Watercolour!

Watercolour by Stanislaw Zoladz

Stanislaw Zoladz was born in Poland and today lives in Nacka, Sweden. His water reflections are so photo-realistic! It's not what I personally aspire to as a student of watercolour, I think impressionism is my thing but it doesn't stop me admiring the incredible detail and skill of his work. His website is well worth a visit. Click here to visit.

Lunch Sketch #11

This lunch time sketch was completed yesterday, it took two lunch breaks to finish (30 mins x 2). My learning curve is still pointing in a steep upward direction, so I am happy enough with this. I am studying from great watercolour artists on DVD but it is one thing to listen and another to execute. I have also noticed that it's hard to be expressive on an A5 piece of paper, not much room for a daring stroke from my loaded brush but then again, maybe this is a good thing!

Watercolour sketch by David Meldrum

Joseph Zbukvic, watercolour master

I have a DVD, "Rural France in Watercolour" by  Joseph Zbukvic which I am enjoying immensely. I visited his homepage last night and found so many inspirational watercolours. Make sure you check out the gallery page and visit the first gallery, Joseph's work is there plus other great artists. I haven't trawled the other galleries yet but I will over the next coming week. I love surfing, discovery at every mouse click!

Joseph Zbukvic homage to Monet

Banksy's Exit Through The Gift Shop

If anyone likes the concept of street art then this film is a must! I saw it at the weekend and found it very entertaining. Banksy does it again!

Charles Reid Landscapes

I have recently enjoyed watching Charles Reid paint portraits on DVD and feel very inspired by him. I am learning technique for the first time in my life and not surprisingly I am seeing the benefits of it in my art. In the below youTube trailer it looks like Charles sits inside some clubhouse most of the time to draw and paint his landscapes but from the reviews it seems to be a very good tutorial video, two hours and 15 minutes of invaluable tips. It's on my shopping list!

Louis le Brocquy, artist 1916 - 2012

Irish artist Louis le Brocquy died last month, I'd forgotten how good he was, I don't know if he hung out with Bacon and Freud but his work is quite similar. I'm currently learning to paint watercolour portraits the Charles Reid way, Louis le Brocquy has a surprisingly similar watercolour style, ...although Charles Reid seems to be more cheerful in personality. Visit: http://www.lebrocquy.com/ Unfortunately his website is difficult to navigate but it's worth the visit. Louis le Brocquy obituary, in The Guardian

Louis le Brocquy

Lunch Sketch #10

This watercolour sketch took one hour to complete, half an hour yesterday and the rest today.

Watercolour sketch by David Meldrum

Sandra Flood, portrait artist with composition skills

I came across Sandra Flood's website while surfing last night, her oil painting technique is very good but her composition talent is even better. I really enjoyed trawling her site.

Sandra Flood

Afterwards...

After watching the Charles Reid DVD on watercolouring and feeling really inspired, I went and drew in pen and ink, see the drawing below - it doesn't make sense sometimes how my brain works...

Drawing by David Meldrum

Learning to watercolour

I received two great DVD's in the post yesterday. Watercolouring by Charles Reid and Alvaro Castagnet. I have watched the Charles Reid film and found it really inspiring, so hopefully you will see a big improvement in my watercolouring very soon! It would be nice to go on a watercolour course with these guys but I could not afford it. I recommend these tutorials to anyone who is interested in improving their skills. Not recommended for beginners. Go here if you would like to see more tutorial videos from APV.

Life drawing watercolour

I struggled tonight at my life drawing session, some days one should just do something else.

Urban sketching by Mika Törönen

Mika Törönen, an urban sketcher how uses an impressionistic style. To visit his web site click here or see his YouTube channel here.