Andrews Sketchpad (5 Viewers)

[solitaryVSong]

And note the lovely even natural light in my workspace. Robert Gillmor named his place 'North Light' - I'm going to call mine 'South Light - B*ll*cks!'

First thing I noticed was the 'marvelous' light, exactly like my southern light. For some reason it wasn't too bad when I used watercolor. But when I took up acrylic, esp. heavy acrylic, it became almost impossible to see what I was doing.

And, before I forget, good job Andrew. Just keep at it. I think starting is always the hardest part.

 

[mcw]

It's not always that bad - that photo was taken in the year that we had a sunny day over here. Besides, that space has now disappeared under a CAD workstation - progress!?

Mike

 

[resparza]

For what it's worth, with acrylics I use a 'stay-wet' palette, with the 2 damp layers of paper (base one like soggy blotting paper, top one like damp greaseproof on which the paints are mixed). Keeps the paints workable for over a week if you keep spraying it and slapping the lid on, and great if you use acrylics in thin washes and glazes (watercolour with a safety net ). Yes, about £14 for a crappy piece of flimsy plastic, but mine has lasted 15 years. What you spend on the palette, you can recoup in miserly use of paint!

(and the lid is quite good for scooping up those handy roadkill references - saves all that time wasted watching birds).

Mike
www.michaelcwood.co.uk

I'm not an expert in wet pallettes but i'm an expert in inconsistency and in forgetting about a painting for weeks on end, and my home-made wet pallette has been very good for keeping my paints on standby. It's just a plastic food container with a reasonably airtight lid in which i put two layers of those foamy towels for cleaning, cut to the size of the bottom. I made the foams damp and wrapped them in oven paper. It keeps the paints for over a month as long as you remember to spray them with water every week. I'm posting a photo of it but i'm not sure if it will work because i'm uploading it from my phone

 

[Andrew H]

I have somthing very similar...a Tupperware Cake box with lid, although Ive not bothered with the 'staywet' element, Its still useable after two weeks....

 

[birdboybowley]

Me too, good ole Tupperware box but with two sheets of StayWet palette paper in the bottom - acrylics stay malleable for ages (so long as you don't go to bed and forget to put the lid back on of course....!)

 

[Andrew H]

So, that what Page three looks like......
I find my self in a strange place, Having agreed to take a few months off from the Evening classes, I find myself unable to get myself motivated....maybe its the dark damp weather, or the lack of support and direction that a roving tutor provides in a structured environment, who knows..... I know that its uncomfortable. My idea to take time out was to find my own true path and direction......difficult to do, it might seem.

So heres a short session to try and get my wrists loosened and get some simple sketches done..Thank goodness for photographs....Problem is I have load of ideas, but not the driving force at the moment.....

 

[solitaryVSong]

So heres a short session to try and get my wrists loosened and get some simple sketches done..Thank goodness for photographs....Problem is I have load of ideas, but not the driving force at the moment.....

Look good Andrew. My advice in situations like this is to let your wrists be your guide not your mind. Often just the physical activity of drawing and painting will give you the best impetus to keep going. If I start thinking in terms of ideas I'll twist myself into mental knots from which it's hard to extricate myself.

 

[RussB]

So, that what Page three looks like......
I find my self in a strange place, Having agreed to take a few months off from the Evening classes, I find myself unable to get myself motivated....maybe its the dark damp weather, or the lack of support and direction that a roving tutor provides in a structured environment, who knows..... I know that its uncomfortable. My idea to take time out was to find my own true path and direction......difficult to do, it might seem.
View attachment 358968
So heres a short session to try and get my wrists loosened and get some simple sketches done..Thank goodness for photographs....Problem is I have load of ideas, but not the driving force at the moment.....

Hi Andrew,
Interesting point you've raised here. If I don't sketch for, say 2 weeks, I find it difficult to 'get back in the groove' so to speak. A day or three seems not to matter. For me, I do wonder if coming back to it after, say a month of no drawing acitivity, would be like starting from day one. Probably not but it would sure feel like it. I endeavour to sketch every day, but like you say, at this time of year it's very difficult, especially if one works 9 to 5 plus the weather doesn't help either.
I need to visit your thread more ofte.

Russ

 

[Andrew H]

Thanks Russ, I find it difficult to get motivated if not in a controlled classroom environment...i find that Home life gets in the way...My work space also doubles up as the office, computer room, library, and general dumping ground for most else that gets tidied from downstairs... I have managed to spend a little time today on another set of sketches (sadly, not wildlife related) with a view of producing an Acylic painting on Canvas....The sketches were ment as a means of getting my head switched on and working out the final piece, in reality, it went from a rough sketch to a full on finished piece of pencil work, with a little watercolour background...a few more tomorrow if time allows to get the finished design with any luck..but when to paint it with the looming festivities and work between Xmas and new Year.!

 

[Andrew H]

A Manderin Duck preening, Watercolour 12"x9"... (Taken from my own Photo).
Probably not the easiest subject matter to attempt, even at a time where Im struggling to find out where my strengths lay and in what subject matter, Wildlife, Landscapes, Watercolour or Acylics..? It was always going to be an uphill struggle, but never the less, a subject which I hoped, would push my limits yet again, and it did, Hence why I've stopped before it becomes a total disaster..
What time does the Bar open..?B

 

[colleenc]

I tried these a couple of times but gave up...they just don't look real even when you see it with your own two eyes...but irresistible to the painter.

 

[Andrew H]

This is the Non Wildlife sketch I refered to earlier before Christmas, Sketched from a photo of 'The hand of God' statue, currently situated in Park Lane, London.

 

[Lykos]

great colors by the Mandarin Duck....:t::t::t:

 

[solitaryVSong]

great colors by the Mandarin Duck....:t::t::t:

The Mandarin reminds me of our local Wood Ducks: you have to wonder if it's at all possible to do them justice on a canvas. But it's always worth trying I think.

 

[Andrew H]

After a period of intense thought, Ive decided that my main direction this year, will be 'The Coastal Landscape' and attempt some coastal wildlife. Im intruiged by rocky coastlines (and fishing boats), and Im fully aware that its a subject that not the easiest to learn, but by going back to basics, starting with pencil sketches, and working upwards to W/C or acrylic.....
Ive got plenty of gull and seal reference through my photographs, So, no doubt Ill be throwing some of those into the mix as well. I wont be aiming for a '100' like colleen, but aim to become 'passable' in one particular area, for which i have plenty of material in frequent visits to Cornwall, and my own photographs....
Please Please bear with me.... I may be some time.

 

[colleenc]

Good Luck Andrew, it will be awesome, and just from my own experience, set some really firm goals of what you want to accomplish, it helps center and guide you along the way, I write mine out before, and magically tho I don't think about them after I start, they get done, and more usually.

 

[Andrew H]

Thanks Coleen,
Twice a year I travel to the rocky coasts of Cornwall, and the love the vistas they provide, here in Kent, not much, but some tidal estuarys and beach coastline..So I have a plethoria of material to work with.
Guidlines...Mmmmmm might start out as free flowing, if I lose direction (whch often happens in my life), I may come back and get some goalposts....I think i need to nail a topic one at a time, and set a reasonable bar to aim at.....I hope it works well, as always it has room to crash and burn big time...But Im going slow and easy on this. As always, 'Mike the muse' is never far away, and I know there is a 'bank' of logical well meaning companions here to guide me through...

 

[JTMB]

Good luck with your focused painting, Andrew! I think it's a great idea - and something I am not that great at, being fairly new to art in general. Too many things to try, to work on, to improve in. Right now my main focus has been drawing, but my real love is painting...so I need to have a period of intense thought like you did. Keep us posted.

 

[ospreyscotbird]

Some wonderful rocky coastlines + rising suns to your south.
Lived near Deal for a few years, the pier gives you a great 'look back' into Pegwell. Then the stunning white cliffs around Dover with their own Ravens now!! Saphire Hoe just east of Dover gives a great angle on the cliffs + the birds + butterflies are so numerous. Never seen so many butterflies as at the top of those cliffs in the summer.

 

[Andrew H]

So, having decided on a project for the year, Heres the first attempt at Fishing Boats (Really not the easiest subject to have picked!). I decided that i would take my time and get the pencil sketch stage done correctly first before launching into the choice of media finish.....Colour pencils isnt the best to get a grip of either, (have i set the bar to high ?). But for all is it's issues, here it is...



Things can only get better from here on in.....Its going to be a long year methinks..