Another Quick Tip - Experimenting with new tools and techniques

This is a simple recycling tip, to help keep your brushes happy. Stay watching for the Extra Bonus Tip about cleaning watercolour brushes at the end.

Still experimenting with new techniques and tools to create these videos. I just updated my very old version of VideoStudio, to the last every (2023) version. Despite the "end of the road" vibes. It does what I need. Faster rendering and higher resolution. Not to mention several new features to learn. This video for YouTube was filmed on my phone and edited with Corel VideoStudio.

So I still have a lot to learn about filming, presenting and more professional editing, BUT I am learning and enjoying myself. Maybe these tips might help or interest you.

Keeping it Simple for Plein Air Painting

Nothing kills the joy of plein air painting faster than battling the elements and lugging around excessive gear. As a passionate outdoor painter, I've learned some tricks to streamline my setup and focus on the act of creating.

The biggest hassle is managing the paper, the surface to paint on. Wind is the natural enemy of a damp painting, and rain can smudge your masterpiece in seconds if you're not prepared. Over the years, I've realized that less is more when it comes to plein air essentials.

My humble blue canvas bag has become an invaluable ally. It comfortably fits pads and blocks up to roughly A3 size - plenty of room for field studies done in the open air's changeable conditions. I typically pack A4 or A5 pads or blocks of watercolor paper, sometimes supplemented with  inexpensive cartridge paper for simple sketches and pen drawings

A couple of drawing boards with tripod attachments also slip into the bag nicely. Their firm surfaces help keep the pads in place, and a few bulldog clips allow me to secure paintings-in-progress between the boards if I need to pack up quickly due to unexpected showers.

By the way, painting outdoors is great I love it

Connecting What and Who are the Wednesday Wanderers?

 What were you doing during the lockdowns? (well assuming they are over) 

Here is something I did and we are having an exhibition, If you are in Melbourne or allowed into Victoria please come and have a look.

Wednesday Wanderers was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Unable to meet or paint en plein air during strict lockdowns, three committee members from the Watercolour Society of Victoria were feeling isolated and fed up with their own four walls.  It’s easy to forget that before COVID, many people had never used or even heard of Zoom.  We used it to connect a diverse community of watercolourists interested in escaping from the pandemic blues once a week.  We adopted a quirky speed painting format that challenged our skills and fit in with the technology requirements. 

Immediately it became apparent that there was a need for something like this, as membership quickly grew.  It has enabled artists who could never have come to a real-world paint-out to spend time some enjoyable time painting together in a safe environment.  Time poor artists, artists who live far from Melbourne, housebound artists, and those caring for family members. 

 We continue to meet fortnightly now that lockdowns are presumably a thing of the past.  We now have Wanderers in many parts of Victoria, as well as New South Wales, Western Australia, and the United States.  We have become a warm, welcoming community that continues to grow.

,,, Jane Elliston

Another Sponge Tip for Watercolourists

Carting around water pods at the beach, if your sketching can be just one extra task too many. I decided to try out using a couple of pieces of foam/sponge. One to clean pigment off the brush to other to hole clean water to wet the brush.

Van Gogh the Seasons

The NGVs winter extravaganza, the 2017 Winter Masterpieces, is a collection of Van Gogh’s work from several periods related to his focus on capturing the seasons.

It was just a little too busy for me, I was continually crossing paths with a guided tour and because photograph is not only allowed but also encourage so there was a line up in front of all the later paintings. Still there was a very comprehensive range of work from early scrapbook inspirations through to a small self portrait.

I have always liked Van Gogh’s line/marks of tortured brush strokes in his wheat fields and cypress trees. I had not realised they where subjects that tortured him. Perhaps I would have liked to see a few more of his drawing

David Stratton and David Wenham’s multi-media guide provides a lot of context and is really worth listening too before you visit the exhibition.

“I’m drawing a great deal and think it’s getting better.” – Vincent van Gogh

The Summer People Series begins

After mucking around with the frame within a frame idea. I remembered a painted I did almost a decade ago, of beach people in outline with a loosely framed sections of a stylized beach (it is about 900 by 900cm square). I still like it and despite a couple of decent offers have not sold it.

So I decided to update the idea of a smaller instargam-ish fashion image (only 20cm by 20cm) and just paint the background of the sky, surf and sand in bright acrylic colours in a beach sand inspired frame. Once I started I released I should also paint the brightly coloured (or not beachwear) but leave the people blank (representing they are only short term summer visitors to the beach). I also wanted strong outline so I found some Indian ink and cut some reed pens.

 

I like the result (at least this first attempt)

This is a small step in my EndlessSummer project, and you can follow along on my @Oz_EndlessSummer instagram

Creative Spaces :: The Plein-air Sketching Kit

I enjoy painting and sketching outside. Very little of this work gets directly into exhibition pieces but that’s not really my purpose. I find I do remember more and connect with a place more strongly when I have spent a little time sketching.

Over time my “sketching bag” has evolved to include more paints (watercolours and water soluble media) and brushes. If I use pencils they will probably be really soft (eg 4B or 6B) but I have begun to use ink pens more often. I’ve become a real fan of Derwent’s Inktense blocks.  Whilst charcoal is good for the studio, it can’t stand the travel and rough handling so I have found conte is way better.

I currently have two identical smaller re-purposed shoulder carry bags (handout from a tour group) and have them fitted out with similar basics. One is just a little more slimmed down than the other. Things get used up and I make occasional changes of what I consider is essential, particularly the surfaces I am painting/drawing on. Sometime I just have a basic sketch book, other times I might want good quality watercolour paper (ie > 300gsm) I pretty well always have one packed and ready to go. At the moment I have only the one folio to carry better quality media (ie individual watercolour or pastel papers) it also holds a drawing board that can be attached to a camera tripod, (see my tripod easel post), This normally travels with the larger kit which is logical as it has more watercolour paints.

Yes all that stuff does fit in the dark blue bag! Easily!

ArtInspired :: More Inspiration from Fred Williams

One of my Fred William’s inspired experiments escaped into the wilds of Flickr a bit sooner than I was ready for (image on the right). It is based on a series of bracketed photos I took in the Deadman’s Gully park/wetlands behind Clifton Beach, just north of Cairns. I really liked the abstract patterns of the light and shade, particular as captured in a series of autoawesome HDR* images google had produced BUT whilst the shapes where amazing the colours where not realistic and somewhat hideous. I felt they did not convey “a true sense of the place”.

The problem of getting the colour right might not worry many but Fred Williams definitely did honestly represent the colour and texture of the Australian landscape. He also likely to being the process out in the landscape as a way to anchor his works with a true sense of the place. I actually don’t have a sketch to go with these images but I do have a couple of pages in my sketchbook that document all the water based media for sketch I had taken on my trip to north Queensland,. It wasn’t hard to scan this and use it on Corel Painter Essentials 4 (yes I haven’t updated yet!) to modify the palette of colours used in my strips. I then autopainted with a standard round watercolour brush to resample these images using my colour palette to give a more watercolour/gouache look. Much closer to what I remember of the place but still about the shapes and textures.

The final step was to place the strips over another HDR image from the set and now the images is working much better as a classic William’s painting that changes your sense of the place as space as you interact with the image. To do this display the Flickr image below full screen. Being by looking in detail close up and slowly step back still focussed on the image. You should soon reach the point where you feel you are there. Enjoying the shade and respite from the burning glare of the sun. Perhaps you are looking for your next meal, a large eel lurking in the pools, perhaps a fat mud crab hiding in the gnarled roots or perhaps you have an eye peeled for that crocodile looking for his dinner.

Time & Tide

Coastal view inspired by Fred William’s strip paintings.

Are Faux Painting Effects Art?

I have never been a fan of those zany art filters (the ones that dominated the early photo app offering, not to mention a few photo mangers). Basically they look really lame, its the mark making that just isn't there, no personality no passion. However I'm not against appropriate image manipulation and I'm interested in and infavour of dipping a paint brush into a photo. 
Experimenting with Autodesk's Pixlr App, with a watercolour style render and torn paper edge. Perhaps we are starting to get there (check out the "brush marks on" the wing tips)?

Taking the time to really look

There is a slight optical trick here, go to flickr and make this image full screen then look at it from close up. Your eye will be fascinated with the pattern and texture of the bark, and that will dominate what you see, Then stand and move back a few place and you will start to see the beach where this tree grows.

Working on the inspiration of Fred William's paintings of the essence of the Australian Landscape.

What is Clone Painting?

I have been a long time fan of Corel products. Corel Draw is still my go to graphics program and I use AfterShot Pro all the time now. I also have Corel Painter Essential 4 (it was bundled with my Wacom portable bamboo tablet) and Painter Lite (it was bundled with AfterShot pro). These latter two programs allow you to paint on layers over any photo and do some sampling from the image (such a colour and tone). Unlike other "artistic" filters that algorithmicly change the whole image, these works at the stroke level and the type of stroke you make leaves an authentic mark for the media and brush or pen you have selected. Well Corel have just release Painter Essentials 5, which is clearly aimed at the "art enthusiasts and emerging photo artists who want to go beyond ordinary and turn everyday inspiration into wildly impressive art". There is an autopaint setting (which can try its best to make marks suiting the media you choose). However this is really a fantastic product for anyone that wants to be creative and show their own originality (Specifically haven't already invested a lot of time and money learning the fancier side of Photoshop.)


So what is clone painting? other than a term invented by corel! It is the process of "painting" on a new layer (or layers) by sampling the underlying photo. pretty well any package that has a clone stamp and layers capabililty can do it (eg photoshop, gimp and even paint.net). At the simplest level you could say trace over the edges in your photo with a pencil (the analogy outlines on a sheet of tracing paper is good for this process). The you might change to a watercolour style brush and by again sampling the colour and tone from the photo below start to paint in the image (in a process somewhat like colouring in). Using a mouse to do this is possible but having a pen and tablet makes this all very natural and brings a lot of hand drawn authenticity into the resulting image.. The Corel Painter Series products have taken this to a high degree of sophistication by allowing automatically sampling the point under the brush at any time. Other packages may require that you dip your brush (or an eye dropper) into the photos to get the colour you want each time you need to change. Using a soft edge cloning tools some of the brush strokes may even copy the image below to the width of the brush being used and with a little feathering at the edge.

Clone Painted Self Portrait (via Corel Painter Lite)

Whilst some purist artists may look down on this process, there are very many younger artists that are running with this technique and producing beautiful and original work, Often they identify under the grouping digital artists (on a whole different level to those posting those "no longer zany" instagram filters).

Vive la différence !

More Sketching

  

Collecting Photographic Reference for Paintings

I was fascinated with the contorted shapes of the branches of some of the mature trees along the coastal walk (the promenade at Point Lonsdale) and felt they could make an interesting series of paintings. I carry a very small sketch book (A7 sized) in my camera bag (and in fact did a few scribbles as I had a coffee over he road). A digital camera can be a vey hand thing for an artist. However I like to use mine as a sketch book taking down important details giving and overall view, I shot many photos that may never see lightroom and printing, they are more an aide-mémoire. I also like to capture at least a couple of bracketed sets to be able some additional tonal investigation when I have a chance.

This tree, possibly a very mature bearded heath, overhangs the path. I original figured I could make a “joiner” collage, but the HDR worked out well so I got an autostiched HDR panorama, Now hopefully I have a better memory to inspire a wonderful painting?

PhotoFriday :: My Obsessions

Selfportrait in Photo, Paint & Sketch

For PhotoFriday‘s topic My Obession(s)

PhotoProject :: Dipping a paint brush into a photo

I’m really not sure where I saw it described this way, perhaps it was an advert for a webinar or maybe a Corel or Wacom promotion, but I like the idea of being able to dip my paint brush into a photo and come up with something original. Not yet another corny “art” filter style process that produces a fairly unconvincing and “distressed” faux art/photo image. I’m not totally against these, when used with constraint they can produce some wonderful work, but the reality is they get overused without much thought and specific effects tend to come and go out of fashion quickly. What I have been looking for is something that lets you leave your own marks but at the same time borrows heavily from the colour and perhaps composition of the photo. An interpretation of the essence of the photo’s subject not a slavish representation of all the detail. I have been using corel painter essential with a wacom tablet for a couple of years and like them but for this project I thought I might try out the new Painter Lite from Corel.(you can download a 15 day free trial) I was primarily interested in any new brushes and changes to the colour mixing panel.
  
After selecting a suitable photo I used the clone tool in Corel Photo Paint, but any software with a clone tool will do, to remove a few unnecessary details (eg all the people other than the guy sailing the yacht). I also extended the canvas, using the sky colour and smeared the edges a little.

Rather than directly altering the photo I first loaded my photo into the canvas and then created a new custom colour mix panel using the eye dropper on the image and the brush in the mix palette. Note I have taken a range oF colours and tones from the sky, water and sand and a few colours from the sails, boat hull and channel marker buoy. I have also mixed the colours a little. So there is a limit palette of colours mixed on my palette much like any artist might. Next I created a new layer and did a very rough composition sketch with a few key lines. This is just a guide for my painting and I will delete this layer later. Next is the fun bit I created another new layer between my canvas and the sketch layer and  using the gouache and target brushes to infill my sketch lines using the colours from the new mix panel to create a fairly strong underpainting. As you paint on this layer it becomes opaque hiding the photo underneath. I experimented with turning the canvas layer on and off and ended up liking the idea of having the photo open in a separate window as on onscreen reference rather than checking the underlying image on the canvas. Storing the image at this point as a ..riff file will store all the layers and setting. Next I turned off the guide sketch layer, Then I zoomed in blended and refined the image a little using the “wet” watercolour brushes and touched up the detail using a variety of smaller brushes and my custom colour mix, resisting the urge to overwork things too much. I also tried to delete the canvas layer but found I could not.  However if I saved the image as a .jpeg it only saved the layers I had selected as visible.

There are probably many other variants of this approach out there in corel and other packages but I was rather pleased with my results and the simplicity of the method.

Here is quiet a different take on painting onto a photo, again using Painter Lite, but this time the artist Claudia Salguero is using distortion tools rather than “digital” paint or ink.

I’m starting to think that this dipping a brush into a photo has enormous possibilities, with the potential to create good art rather than just another clone faux photo,

PaintProject :: Waves Diptych 2

 
Waves interpreted in acrylic paint

Making it look easy

I really enjoyed the drawing and writing course run this weekend by the Broadland Art Centre, called “An Illustrated Norfolk Journal”. Here David Hurrell is demonstrating how just three colours, cobalt blue, light red and yellow ochre can be used to develop a typical Norfolk scene, with just a touch of help from some extra viridian (to help the foreground vegetation) and a thin lemon yellow wash to add sunshine (David’s word). Damn he makes it look so easy.
You can see the scene in the middle of the panaroma from How Hill (above) click on this photosynth image and use your mouse wheel to zoom in and out (or use the plus minus boxes. Your mouse movement will pan you across the image. Find the wind pump down beside the river. Find how many boats are visible on the broads. What are the couple on the right doing in the bushes? Click on the little rectangular icon, with a solid square inside it, to make the image full screen then scroll around you'll be amazed. This photosynth is made out of 14 overlapping photos and constructed with microsoft's ICE software
 
So maybe my sketched book is light on actual sketches but it is bursting with writing, painting ideas and experiments. Did I mention I took lots of photos! Most importantly I found inspiration and new techniques and especially new greens, ways to look at gates. To look up for inspiring skys and forest canopies and down to avoid stinging nettles and the cow pats.

Thanks Angela, David and Nina for a great course. Highly Recommended

selfportrait of the artist