One could also call it “Turner Colour Therapy” – again I very much enjoyed being guided by Turner’ s bold colours and loose style, the vage composition and the pure indulgence in getting all those wonderful shades of yellows, reds, purples, blues and darkish brown grey on the paper. I really do not know exactly why it feels so uplifting to paint like that, but it does and it gets me out of my head and away from focussing too much on tiny details.
So here we have the finished new misty mountains painting I mentioned, which took some time to complete and was captivating for me to work on. I do like the foggy misty shadowy effects and find it quite exhilerating to execute them, curiously anticipating their outcome. Watercolour is quite a temperamental medium. But then – when the effects turn out in an appealing way it really is rewarding. I am glad the paper held strong with my many layerings and colour liftings as it is a softer sort with which my experiences were not that exellent.
This painting is based on a reference pic from Pixabay which screamed at me: “Please paint me in watercolour!”. And so I did. With the rainy greyish skies we have here and all the other everyday hassles and worries, I am convinced some colourful artwork can be and often is THE antidote.
This is the free reference pic from Pixabay, a great photo I think:
So these are some paintings I finished recently, two of them based on pictures I posted in my last blogpost “November Skies”, with my own photos as references. These are again in watercolour, and I am at present painting another “misty mountains” scenery which I am really enjoying, somehow I really like the colours and slightly hidden landscape elements in these kinds of pictures.
I am learning how to create some atmospheric sunbeams through leafs and “shrubbery” with the help of an online-course which is really good. It is quite a challenge – but worth it. In any way, such paintings involve quite some more planning than I usualle do, and then some prepping-paperwetting-layering-waiting to dry and more layering layering layering… So the next blogpost will probably contain some examples of my endeavours.
see below two work in progress pics for this painting
here the masking fluid is off, I added some contrast and in some more salt in other areas, f.i. on the left between the trees on the slightly darkended blueish sky part
The Scottish castle painting here is a bigger version of a small sketchbook-painting I posted some time ago. I just very very much like the atmosphere and scenery of this (the reference pic is from Pixabay, by the way), and do not see any reason why not to revisit it (as Turner did, by the way, quite often with some of his paintings).
So this is a fake urban sketch one could say as I used a reference photo rather that really sketching/painting the scene en plein air. Because that is not my thing, I discovered. Way too much distractions. I need quiet surrounding when painting. This is our old town hall in Oldenburg. I often enjoy looking at these buildings here where I live – they remind me a lot of Stockholm which I consider a beautiful city. SO very similar in colour and style. This sketch was done with ink and watercolour.
So this is a painting in watercolour and ink I finished quite quickly, adorning the very last page of my beloved wee sketchbook. It is based on a brilliant pic by my friend @mikoschgroen aka Mike Groenefeld, who gratiously encouraged me to try this out. It was very challenging, getting the blue tones right and I must admit I am not alltogether content with it. But that is okay as I had a fantastic photo-op-day myself with sunny winterskies and plenty of pretty frosty nature to capture.
This is another watercolour painting in my sketchbook with some autumnal colours but now with some frost added – winter is here! Reflektions are always a challenge but interesting to try out each time the occasion arises. My sketchbook hat only one free page left now – I started it in July 2020 as an antidote to the trying times of the pandemic, and it gives me pleasure to go through it and see how much I enjoyed and learned when painting/sketching in it.
So this was supposed to be another slightly gloomy scene in the woods, a bit mysterious & spooky, a bit of Fangorn…but the bright autumnal colours somehow needed to break through, and I gladly let them :-). There are 3 more pages left in my wee sketchbook, so I can and will try again for a foggy-misty-darkish landscape.
I used watercolour, watercolour pencils and a hint of ink.
So here is some more nature for you. Autumn definetly has some nice colours to offer… This little painting is done in watercolour and ink.
So I´ve been working a bit more with watercolour and ink, these are some of the new pieces I finished.
Most of the bookmarks I gave away as presents (which were well received), it was fun to make them.
This darkish ink sketch is based on a absolutely gorgeous atmospheric photo by a friend of mine, Mike Groenefeld @mikoschgroen. I was completely blown away by it and had been looking for such a reference pic to sketch for some time, indulging in my love for black ink sketches.
And to lighten up the dark a bit, I painted this with watercolour and ink, based on a photo I took – I like the springlike lush colours, and I do like birches anyway 😉
Even though l did not really feel that insipred or motivated lately, I did some more sketches in watercolour.
I came across these two enchanting mediteranean doors when travelling in Spain and Italy some years ago. So here I really focused on sketching quite boldy, trying to catch the atmosphere, not bothering too much on details.
Left: in Ronda, Andalucia Right: somewhere in Sicilly
This is my FIRST en plein air painting at the river – in boiling heat and with murderous horseflies, but all the same: a great experience especially because I had planned to try this out for some time. I sketched quickly directly at the river with pencil and watercolour and then worked on it some more at home.
Will do it again…
Cris´s blog of art & craft 
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