Category Archives: David Bellamy

Blog Posts by the artist David Bellamy

Sketching peculiar characters

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It’s been rather wet here lately, bucketing down at times, but I haven’t been able to get out much to take advantage of such atmosphere because of too many deadlines. Sunshine is marvellous for walking and sketching, but the countryside has such glories to show us, whatever the weather. Rain can be quite stimulating, and of course you never know who you’re going to meet on the hills – this chap was clearly enjoying himself, and was well equipped for the conditions.

Whether it was his wife’s frilly pink parasol, or his own, I cared not, though the sharpened pole might have caused concern amongst some. Had I not ventured forth into the Alpine monsoon I’d have missed this glorious spectacle, and naturally my sketchbook was quickly whipped out and the vital aspects of the figure rendered on paper that became rather wet after only a few moments.

I have to hand it to these characters, allowing themselves to be seen with such outlandish accessories. Over the years I’ve accumulated many books of sketches of this more outgoing type of person, a wonderful antidote for those rainy days when you are stuck indoors feeling miserable when your sketching/painting/bog-snorkelling or pancake tossing efforts have gone slightly astray. A small A6 sketchbook, a soft pencil and a few quick lines is all it takes to capture the important points, and the image can be embellished later.

I shall be demonstrating watercolour painting for PONTERWYD & DISTRICT ART CLUB at Syr John Rhys School Hall, Ponterwyd, in Ceredigion between 7 and 9pm on Wednesday 6th June. You are welcome to come along – there is a charge for non-members and information is available from Jenny Dee on 01970 890664

Direct sunlight bleaching out detail in trees

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Capturing sunlight effects in watercolour can be a magical, though sometimes a little less than magical experience, depending on the result. One effect that many artists ignore is that of the sunlight burning out the detail of branches when you look directly into a low sun, yet it can enhance a landscape immeasurably. Usually we observe it only when it intrudes on our scene as backlighting towards sunset, but it is easy enough to go out on a sunny evening and seek out a suitable example.

  Looking directly into the sun can be dangerous to your eyes, so wear dark glasses and don’t look right into the sun. If you use a camera be sure you don’t look at the sun through the lens. Staring into bright light for any length of time can be extremely uncomfortable and cause spots before the eyes, so if you are keen on capturing this effect then keep your gaze away from the brightest part of the sunlight, making sure you are fully protected with sunglasses.
This scene is detail from one of the paintings in my forthcoming book Skies, Light & Atmosphere, and you can see how the strong direct sunlight has bleached out the ends and parts of branches, while at the same time turning them to red and gold. It also has the effect of weakening the strength of tone in the affected parts. Most of this effect was achieved with a fine sable brush – a number 2 or 3. Try out the effect of changing colour and strength of tone on scrap paper, and with a little practice you’ll find it won’t be too difficult a technique to master. Ease the pressure off the brush as you describe the branch, moving outwards from the trunk.
Skies, Light & Atmosphere covers a wide range of landscape subjects and will be available in early June. There is an associated DVD of the same name, available exclusively from our website or at my demonstrations and courses. Watch out for our special offer on the book and DVD

Making the most of stunning light effects

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Jenny and I have just returned from a tour of demonstrating in Yorkshire, to a number of really enthusiastic art societies who gave us a marvellous welcome, as indeed they usually do in Yorkshire. In between we managed some walking, sketching and visiting people. Lovely weather, of course, that is, until we went out sketching and walking!

This scene of stunning evening light we came across in Wharfedale as we were driving along, the stormy sky emphasising the brightness of the incredibly strong light. Rather like a snow scene with a dark sky, watercolourists would normally paint the sky after rendering the light hillside, but how would you cope with such a sharp edge all the way across the composition?

The answer is actually in the photograph if you examine it closely. On the extreme left-hand side the light does not actually reach the topmost part of the hill – a thin slither of the upper section lies in shadow, and you can accentuate this by making the shadow area larger and having a shadow tone about halfway between the dark sky and the light part of the hill. Then again, on the right-hand side the hill-top is in darker shadow, creating counter-change with the lighter sky above it. The larger right-hand tree also breaks up the background line very effectively. It’s an extremey useful exercise to consider these things when you are presented with interesting features, and take photographs and sketches even if they don’t give you a completely satisfactory composition. You can always use the effects in another scene.

Making the most of spring-time

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Here in Mid-Wales the landscape is looking lovely as the leaves spring forth and everything looks so fresh. I’ve been out a lot on the hills walking and sketching in sunshine and showers: the perfect weather for the landscape artist. With clouds scudding past at quite a rate it’s creating a marvellous series of rain-squalls followed by intense light, and if you are happy to put up with the odd dousing you can learn so much from these dramatic atmospheric effects.

With the ever-changing light you can study how the shadows lose parts of the landscape, whilst throwing the emphasis onto those sunlit areas. Shadows cast partly across a mountain face as in the watercolour above can be really appealing, and often a great improvement on painting the whole face the same tone. The device of a darker foreground is an excellent method for suggesting a sense of depth and space in a composition.

The original of this watercolour can currently be seen in the Ardent Gallery at 46 High Street, Brecon. I have recently started exhibiting there and it’s a lovely gallery to visit. They make a delicious cappuccino, as well! Their telephone number is (44) 01874 610710  Make the most of spring-time – it’s a great time for artists to be out.

Having fun with aerial perspective

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The glorious, sunny weather that lasted so long has departed and we now have cloud and cold, but a clearer atmosphere. During most of the sunny days visibility was limited by haze, yet this was quite magical even on the mountain-tops, losing a considerable amount of unwanted detail in the scenery. Often we see too much and end up putting far too many complicated and highly-detailed features into our paintings, so it’s worth looking out for those days when visibility is more limited.

In this section of a watercolour painting of Lether Tor on Dartmoor I have slightly exaggerated the sense of distance and space by reducing the amount of detail beyond the small tree, as well as weakening the tones of the background area. By superimposing the dark tree in front this has the effect of suggesting distance. The cool blue-grey colour of the background ridge further adds to this impression as cool colours recede, while warm colours like reds or oranges, for example, will tend to come forward. Splashing a hint of warm colour into your foreground can be extremely effective, even if that colour is not actually present. In this scene I have used light red and yellow ochre in the foreground.

Murky days, therefore, do have their advantages, and can provide a fascinating surprise from time to time, and if you love the countryside as much as Jenny and I do, then you’ll want to be out in it as often as possible, so make the most of the Easter break and enjoy it, come sunshine or gloom!