meldrum art
I haven’t published my watercolours for a while and my gallery site is 6 months without being updated. It’s time for me to get my act together. Here is a painting that I completed yesterday. More will be published soon.
The painting is titled, “It’s quiet in the archipelago during the winter”. 29 x 23 cm
Last week it was a bad reaction to what I ate, this week I have totally got the flu and seem to spend most of my days sleeping. Yesterday, I managed three small watercolours. I have an exhibition in the Old Town here in Stockholm starting on the 3rd of December so I thought I’d better get a move on. The paintings are rather dark, the days are getting shorter here, the sky is a numbing grey and I don’t feel so good.
My first life drawing since the spring and I decided to use my watercolours. I used cheap Canson watercolour paper, I hate it compared to Arches or Fabriano but it’s just too expensive to waste a block of quality paper during a life drawing session. I used Koo i noor woodless watercolour sticks for the first time, I really liked them so I’ll be using them a lot in future. Each of these watercolours took five minutes to complete, at that speed one cannot hesitate – a quick line sketch of the figure and then paint as much as you can in the remaining time before the pose ends. It’s stressful for sure but I find it exhilarating.
This was my last day in France, the next day I would be making the long journey home to Sweden, a 13 hour trip by rail and air. The day was hot and the sky was a clear blue. I have dicovered through experience that blue skies are generally very boring when it comes to watercolour. It’s much more interesting having rain clouds on the horizon. So I was a little nervous with the painting, I knew it had great potential – I just had to find the right balance. I am happy enough with the result, I would like it to be more loose in style and will probably have another attempt at it here in the studio in the coming months. I will add some human figures to the composition too I think.
Painted on the 26th of August. 41 x 31 cm Arches rough, 300g
This watercolour was painted on the 18rh of August at Paimpol harbour. It was a wet windy day. A lot of the painting was done under an umbrella, that was a first for me. I enjoyed the challenge.
Arches rough, 31 x 23 cm 300g. W&N paints.
I had spent one week with two Swedish friends in Omeath, Co. Louth just south of the border with Northern Ireland. The painting is of Warren Point which on the other side of the water looking north.
50 x 32.5 cm Arches rough 300g.
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| Sunday figure painting |
I was in Japan just after Christmas. I was visiting my son who has put down roots in Tokyo. It’s an amazing place. This watercolour was painted from a photo I took outside a bazaar in Nasukarasuyama north of Tokyo.
Arches rough 300g 50 x 32.5 cm
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| Japanese clay pots 50 x 32.5 cm |
I’ve just spent a lovely week in Brittany, France. This watercolour sketch was painted along the shoreline between Ploubazlanec and Paimpol, Brittany, France.
