burns and braes...

hmmmm. tired from so much color etc...

melbourne autumn - 2010

hmmmmmmmmm............

sketches post-Alvaro

you say "al-VAR-o". he says "AL-var-o". one thing we all say is that he can sure paint a mean watercolor.

for three torrid days in the company of this master painter i found myself challenged. i soon realized that no one painter can copy another painter's techniques successfully. but, by golly, one can learn a heap of stuff.
for weeks after the class i tried to incorporate what Alvaro taught into my paintings. what i have learned is and will be very valuable to me going forward. here are a coule of sketches that lean heavily on some of Alvaro's favorite subjects. they are really quite abstract and atmospheric. but i am pleased with how they have taken me in a new direction and expandeed my horizons...

turbulence (blue)

so cool. been watching some work by the master (Arnold Lowrey) and putting my own spin on it. this led to a powerful, spooky result. something only watercolor can do. barely in control. neat stuff.

"New Season" heads to Shanghai!!!

This painting ("New Season") made the initial cut for the Zhujiajiao watercolour show at Expo 2010 in Shanghai! This is so exciting for me! (i.e. i just had to share the news). No guarantee of making the final cut - but to get this far makes me both proud and humble!

warm 2010 sketches

the warm side of the palette comes out in summertime. and it is summer here in australia. these sketches all use the same premise. gold tempered with scarlet as a first wash. clouds introduced in blues, violets and indigo.



blues and violets are then added for vague middle ground shapes. then, of course, one goes off the rails entirely in my wet-in-wet way. sigh.


and then, back again. anyway, this is how the hew year has started for me. hope all is well with you...

facets of evening

hello. i have been working on several new painting projects and attempting to become comfortable with figures as a natural part of the landscape. which, of course, they are. even in an impressionistic painting you need to get the "gist" of the figures "just so" or the whole thing is a waste of time. this piece is one of the ones that made the cut so far. there are others that are close - but they are still under evaluation by the committee. :)