur Locale' (the theme of the Hangar Expo) with (what I think are) sweet pea flowers. She's definitely getting there!!

Here are the pebbles by Anna Karin, with a bit more burnt sienna in the background, which 'grounds' them more (very subtle). She is considering to do some more work to make them look like they are in  shallow water. WIP! You'll see it when it happens. And a very typical Anna Karin  snowdrop was added on the right. Fabulous page.

Sylvie finished her fire carp. It is very interesting, how the orange works in the colour scheme - it is like an aura. and the fins are so subtle, she used watercolour ink and dip pen for them. And signed with masking fluid! how clever!

the Beauty of Fossils expressed in Watercolours

Last session the Aquarellistas got together, we embarked on the challenge of painting 'Fossils'. I thought it would be quite a challenge, with all these subtle lines, shadows and shades of brown. And it was - but these great painters all did a fantastic job and created super cool images, that you recognise immediately. I am in awe. Here they are in no particular order...

Anne loved it so much she would still be working on it if we hadn't stopped her 😃 but joking aside, what a marvellous fossil this is!

This is a more impressionist version by Martine who was tempted to paint seashells We will paint them soon, promised - and this shell has that thing where you can't see if it is concave or convex...

Elisabeth painted hers with a daring use of dark sepia - and it works so well, this ammonite looks like a true find, fabulous.

Glen took the fossile subject to work a bit more with her new favourite addition to paint - salt! And see what the stunning effect is! The shadows do a lot too by the way... Breathtaking, well done.

WIP  for the Hangar expo by Sandra, Couleur Locale at its best, with sea, beach and more to come. Looking forward to seeing the next chapter!

Also WIP, also for the Hangar Expo, this Koi carp by Sylvie. It will have a lot of Mediterranean blue, combined with its complementary colour orange. Stunning.

After she finished the fossil , Elisabeth still had time to start a seahors, she missed that last week. Backgound  wet-in-wet, done, and now the horse. More next week.

Charlie also missed the Seahorse painting, and next to her work on the 50x50 canvas for the Hangar exhibition, she painted this bright fellow. This is an excellent example of how complementary colours make each other stronger - the blue and orange look absolutely amazing


And then there's Judith, showing her two different talents - one for portraits in pastel and then one for uninhibited experimenting. Both works are 'in progress', maybe you are already thinking what it will become (like I am right now) but rest assured, it will be different 😉

 

Seahorses and other fab subjects in Watercolours

 Last week we got together with only a small group of Aquarellistas and we had a fabulous time, not only filled with painting, but also talking deeply, humming, eating cake and drinking ginger tea. It was so rewarding - and look what we created...

Michèle was there in spirit and created this fabulous seahorse ('Hippocampe' in French, love that word)

And how about this one, by Anna, so so cute. Technically well done also! with the light and the on-going background...

Anne's Hippocampe, what a beautiful guy.  

He has a big belly so I guess he is about to give birth (as male seahorses do.

O and same for Thecla, well done with the fabulous background, the light and the beautiful transparent fin on her back

Next to the seahorse Anna also created an amazing birch tree painting, with such a good background!

Brenda, who is only here for a couple of days (but she will return in May!) painted the same subject, Different style but equally wonderful!

Sandra has finished the first Couleur Locale painting, for the Expo Project. The size is 50x50cm, pretty big for a watercolour, but this image stays interesting all over.

Thecla has worked on her natural sand-sculpture and it is now so interesting and surprising, the strong sharp shadows work really well.

And last but not least, the portraits of birds that Anne created at home, all by her lonesome. The winking owl and the slightly insecure peacock - they have lcharacter, well done!