Robin in Flight

Free sketching of a robin in flight. I like drawing in this notebook which is pictured below in my kitchen/studio general set up. I don't usually like painting on thin paper, but somehow this notebook seems to be an exception. The size of this notebook is larger than I am used to (15cm x 21 cm closed) and that may be the reason why it works.

This shows the general set up of my kitchen studio. I've taken the photograph after I finished the painting, for size reference of my notebook. On the right is the graphite pencil I am using quite a lot recently for sketching. The lead is quite hard so I could draw faint lines or heavy lines with it. I think I bought it when I went to see Degas exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art. The pencil being a souvenir item, it doesn't specifically say the hardness of the lead, but it feels like HB. I wouldn't have thought I would be using this pencil this much when I bought it. You never know which drawing tool will become your favourite!

Blue Tit in Flight

Blue Tit in Flight, Watercolour on 280g Fabriano NOT Paper, 7'5"x5'5", 19cm x 14cm

At the drawing stage, I wasn't quite sure about this painting but it turned out OK, I think. It is painted on NOT paper which has slightly rough texture, and I was drawing using hard graphite pencil and I didn't much like the quality of the lines I was getting, or the scratchy sensation I was getting from the paper surface. That doesn't bother me when I am drawing the landscape. I think it's the small bird and its delicate feathers that don't quite match the paper surface or the drawing medium I was using. Next time I paint a bird, I think I should try smooth paper and see how it feels like.

Having said this, I am quite happy how it turned out. To finish off the painting, I put a tiny tiny amount of white gouache in its eye. If I have to put the highlight at the end, it is always a nervous moment. The eyes make or break the painting, if I put just slightly wrong amount of white and the eyes would look all wrong. Thankfully for this painting it worked.

Miniature Paintbox

I think a lot of watercolour enthusiasts end up collecting paint boxes and palettes. Me I'm no exception. What is it that's so attractive about paintboxes, I don't know, but I ended up owning way more than I need. I think it is a pursuit to find the best paintbox that suits your needs. But sometimes you HAVE TO buy a paintbox that actually has no practical use and here's the example. It's the smallest paintbox I own. I believe the paints are genuine, but I am not going to find out. I bought it from Miniature Treasures. I am very lucky to own this piece of beautiful artefact!

Until I bought the miniature paintbox, the Winsor & Newton Bijou Box was my smallest box and it was my baby. Now the Bijou Box looks like a grown-up!

 

Goldfinches in Flight

I. LOVE. BIRDS. I stumbled upon a beautiful photograph of goldfinches arguing in flight while surfing on the web, and I couldn't help painting it. Goldfinches are so unique with such striking colours of intense red, yellow and black. A true natures' wonderment.

It is drawn with hard graphite pencil and painted with watercolour in a notebook with quite thin paper. The surface of the paper is very smooth and the graphite pencil runs nicely on the surface, creating free flow of lines which I enjoy very much. The thing about drawing/painting in this notebook is that I feel very casual about making marks and not afraid of making mistakes or I don't care if it will become a successful image. And this often end up in a picture I am satisfied with, because it looks much more alive and free than the ones painted with a lot more care on a proper heavy weight watercolour paper.

A Landscape

A watercolour landscape incorporating water surface and trees, and some warm colours. I have gone over on trees too many times on the left bank, and it looks busy with small brush strokes. Still working to "get there" with the fewest brush strokes. I need to work on perspectives and the base drawing that the watercolour hang on. I find that if the drawing doesn't look right, then it will never look right in the finished product so - really need to get that basics right. I am kind of happy that I see some warm colours in the painting, but again the houses don't exactly look right and they could also have been toned down to more neutral, muted colours in accordance with the right bank. Well well, so so so many things to consider!