Category Archives: Skies in Watercolour

DAVID BELLAMY ADDING SUPER-TEXTURE TO YOUR WATERCOLOURS

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Next month, my new book, Watercolour and Beyond is published by Search Press. It’s quite different from my earlier books in that although it begins with traditional techniques it is mainly concerned with introducing new methods to watercolour landscape painting. One example shows how to use masking fluid not just for masking out intricate details, but to employ it in a much more creative manner. Or producing delightful effects by stamping with cosmetic sponges and variegated colours. Super-granulating colours can achieve spectacular passages in your work, and by introducing non-art materials into your landscape compositions your can add a new dimension. There are also ideas for various projects, some of which don’t involve creating wall-hung art, but give you alternatives for your work.

The painting I have chosen as an example from the book shows how a foreground can be embellished with Daniel Smith Watercolour Ground, which is rather like gesso in consistency, but it will happily take your watercolour washes. I have cut out a large part of the composition so that it’s easier for you to see the amazing textural effects you can achieve with this method.

To suggest the rough foreground Daniel Smith Watercolour Ground was laid on with a painting knife a couple of days before beginning the painting, and in the final stages I laid washes of Naples yellow, potters pink and pthalo blue over the watercolour ground, merging them all in while they were still wet. The ground is especially effective in rendering rocks, cliffs, rough walls, mountainsides, river banks and many other landscape features.

One of the main aims in writing Watercolour and Beyond was to encourage experimentation and bring a sense of joy into painting. Whether you paint full-time or just now and then you will find the techniques and ideas crammed into its pages will give you plenty of inspiration and a wonderful feeling of trying something new in your painting. We no longer have a mail-order shop, but of course you can get the book direct from www.searchpress.com or from your local bookshop.

On Saturday 3rd May the Erwood Station Landscape Artist of the Year competition gets under way with the first heat. There will be one heat each month throughout the summer, and if you wish to participate you can get information at 01982 560555. It is a great place to spend the day painting with others, and is a great learning experience. I shall be one of the judges during the first heat, so maybe I’ll see you there.

David Bellamy – Painting an tranquil evening sky

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 I’ve just delivered some paintings to the Attic Gallery in Swansea’s Maritime Quarter for a mixed show running until 26th March, and there are some excellent works on display. You will find the gallery at 37 Pocketts Wharf, SA1 3XL and the telephone number is 01792 653387. My mainly Pembrokeshire scenes includes one of my favourite locations of East Angle Bay.

This watercolour shows a tranquil winter evening with Angle church forming the centre of interest. I’ve kept the main design in harmony with the emphasis on horizontals on the creek, the lie of the land and with the clouds. In the sky the Aussie red gold also has a horizontal bias and is deliberately strong around the lightest part of the sky to heighten the glow. Positioning the church with the creek leading towards it, and the reflected light on the water brings it all together and it is important to ensure that all these varied elements support one another in this way. Sometimes nature needs a little tweaking to produce a good composition. 

 If you are planning on exploring more of the UK rather than travelling abroad this year you may well find the Great British Wildlife & Environment Map of great help. It features over 1,500 wildlife hotspots, eco events, conservation projects and days out in the natural environment, places where it holds interest for those artists who love to get out amidst nature and perhaps sit quietly to observe wildlife. It has an amazing amount of detail on both sides and is produced by marvellousmaps.com

David Bellamy – Painting in hot weather

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We’ve had intense heat here in Wales now for weeks, and the landscape is starting to resemble a desert in places. For the landscape artist it’s an interesting time, and strangely our skies have not been entirely blue and cloudless – in fact the cloudscapes have been fascinating and worth sketching in their own right. Here are a few tips for working outside on hot days:

  • Get up at 6am and be out there sketching and painting by 7am while it’s still cool;
  • Try to keep the paper out of direct sunlight as it hurts the eyes and affects tonal values;
  • Use plenty of water, both in your washes and to drink!
  • Watch that suncream as it can act as a resist to watercolours;
  • In case you don’t find any shade take along a sun-shade or umbrella;
  • Make the most of those lovely cast shadows, and they will be at their best at 7 am!
The Patchings Art festival takes place from Thursday 12th to Sunday 15th, and we will be there on the first three days. I shall be demonstrating in the St Cuthberts Mill marquee on their marvellous Saunders Waterford paper. We also have a stand in the art materials marquee, so do come along and have a chat. The festival is incredibly popular and is just about the best day out in the country for the aspiring artist.
I have just dropped a number of paintings in to the Ardent Gallery in the High Street, Brecon. If you are in the area do pop in and have a look around as they have some lovely work on display. Their telephone number is 01874 623333. The watercolour of Cottage on Mynydd Dinas (see below) is one on display.
 
The brooding sky and background moorland ridge throws the emphasis firmly onto the sunlight cottage forming the centre of interest. Note how I have slightly darkened the lower part of the cottage roof in order to make it stand out against the stark white of the front wall. Sadly, there are not many of these traditional old Pembrokeshire cottages remaining now.
We are taking a group of painters to Ronda in Spain during September, and the painting holiday booked up very quickly. Unfortunately two people have had to drop out because of illness, so if you fancy coming along you will be very welcome. Details of the painting holiday are at http://www.davidbellamy.co.uk/painting-holiday-to-andalucia-september-2018/  It is organised by West Norfolk Arts who do a really superb job of organising these holidays for us, and they appear to know every shady spot around the Mediterranean!

David Bellamy – Skies as part of the composition

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It is a sad fact that in many paintings skies are painted without much forethought, when in fact they should be considered as an intrinsic part of the composition. They not only set the mood and lighting effects, but clouds, sun, squalls, lightning and stormy effects can all be positioned and treated sympathetically in relation to the ground features, especially mountains, hills and trees with which the sky comes into contact.

In this watercolour from my new book David Bellamy’s Arctic Light I have placed the most interesting part of the sky close to the summit of the Geologryggen peak and directly above the polar bear, thus bringing all the main elements together. For this painting, done on Saunders Waterford rough high white paper I began by wetting the whole sky area then working in quinacridone gold around the brightest point, and immediately blending in permanent orange to warm it up even more. I had already mixed up a wash of Moonglow with French ultramarine and applied this to the rest of the sky. While this was all still wet I brought in some much stronger Moonglow to apply the darker clouds wet-into-wet. Note the counterchange where mountain meets sky – the right-hand side shows the mountain slope dark against light, as is the rocky summit, but the rest reveals a sky darker than the snowy ridges. The paints I used here are the Daniel Smith watercolour range which have some amazingly gorgeous colours.

So, when you are doing those thumbnail sketches to work out your composition, don’t forget to include the sky, unless it covers a small part of the work. For those who enjoy painting skies and really want some good examples the Arctic book is a real treasury as it is crammed with a whole variety of skies suitable whether you are painting in Bognor, Bornholm or wherever. For further details see my website.

I will be signing my book at Stanfords map shop in Covent Garden on July 10th, so if you would like to come along and have a chat or ask any questions, then please get in touch with Mary Ellingham at Search Press on marye@searchpress.com or telephone 01892 510 850