Sketchbook: Some Seasonal Spruces

Watercolour in A5 Sketchbook

Autumn seems to be speeding along at quite a pace so while we are still in the midst of it I thought I would capture a little bit of this all too short-lived season in my sketchbook with this warm watercolour painting of a line of leafy autumnal trees in the park.

I employed a limited palette of some typically warm autumnal reds and yellow ochre’s for the majority of this sketchbook piece, as it was intended as just a quick composition to look back on for future work. However, having completed it, I am quite pleased with the ultimate result. It is quite a simple representation, I didn’t try to capture anything more detailed than a fleeting impression of the subject but there is something in the simplicity of it that I appreciate and regard as quite engaging.

P.S. I googled it and apparently these trees aren't technically spruces but then my alliterative title wouldn't have worked.

Some Arboreal Botherations

Watercolour on A2 Cartridge Paper

I used watercolour to create this piece of a lonely oak tree on the side of a slope. I went slightly mad with this piece, incorporating any colour or means of applying the paint that took my fancy.

I started with the main trunk of the tree, deciding against including a distinct background of any sorts, so I sketched it all out in a light burnt sienna. Then I filled in much of the main trunk and the thicker branches with various brown hues adding touches of sap green to give the impression of some mossy patches clinging onto the bark. I also gave a slight hint of the hill upon which this oak tree grew with a faint wash of sap green at the base to give this tree something to grasp on to. I was quite pleased at this stage, but then I started on the foliage and that’s were it started to go downhill in my opinion.

I started on the leaves with another sap green wash, like with the hill at the tree base and then suggesting some more frondescent details using a hookers green applied with a rigger brush. I was still quite happy at this stage, but this is where I began to go a little bit crazy with the colour. I thought I would give it a more autumnal mood by utilising some warmer pigments to the foliage with some cadmium yellows, oranges and a light red. I applied these colours by flicking them onto the surface with an old toothbrush dipped into the mixed colours in the hope that it would add little flourishes. I’m not totally convinced this has worked but I don’t think the piece is a complete disappointment, and others have said they liked it so maybe my efforts with this piece were not completely wasted in vain.

Trees by the Riverbank

Charcoal on Paper

So this is a rough Charcoal sketch based upon a peaceful little place that feels like an oasis, starkly contrary to the bustling crowds of Canterbury High Street only a stones throw away.

It should be noted that I didn't actually draw this on location as it were, but rather in the studio from a combination of memory and a few sketches I had already completed, which is why, having been back to te place with the sketch it doesn't quite match up in many of the details. However, it is still a piece I am fond of and am also pleased with as it captures something of the mood of the place.

A 'Back Catalogue' Piece

Acrylic on Board

A piece from my 'back catalogue' as it were, produced earlier this year on a project about Ruin and Decay I was working on.

This painting was a practice piece for a much larger painting that i worked on soon after completing this. I used a old cloth rag to rub the acrylic paint straight onto the surface of the board, creating this blurred, coarse effect that I quite like the appearance of. I didn't mix the paint before adding it to the piece, applying it raw, straight from the tube allowing the blending to happen both on the surface and in the eye of the viewer.

The subject is a completely ruined stone wall where there is only just about enough left of it to get an impression of an archway. I thought that the rough, rugged way of applying the paint echoed the state of the remnants of the ruined structure itself.



Plaster Re-Leaf

Plaster Relief of Leaves 8.5" x 4"

So this is something that I had never tried before until a few weeks ago; Using moulds to create plaster reliefs. I started by carving a few basic leafy shapes into a slab of old clay to form a mould, into which I poured some wet plaster and left it to dry out. This was the result of my first try. Considering it is a method that I've never employed before I'm pleasantly suprised and quite satisfied with it.

I did have a go at using plaster last year on my art foundation course however I never seemed to get any decent results, I would just inevitably just end up staring at a sloppy white mess.

So yes, considering everything I am quite happy with this, I think Plaster reliefs are a good cross between a drawing and a sculptural pieces. Oh, and I hope my corny joke in the title of this post is appreciated.

First Post (Again) - Canterbury Cathedral

Charcoal on Paper

So I have restarted this Art blog and with only this piece of work being posted on my old blog I thought it wasn't a bad idea to repost it to start this one off.

I posted this desciption of it before;

"For my first post I decided to share this piece created today from Cantebury Cathedral. It is a pillar from a chapel in the crypt underneath the Cathedral, the oldest part of the building, or so I've been told by all the tour guides. The place itself is abundant in interesting little artifacts dotted all over the place, from the medieval grafitti covering all the walls to the headless statues, haf destroyed during Henry VIII church reformation. At the centre of all this is this little chapel that is astoudingly quiet and peaceful, that is until the regular flood of tourists swirl in and out again. I think that will just about do for this post, remember it's my first one so be nice."

So there ends my first post, hopefully the first of many on this blog.