Category Archives: painting

Capturing Colour and Light in Watercolours

Autumn is here in Perth,  what a splendid relief! Lovely pleasant days of cloudy skies to get outside and enjoy nature. And Paint!    The watercolour painting,  “Colours of Autumn” reflects the gentle beauty of the season we are now in. Step one is of course the inspiration, next is the colour selection and theContinue reading “Capturing Colour and Light in Watercolours”

Being Inspired

Sometimes we wonder where to find inspiration, where to find beauty, where to find our muse in life. The daily tasks, unexpected emergencies, the routine daily grind seem to take their toll and leave us just a bit tired and jaded. I found my breath of inspiration early this morning, drinking my hot coffee watchingContinue reading “Being Inspired”

Influencing The Viewer By Directing The Eye

People scan images constantly. Looking for pathways of least resistance. The easiest routes have no hard sharp edges that act as ‘shut gates’.   Upon A Hill has several  “open gates”    Soft Edges that allow the viewer’s  eye to easily travel up and through the image. This painting is very easy on the eyesContinue reading “Influencing The Viewer By Directing The Eye”

5 Tips for Mixing Watercolour Browns

Browns and greens are watercolour beginners two main challenges. But with these 5 tips you can master mixing browns!   5  Problem solving tips for browns that have somehow gone awry:   1. If  Brown has gone too muddy, dense and thick,  wipe  half the mix away then add water to it and test onContinue reading “5 Tips for Mixing Watercolour Browns”

Power in The Line (Design Tips for Beginners)

There is a wealth of untapped Power in the Line waiting for the beginner artist to learn to use. Lines are an intriguing and fascinating part of art design and is one of the most versatile tools the artist has to work with. The voice of a Line can whisper, beckon, gently guide, hug orContinue reading “Power in The Line (Design Tips for Beginners)”

Painting with Depth: Background to Foreground

As I paint, my goal is to create the sense of seamless progression of back to front, i.e.  background into the middle ground and then foreground.  The prior post  Depth,  shared information on how Colour  is a great tool to create  the illusion of this kind of depth in a painting.  Edges and Tonal valuesContinue reading “Painting with Depth: Background to Foreground”

Depth: Background, Middleground, Foreground

One of the challenges for beginners learning to paint is creating depth in the landscape or still life.  Often areas appear flat, floating, lacking depth. Why? How can you prevent it?   Depth: Back, Middle and Front In order for the painting to read as if it has depth, the beginner needs to understand theContinue reading “Depth: Background, Middleground, Foreground”

Acrylics: Cobalt Sky Landscape

The shock of the nearly overpowering cobalt blue sky is what grabs you first when you step out of the cool four wheel drive into the stark outback wilderness. Miles and miles of endless red dirt and cobalt blue sky. I loved it!   Acrylic Landscape The only break is the occasional outcrop of rockContinue reading “Acrylics: Cobalt Sky Landscape”

Painting Impressionistic Landscapes

Loose, free, colourful, impressionistic – thats how I love to paint landscapes.  Using the Impressionistic  approach I’ll use my hand, my brush, a colour to put my own personal interpretation of the subject into the paintings.  I enjoy bold colour applied with confidence, something that looks like I was having fun!   I really don’tContinue reading “Painting Impressionistic Landscapes”