Day 28

This was my attempt at capturing the colours of the surface of water.

Day 27

Yesterday we had a heavy downpour of rain, as is common for Singapore weather. On my walk home after work yesterday, I noticed the clear rain drops on all the leaves. I took a few photos and used them to help me with today's drawing. It is my first attempt at drawing the water drops and whilst I am content with this drawing, some drops are more successful than others.

WHY?

Why oh why did I decide on water as my theme for the 100 days project?!
Ok, I do really know. I have been wanting to fulfil this urge I have to be able to show water in a realistic way with traditional two dimensional materials.

However, I feel quite unsure about my progress so far. Whilst I am happy with the glasses of water, I seem to not be able to comprehend or complete a successful painting of water that is not still!

So I have reached out to the internet and search for a few works that I truly love, which depict water. The below is a piece by Brett Whiteley called 'The Divided Unity.'


More information can be found here.

Day 26

Today I thought if I go back to my Ebb & Flow line drawing and perhaps add tones, of a darker blue and a lighter blue it may add to a sense of volume in the water. So I did, however, I think instead I made the drawing look more like a furry texture than moving water!!! Oops.

Day 25

I needed a break from painting the glasses of water. I have really enjoyed it previously but my creative mind was starting to get frustrated and I could see the works becoming too much of a formula. So I have gone back to drawing and instead of trying to achieve realism I wanted to try and just use lines to represent the movement of water. I really don't know if I will do another one as whilst it was very enjoyable to do, it felt so relaxing, I am not satisfied that the result can be considered as a finished work. However, this project is about process not just the final result.

Day 24

I did a smaller work today, 12 x 12 inches in size. I went back to my first series of photographs of water in a glass, to source my composition. I am behind in completing my works for the 100 days project, so whilst I am getting a bit tired of representing water as seen in a glass; I still working at it and am content with building up a series of work.

I know if I am having a niggling feeling saying, 'I'm done with the glass of water.' I need to be exploring another way of successfully representing water very soon. However, by committing to the 100 days project, I also know I cannot afford to procrastinate, which is what I usually would do when I start to feel this way.

Either way, here is today's painting.

Day 23

I was going to write something like; 'YAY, I have completed this work'.... However, I think there is a bit more fine tuning in the background and foreground shadows to be done and I have not signed it. Oh well, for posting purposes, it is 98% done.

Day 22

Today I am using another reference photo which has lemon in a glass of water. It is from the same group of images that I sourced / photographed a few days ago. Though, this time I selected a higher level of water in the glass and there is only a single piece of lemon in the water.

Again, I am aiming to complete this over two days.

Day 21

It was time to keep working on lemon in a glass of water painting and finish it. I realised that the palette was very light and this frustrated me when mixing colours. Whilst I am pleased with the final work, there are still a few small areas that I could improve on for next time, including refining some of the finer details. However, I felt to let this work be and not to stress about it too much.

Day 20

I enjoy how the water visually distorts the shapes of objects submerged due to the refraction of light. I took a number of images of a glass of water with some lemon in it. Then I have tried to interpret the photo in my painting. This was quite a challenge. I selected a larger canvas for this work, so it took me two days to complete.

Day 19

I had a lot of leftover grey paint, so I used it for this small square piece. It was fun to do a smaller work today, though I have created a lopsided glass!!

Day 18

I finished the painting today. I did keep the foreground grey and had completed some fine tuning with the darkest and lightest areas.

Day 17

Today I continued with my painting. Unfortunately I ran out of my white paint, and since it's late in the evening, I can not go to the shops now. So I will have to wait until tomorrow to finalise this piece.

I am still a bit unsure about the foreground colour, (grey), but I know I need something a bit neutral as if I use a strong colour then it should be in the glass reflection. It could be fun to have a vibrant orange and I am still considering changing the foreground colour. Either way, I will have to wait until the shops are open tomorrow and then I can go and buy some more paint.

Day 16

Today I am working with a familiar subject; a glass of water. Instead of returning back to drawing, (where I feel I have more control), I am trying to develop my painting skills and am using a very close colour range to yesterday's work. This is Part 1; hopefully I can finish it tomorrow.

Day 15

Today I finished the oil painting. I need to remember that it is only day 15 and I won't be a master of anything yet. I am feeling a bit dissatisfied with the final piece. I think I need to develop a better understanding of colours so I can mix more accurate hues/shades of the water, as well as developing the way I apply the paint onto the canvas, as some of my lines and shapes are inaccurate.

It is a process. Every creation is about learning and gaining more experience.

Day 14

I got out my oil paints today and have started a painting to further explore various colours to represent water. Again I have used masking fluid to keep some areas completely white and have laid down a base blue and started adding some areas of tone.The painting is in the first stages of development and I endeavour to complete it over the next few days.

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.

The 100 Days project

http://100daysproject.co.nz/

Creating something everyday for 100 days is a great idea, so I have decided to join others in partaking in the 100 days project. The aim of this blog is to document the work I make. I want to explore how to represent water, so starting on the 11th of July, I will create an artwork a day using drawing and painting materials to represent water in some way.

A few artists who have sparked my interest in two dimensional representation of water include;

Mary Wagstaff: http://marywagstaff.com/
Sarah Harvey: http://www.sarahharvey.co.uk/
Martine Edmur: http://www.martineemdur.com