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!

Drawing people

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Whilst landscape is my main subject material, I am fascinated by people – not just as small figures within the landscape environment, but as subjects in themselves, especially those with plenty of character. Most of the time I draw them without them realising I am doing so, but occasionally I ask if they would make a particularly interesting study. Overseas I do sometimes get asked to draw them, even if they just see me drawing a plant or a landscape, and it can lead to fascinating encounters.

Cafes, trains, stations and all forms of gatherings are all good places to find people worth sketching, though I’ve also done such sketching in really diverse places. If you feel bashful you can always keep your sketchbook hidden inside a copy of the Beano or similar comic, and use a stub of a pencil so that it’s not obvious that you are drawing. The last thing you want to do is attract unwanted attention by being too blatant about it! Rather than aiming to achieve a great likeness to the person, I tend to be more interested in the way people hold themselves, whatever they are doing. Action drawings are fine, but what do people do with their hands, arms and legs when they are just sitting or standing? This can be a real problem for artists if you have no reference material.
The key is often where the main weight of the body lies, and how it is balanced. Begin with an overall faint, loose drawing and when you are confident that you have everything where it should be, then you can apply bolder strokes of the pen, pencil, or whatever you use. Note how the head appears: is it bent forward, held straight or to one side, or what? If you go straight for the detail you will miss these vital points, whether you are doing a serious character study or a madcap caricature.

The scene (the sort of thing you would best avoid if possible!) is from The Grog Invasion, an illustrated tale about the Llandoddies, the water-folk of Llandrindod Wells, and available on our website,  http://www.davidbellamy.co.uk

Painting three-legged sheep

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This is a lovely time of year in the British countryside: the lanes are rife with daffodils around us, blossom is appearing, the hawthorn is already budding in profusion and lambs are chasing each other across the fields. With week after week of glorious sunshine it’s been a great time to get out sketching, and as you can glean so much from engaging the locals I stop to chat whenever I can. The previous weekend I met a farmer who simply wouldn’t stop talking.

“Had triplets last night,” he said, matter-of-factly.
“Really?” I half-queried, trying to keep a straight face.
“Trouble is, only got two t-ts.”  I raised my eyebrows, unsure of who or what he was describing.
“But I got the old ewe to give one away, with a bit of persuading.” At this point I felt we were probably discussing the problems of the mother sheep, and turned to my sketchbook.

Sheep can add life to a scene and are not that difficult to draw. I rarely give them four legs as it can appear over-crowded in a painting: three is quite sufficient. I sometimes give white-faced ones a black head to make them stand out, otherwise paint in a darker tone around them as I’ve done in this part of a watercolour composition. When out I do photograph them, but enjoy drawing them as it can usually convey a better sense of movement and dynamism – not that the sheep is especially dynamic!
This weekend I was again out on the hills when several sheepdogs raced into view around the sheep. Quickly I reached for my pencil as the farmer drove into sight in his land-rover. Alas, the dogs were ignoring the sheep, and simply hurtling past. I had hoped to get an interesting round-up scene. Even the farmer didn’t stop, just hurtled past with a wave, so I missed that one. You can’t win them all, I guess, but you have to keep trying. It’s all part of the fun…….

Sketching on Marloes Beach, Pembrokeshire

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Marloes Beach, Pembrokeshire

Marloes Beach, Pembrokeshire
Here I am again harping on about the advantages of sketching in front of your subject over taking a photograph.
Well I make no apologies, these two images illustrate the point perfectly. In the photograph the intense light has reduced the headlands and rocks on the beach to silhouettes. The photograph was taken with a small digital camera and unless you are very familiar with all the functions of your camera this is the most likely result you will get.

Sketch Marloes Beach

Sketch Marloes Beach
Luckily I had time to sit and sketch the scene as well as take the photograph and as you can see the eye can discern much more detail than a camera. I moved the rocks around a little to lead the eye along the shoreline and sketched the figures on the side of the sketch so that I could place them in the most advantageous position in the resulting painting.

Pembrokeshire is my favourite area of the UK for sketching. There is so much variety of unspoilt coastal and rural scenery that there is always something exciting to sketch whatever the season or the weather. One of our most popular courses takes place in St David’s at the Warpool Court Hotel overlooking St Non’s Bay.  The good news is that due to the economic climate we have negotiated a considerable reduction in the price of the course this year. You can find details here. Do come and join us, you can paint in watercolour or pastel as both David and I will be tutoring this course.