Day 13

So after feeling very frustrated using watercolours, (as my skills are not as strong  as my pencil work!), I have decided to adapt a section of a famous artwork. This work has fantastic lines in it's clever depiction of water. The artwork I'm talking about is 'The Great Wave Off Kanagawa' by Katsushika Hokusai. I love the original and after viewing a Japanese Print exhibition yesterday, I was inspired to appropriate part of this image to then add some watercolours and say a short farewell to watercolours for the moment.

Here is a link to the exhibition I viewed yesterday; http://www.stpi.com.sg/ 
It was a very well curated show with a variety of Prints. I was so impressed with the skill and craftsmanship of the artists.

Day 12

I revisited using watercolours with the masking fluid today. However, I applied the masking fluid with a tiny brush and tooth picks to get a variation of the white line. I can see an improvement compared to yesterday's effort, but I am still not as comfortable with watercolours as a medium. I am now thinking I might go back to using oils and maybe a few more drawings.

Day 11

I am still working with watercolours and trying to capture the range of colours that are in swimming pools. I wanted to try and get the light reflected on top of the water, and do this I used masking fluid. However, due to the thick application on the paper, I feel these lines aren't as free or thin as they need to be. Hopefully the next attempt will be more refined.

Day 10

Colour Study: water pools

I do enjoy the sense of transparency and layering that you can achieve when using watercolours. For today's focus I decided to explore mixing blues with a hint of yellow oxide to explore the range of colours possible.

Day 9

After trying my hand at watercolours in Phnom Penh, I thought I would have another attempt at home. I did however, miss the instruction from my tutor but enjoyed the mixing of the colours. Watercolour is very fiddly, I definitely don't have as much control as I do with drawing. Overall, watercolours are a great challenge for me.

Day 8

For Day 8, I have tried to represent frozen water, ice!

Day 7

So it has been a while since I have posted one of my latest water inspired artworks. I recently went to visit my sister, who lives in Phnom Penh. She booked me into a water colour class. I have not much experience in water colours, I asked my teacher to help me to create a work that depicted water and he was very good at instructing me. The organisation we used is called Back Street Academy, I was very happy with their service as they picked me up from my hotel, provided an english speaking translator and then organised my return back to the hotel.The instructor was a very talented and local artist.
Here is my watercolour result.

Cambodian Water Scene

Day 6

For today's water challenge I used a photo I took whilst on the river boat going up the Singapore River. The afternoon sun was high and very hot so the image translated well into a tonal drawing due to the high contrast. I also liked the reflections that were cast on the water. I tried to capture this in my drawing.
 I used only black and a mid grey pencils.

Day 5

This is me at the Fourth Crossing.

My Dog, Coco.

OK I am late posting yesterday's effort. I found a photo of a small waterfall, (really small), from an area near where I grew up in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. This location is called Fourth Crossing. I used to love walking my dog, Coco, around the creek and rock areas. When I came across this photo I thought I would try and depict the falling water. I used Derwent Coloursoft pencils, mostly greys and black. This was a more time consuming work and I found it interesting that in order to show the water I had to let the white of the paper come through.

Day 4

Day 4
I have one more photo of a glass of water, this time in a mug styled glass. I bought a new set of Derwent coloursoft pencils, (72 colours), so I was keen to used a few of these pencils for this drawing. Again I used the pastel paper.

Day 3

For today's work, I drew another glass of water, this time using a different styled glass. I used the pastel paper again, however, I used charcoal and a white pastel pencil to complete the drawing. I do prefer the control I can have over my mark making with pencils, charcoal is beautiful and fun to work with, though it is more free and messy.

Day 2

 Water Bubbles Study

I had the best of intentions to draw another glass of water today, (in a different styled glass to capture the water refractions), however I wanted to create something a bit more free and thought I would try and draw some water bubbles. I think I should revisit creating bubbles, as whilst I am content with the outcome, I have not really captured the water feel in each bubble. In my next attempt I would like to get a more shiny and/ or reflective look to the bubbles.

Day 1

100 Days Project

The first day:

I have been thinking about how many ways I can depict water, using only 2-dimensional materials, (basically drawing and painting). Today I took a series of photographs to be the basis of my first few works. These photos were of water in glasses. So for my first work, I drew a glass of water.

 I wanted to focus on the tonal qualities of the work and used mainly graphite pencils, (3B, 4B & 7B), with a white pencil for the highlights. I worked on pastel paper as it provided me with a mid-tone for a starting point. Whilst I am happy with the result, there is still room for improvement in order to have a more even and sustained tone, in some areas. Also the paper's texture does work best with pastels and charcoal, I think a smoother surface would of suited the graphite more.