Category: watercolour

Seasonal palette

Once in a while, more often than not, I get the so called creative block. I stare at a blank sheet of paper and just wonder.  I feel the urge to paint, don’t get me wrong, but the ideas just do not flow and my brain feels numb. Over the years I have learned to overcome this lack of inspiration in different ways, taking advice from fellow artists and discovering what really works for my brain to function again. 

One thing I like to do to get the creative flow back is to play with colours and create palettes. It is a nice and relaxing way to use paint; the urge to paint get satisfied and at the same time you are not committing to paint anything specific. Plus you can do this simple exercise while sitting on your couch (or at least this is what I did!). You can tackle this subject in several ways; making a chart of all your pans and tubes, mixing greens or browns, categorising all your paints by colour.
This time I went for a seasonal palette, trying to combine several colours to recreate the seasons and possibly use them in a landscape painting. I store all my palettes in one transparent sleeve, ready to be used when inspiration does strike!   

Spring in a jar

March’s project has been all about bulbs and spring flowers. I love looking into gardens and parks, and roadside edges to spot little green leaves sprouting through the ground and colourful flowers peeping through. This time of the year is full of surprises if you know where to look and what to look for. I have been indecisive for a few days on how I would create a spring garden, and then it finally hit me. I have fallen in love with Jeninne Zlatkis’s terrarium, and tried to recreate something similar.
Of course the results are not as pleasing as her illustration (nowhere near!), and I’m still thinking this painting is missing something, but so far I have not been able to figure it out. Maybe is the colour scheme or that red-ish frame (which I’m thinking of taking out). What do you think? Suggestions are very much welcome!

The Vintage Garden

My 2014 intentions of creating one painting a month is going well so far and I have managed to paint a lot lately, which makes me overly happy. This has been my labour of love for the entire month of February, and I love how it turned out! I like the symmetry of the topiary, the details of the garden furniture and even the colour scheme, with which I struggled a bit at the beginning. I’m getting more and more accustomed to this style of painting, and I think I might have found my perfect match. Hope you like it to!
The original painting will be available for purchase in my Etsy shop, but I’m planning to add postards and prints as well.

 
 
 
 

Taxus Baccata

On a bright sunny day, a little branch from a massive yew caught my attention. I brought it home, I looked at it closely, then made a little watercolour out of it. So simple, and so complex at the same time. And next you know it, I got to use my calligraphy set for the first time.

The Vintage Garden

This has been my labour of love for the entire month of February, and I love how it turned out! I like the symmetry of the topiary, the details of the garden furniture and even the colour scheme, with which I struggled a bit at the beginning. I’m getting more and more accustomed to this style of painting, and I think I might have found my perfect match. Hope you like it to!
The original painting will be available for purchase in my Etsy shop, but I’m planning to add postards and prints as well.