[username]

Theres a wonderful delicacy about that willow warbler in stark contrast to the colourful vegetation Tim....beautiful stuff...

http://username-beast.blogspot.co.uk/

[nickderry]

wow, two masterpieces to feast my eyes upon - utter brilliance!

[solitaryVSong]

Originally Posted by username

Theres a wonderful delicacy about that willow warbler in stark contrast to the colourful vegetation Tim....beautiful stuff...

http://username-beast.blogspot.co.uk/

Seems like another new palette. The scene reminds me so much of my experiences here with Eastern Phoebes. The first ones are always in stems with no leaves, often overcast late winter/early spring days, but such a true sign that winter is finally gone.

[Woody]

Two more beauties. I too love the delicacy of the warbler.

Mike

[timwootton]

Just thinking about paintings for an up-coming show and, again, bird-surveys come up trumps! Here's a piece mentally composed on the island of Egilsay a couple of days back . . .:

[JennyMK]

Beautiful Tim! I miss seeing the eider males. They should have been all over the archipelago now this last month back home in southern Finland where I normally live.

[oivind egeland]

Again, a masterful piece of work - and such a peaceful and familiar scene. The seaweed is beautifully done, and the ducks have perfect shapes and expressions. Always a joy to see your paintings.

[solitaryVSong]

Originally Posted by oivind egeland

Again, a masterful piece of work - and such a peaceful and familiar scene. The seaweed is beautifully done, and the ducks have perfect shapes and expressions. Always a joy to see your paintings.

Nothing to add to this Tim. But I am curious as to how it came about. Did you see it in field, compose it in your head, then actually paint it when you got home? All the more impressive if that's what happened!

[tbbilbo]

Always a thrill! Keep up the great work, Tim.

[nickderry]

I keep looking and trying to understand how painting a female eider in that way can be so successful - it's completely beyond me and I wish it weren't.

[Bigshent]

Another classic from the master of Eiders

[timwootton]

I'm trying to allow my drawing to have more emphasis in my colourwork (as in the Sharpie pics), but I want it to sit more naturally with colour than maybe the strong black line of ink does (?). With this in mind I spent a day playing last week and quite liked the way brown conte pastel combined with watercolour - sometimes it smudges into the watercolour and others I keep the colour a distance away from the line and allow the line to stand alone.
Following the play session, I started this large piece of a cock lapwing in kingcups (32"x20") and, convinced there may be mileage in this approach, worked on a similarly constructed piece - Ringer plover (same size). A wee bit more to do here I think . . .

[apbarr]

Love the Lapwing Tim

[ed keeble]

Originally Posted by timwootton

I'm trying to allow my drawing to have more emphasis in my colourwork (as in the Sharpie pics), but I want it to sit more naturally with colour than maybe the strong black line of ink does (?). With this in mind I spent a day playing last week and quite liked the way brown conte pastel combined with watercolour - sometimes it smudges into the watercolour and others I keep the colour a distance away from the line and allow the line to stand alone.
Following the play session, I started this large piece of a cock lapwing in kingcups (32"x20") and, convinced there may be mileage in this approach, worked on a similarly constructed piece - Ringer plover (same size). A wee bit more to do here I think . . .

that Lapwing looks very truly successful- the thing about the sharpies (just from my way of looking) is that the line in them is as strong on the lit side and shaded side of the bird, which makes them less fiendishly subtle than this beauty

[solitaryVSong]

Originally Posted by ed keeble

that Lapwing looks very truly successful- the thing about the sharpies (just from my way of looking) is that the line in them is as strong on the lit side and shaded side of the bird, which makes them less fiendishly subtle than this beauty

The Eternal Conundrum: Line vs. Color, Line vs. Color, Line vs. Color. Well that was my immediate reaction anyway

And who first came to mind as the best at combining the two? Edgar Degas. Perhaps not much help, especially as I think you once told Colleen you weren't that fond of pastels. But still he strikes me as someone who mastered it, though mainly because he used a medium that lends itself so easily to line.

To me the Sharpies, and I had to think of you when I saw a commercial for WB Mason on TV for them last night, have a wonderful sense of immediacy and dynamism. But the dark black lines do sometimes compete a bit with the color. Still to me it seems like a winning combination as is.

These look fine as well though I don't really notice the line as much.

[timwootton]

Originally Posted by solitaryVSong

The Eternal Conundrum: Line vs. Color, Line vs. Color, Line vs. Color. Well that was my immediate reaction anyway

And who first came to mind as the best at combining the two? Edgar Degas. Perhaps not much help, especially as I think you once told Colleen you weren't that fond of pastels. But still he strikes me as someone who mastered it, though mainly because he used a medium that lends itself so easily to line.

To me the Sharpies, and I had to think of you when I saw a commercial for WB Mason on TV for them last night, have a wonderful sense of immediacy and dynamism. But the dark black lines do sometimes compete a bit with the color. Still to me it seems like a winning combination as is.

These look fine as well though I don't really notice the line as much.

. . . it's that whole 'edges' thing, isn't it!!!! I love loose, 'edgeless' oils (such as Bill Wray or James Hart Dyke do) and have tried to roughen up in my heavy media painting, but the closest I come is with some of the wetter watercolours which squeeze under the goalie. But line . . . it's where it all starts, well for me anyway, yet while we're seeing the lines, the colours flood the place.
Dead right, Ed - that strong 'against the light' line causes me much angst, but the thing with the Sharpie stuff is that I draw the whole thing out and then add the colour. I think this is where the lapwing and r-p differ in that I'm drawing line and adding colour simultaneously. It means the areas worked are more adhesive, but the overall composition is perhaps a tad more fluid? . . .

[mattybohan]

there are definitely some great things happening in those paintings. You seem to have the looseness of the watercolor and the interesting line work defining things in a perfect balance.

[timwootton]

. . . calling this one finished. The learning curve is there, just have to work my way up it :)

[JennyMK]

The lapwing is absolutely adorable! Bothe the bird, and how you did the composition of the grass. You prove that sometimes less is more!!

[solitaryVSong]

Looks good Tim, and full of promise. It's always good to see you trying something new.

Thinking about line in painting reminded me of the 19th century American artist Winslow Homer. I've studied his watercolors quite a bit though don't know much about his oils. In any case the thing that is striking is that he made is living originally as a line engraver. And all his early work is all about line. But as he got older he kept sneaking the color 'under the goalie.' For his last 10-20 years you had the sense that line was there but hardly ever really noticed it. It just seemed like a hidden structure for the color. My take on it at least!

[Woody]

I love these two!

The variety of tone and weight that you get naturally with the flow of a pencil makes the line come alive and support the colour without hitting too hard.

Mike

[ARTHUR BISHOP]

I love the light in these Tim

[colonelboris]

Love the Ringed Plover there - sums up how tricky they can be on rocky shores.

[mattybohan]

well, that certainly is a gem.

[ospreyscotbird]

I've been thinking a lot about line v colour since reading this post last night. I love the spontaneity + informality of the sharpie pieces. I enjoy the dark flowing line. I've dabbled in block printing so they feel 'homely' too me.
What I really wanted to say was I reckoned there was a picture I'd seen in this thread that did the line colour thing really brilliantly for me. So I looked back + there it was on the first post - 'Redshank Alarm'. Great lines created by colour - brilliant!!
Love the latest plovers + the way they are almost lost in the pebbles.