My favourite flower in my favourite colour !

A reminder of summer in my garden........I painted this beautiful Iris last year on a lovely warm day ....
I needed to be doing more important things, but what the hell......!

                                                       French Smoked Garlic.

One of my drawings made with Conté chalks, on brown paper!

A favourite food item of mine from France and although I live here I still have to scout around to find any !!  If you decide to buy some - ensure that it has been smoked right through by asking to see a bulb broken in half, the cloves should be very slightly soft. Ask to taste one too ! Some on sale may only be smoked on the surface and it will look good & smell good but the second layer may not be smoked and so it will not taste smoked. It will also keep for only a very short time.

Lion's Mouth, Felbrigg, Norfolk. UK.

This  is an idilic place to paint in the springtime when the surrounding beech trees are bursting into leaf,  and white wood anemones carpet the mossy banks.

Domme, Dordogne. France.

Another beautiful town in western France. .... all honey coloured stone houses and cottages in the medieval districts of the town.

I began this watercolour painting on a quiet Sunday morning in June last year  (this is advisable if a really clear view of the buildings is wanted - before the tourists fill the streets !)  and completed it at home later from notes and a photograph. 

Undercover scenery....!

Things are never what they appear to be on the surface......!

The morning after.....

A few modellos......
Is it a sketch (modello) or a painting, that is the question.....and  one that is often debated by me, with myself !
If I ask other people I get varied replies; the most frequent one is  " Once paint is applied to the paper it is a painting...."
But reading notes by the Old Masters such as Cotman, Bright, Stannard, Chrome, De Wint etc; they refer to their "watercolour sketches" .... 
So, I think I will continue to do as I have always done and call a completed, detailed work a painting and a preliminary, or less detailed, work a sketch wether it is a watercolour OR a graphite drawing !

Flea.

To paint a fashion model is not a happy time for the artist sometimes........
The chosen clothes are suddenly not the "right" ones..."Huh"??!!
When I say that it is not possible to change the clothes because I have started the colours it can cause friction but its not easy to explain that, once put onto the paper, watercolours will become"mud" if I try to change them !
It isn't as easy as with oils where colours can be scraped off or painted over.
This painting was a success...we were both pleased with the results - Thank you Flea !

Time for a rest.

These watercolour paintings are of the back & front views of a tiny bar tabac &  they were painted from some on-the-spot sketches drawn in Brittany one hot summers' day, we went inside to cool off ! 
France is cycling country...you can hire one in most towns if you don't have your own.....Now take to the D roads if you don't want to miss the picturesque villages ( & who does !)...watch out to see what is round the bends= a stray goat or cow might be meandering in the road !  Or if you are braver & in a hurry use an R N road, the scenery will be just as beautiful but not as peaceful....
Then, as the mood takes you, stop at the bistro which takes your fancy or a small bar tabac....
None will have airs & graces but all will have local atmosphere & tranquility ....And, if you are like me you will want to paint. 

The Kiss.

This was drawn in several grades of graphite pencil, which I love working with.  
It was done in a two hour session at a life drawing class and I didn't have enough time to "perfect" it.
The temptation to tinker with it afterwards is great but, from past experiences, a bad idea !

Last of the summer's poppies.

Last of the summer's poppies.
Every year the new self seeded plants produce a fresh array of colour varieties = An artist's dream !
Each morning the fat buds turn to greet the sun and the protective green, hairy husks burst to release a bundle of scrunched, fragile petals. Within the hour they open & smooth out to reveal  the full colours.....
Paints out - don't wait- DO IT = Try to put nature's paint box onto the paper before the moment passes because most of the flowers last only one day....... 

Rocamadour.

One of my favourite places to draw in France......

I did this drawing in several grades of graphite pencil  in  four stages of 2 or 3 hours each. On the fifth day I returned to, hopefully, "perfect" the drawing but thick mists had descended = always a risk with the cliff top areas !

I left the work & turned my back on the tranquil scene until the next, hoped for, visit.

Study in Sepia and Red.

                                                     

With this watercolour painting I decided to try & simplify my approach by limiting my palette to two colours....It was plain sailing !  I don't know if I can always pull it off but I will be trying again soon .... www.bloglovin.com/blog/14573809/?claim=srjeyy3rx5f">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Inspiration.

To me there is nothing as pleasing as drawing with graphite.....It is kind, it has flexibility and so much scope. 

This drawing was done in several grades of graphite pencil from some sketches made in the gloom of the theatre and from the inspiration of T.Land.

Study in Burnt Umber & Black.

This painting was instigated by the driver of a car which had stopped at traffic lights and he was so busy ogling a pretty girl that he missed the green light until other cars gave him a blast  !!!!!
Needless to say I didn't have time to paint it on the spot, I did that later from a brief sketch & a photo.

Convolvulus.2 & 3.

I have a love hate relationship with this wild plant which grows prolifically in the garden as well as where it belongs = in the country hedgerows!
I love it because it is beautiful but hate it because it strangles anything it twines around and it is impossible to kill it ! So it has to be tolerated and I re paint it almost every year !