From Tim Wootton's Studio (1 Viewer)

[Andrew Ellis]

Oh .... almost forgot Loved the first Razorbill as well:t:

 

[jacquot]

Wow, I love these watercolors. I especially like the sketchbook work, I know I said that before. They are so fresh, really lovely. I wish I could see the show!

 

[mark richards]

stick to the paintings tim leave the photos to someone else:-O I thought my vision had gone.....fantastic paintings as usual. mark

 

[timwootton]

stick to the paintings tim leave the photos to someone else:-O I thought my vision had gone.....fantastic paintings as usual. mark

Ha! - That's why I don't 'do' photography Mark. Completely hopeless (and quite often the same with painting :-O)
Thanks.

 

[timwootton]

Just back from walking mad dog around the Point of Ness where I had delightful, albeit backlit, views of a pectoral sandpiper. It didn't hang around though, so I couldn't get a sketch - but I do have an image fixed in my mind . . . who knows . . .

 

[Andrew Ellis]

Just back from walking mad dog around the Point of Ness where I had delightful, albeit backlit, views of a pectoral sandpiper. It didn't hang around though, so I couldn't get a sketch - but I do have an image fixed in my mind . . . who knows . . .

Hi Tim , Nice encounter! Sometimes the very best pictures come from just what is burned onto the minds eye. Look forward to seeing it materialize.

 

[timwootton]

A few technical questions....what size, kind of paper, how will you frame them, and how do you work it up from the field sketch? only when you have time.....

I'm aware that I dont correspond very well on my own thread - I usually just plough on with the next upload and forget what's gone before - for which, I apologise if it appears I haven't read previous comments or questions; nothing could be further from the fact.
Anyway - Hi Colleen, The paper is 300gsm Fabriano Artistico (140lb) and is fairly lightweight for the amount of water and sh*t I splat on it, but it dries remarkably flat - so me like very muchly :t:. They will be single mounted, in off-white and a very light (for light, read cheap) pine moulding. They will all be identically treated and should look fine on the wall together. They are being done at the moment. As for working up the original drawings, I try to remember light conditions (although the notes often alude to the climate etc) and I sometimes recompose them in a more aesthetic composition, but generally it's a case of trying to work in the same way as I do in the field. The results are neither fieldwork nor studio pieces but hopefully an amalgamation of the best bits of both approaches. The sketches are the source and the means to an end, as well as an end in their own right in many cases.

From Ken -

"Along with Colleen's question about size I wonder about drawing. Do you do very light drawings under your watercolors? When I look at them I rarely see any sign of drawing marks.

As usual the new ones are striking. At first it's not noticeable but on further looking at the orchid drawing I notice that it's mainly green. I asked myself how in the world does he get such a good work while still using so much green? It seems like all the greens should cancel each other out. But that's not the case at all. A lesson for all of us who struggle with foliage."

Yes I do make drawings under the colour - often it's very visible and acts as part of the finished piece. Sometimes it gets obliterated and very little is evident at the end of the process - either way it matters not to me.
The thing about using similar colours is to alter value and, more importantly, temperature. You can have two greens of similar value side by side, but the change from warm to cool will mean they read as seperate entities. I use burnt sienna with sap green to get a warm browny green, and maybe sap plus cerelium blue and a touch of chinese white to get a cool bluey-green. The variations are infinite.

I think I've finished work on this show now - I have one last piece with three female eiders on a rock and that's it.
I thought I'd post a couple more including the hooded crow fledglings which I did several weeks ago and didn't like. I don't mind it so much now, but it won't make the show.

Incidentally, I am going to be publishing a limited edition commemorative catalogue of the exhibition. It will be A5 landscape, 32 pages in colour and will be limited to 50 copies, signed and with a unique inscribed vignette. If anyone's interested and would like to reserve a copy, they will be £12.50 +p&p. Please send a PM or email to order.

 

[Andrew Ellis]

Stunning Tim. will PM you about the catalogue you can put me don for one of those.
Just wish I could make the show. The Two Peregrines are great (predictable for me I know)
but I also love the Puffin.The light on both is just right , The puffin looks like he's really
glad to be chillin . Beautifully executed

 

[jomo]

Brill. Just gorgeous, every last one.

 

[timwootton]

Out with the 3/4" brushes this morning. I do like obliterating white canvas.
Just thought I'd slot this update in - gone down a couple of sizes with the brushes.

 

[nickderry]

what a load of bull! (has that one already been done???) Superb start,and a great lesson in reading tonal values, look how the bull's head reads different tonally when a background is placed behind it. Going to be very nice this one.

 

[ARTHUR BISHOP]

Agre with Nick and the water colour sketches are superb

 

[timwootton]

Almost done with Shaggy - I'll be adding longer meadow grasses in the foreground to give hime a 'cosy' feel. Ought to be finished tonight.

 

[mark richards]

tim, thats a load of bull... :t: love it. mark

 

[ed keeble]

Almost done with Shaggy - I'll be adding longer meadow grasses in the foreground to give hime a 'cosy' feel. Ought to be finished tonight.

Splendid pic of a classic beast.

 

[solitaryVSong]

From Ken -

"Along with Colleen's question about size I wonder about drawing. Do you do very light drawings under your watercolors? When I look at them I rarely see any sign of drawing marks.

As usual the new ones are striking. At first it's not noticeable but on further looking at the orchid drawing I notice that it's mainly green. I asked myself how in the world does he get such a good work while still using so much green? It seems like all the greens should cancel each other out. But that's not the case at all. A lesson for all of us who struggle with foliage."

Yes I do make drawings under the colour - often it's very visible and acts as part of the finished piece. Sometimes it gets obliterated and very little is evident at the end of the process - either way it matters not to me.
The thing about using similar colours is to alter value and, more importantly, temperature. You can have two greens of similar value side by side, but the change from warm to cool will mean they read as seperate entities. I use burnt sienna with sap green to get a warm browny green, and maybe sap plus cerelium blue and a touch of chinese white to get a cool bluey-green. The variations are infinite.

Thanks Tim! I just asked about the pencil because I didn't see it in the recent ones and I wondered if you just worked directly in watercolor, a seemingly impossible task!

And thanks for the notes on color. For all my formal art education something like color temperature, and value to a lesser extent, were more or less ignored. I've got to get myself thinking more along those lines.

Thanks also for info on your catalog. I'll email you separately.

 

[timwootton]

As a break from the bull painting, I finished off this watercolour for the exhiition. The painting is a compilation of drawings made on Fair Isle and here in Orkney. I also did a quick watercolour of the fish mid-air collision with wigeon that I posted the drawings for a while back (great white egret time).
Just been to the framers and he has done 20 of the 31 and they look fine together.

 

[colleenc]

a lot of work in short time, and all of it at a very high level, shows your professionalism, wishing you the best for your show!

Shaggy is just a monument of bull

 

[timwootton]

Shaggy - Portrait of a Gentleman

I think I'm finished with Mr Shag - he looks quite happy and content with his lot in the pasture - and that's just how I wanted him to be. I've never walked up to an animal as massive as this (excluding Tessa, our Clydesdale) and scrubbed and rubbed their forehead. Such a gentle beast.
But the hour is late and, tell the truth, I'm shaggy-ed out.
Acrylic on canvas, 24"x20"

 

[colleenc]

what a great painting of this animal, it has a beautiful mood, communicating the gentleness of this giant.
I esp like how you have integrated the colors of bg and the subject, making the flow between the two just right, and how you have paid attention to the subtle values to create a beautiful English light.