Category: painting techniques
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Light and Darks
“Royal City Romance” is based on a photo I took in early winter when, for a brief moment, Royal City bridge and park in Guelph reminded me of Paris. It was “l’heure bleue” and the setting sun lit up the bridge. Within minutes, the light and the colour had gone, and I was back…
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Capturing the Magic of Glass
A recent challenge was picking glass as one of my two subjects for an exhibition of work by the Octarine Women Artists’ Collective. The theme of the show is The Colour of Magic, and I was determined to do my best to convey that. Two approaches suggested themselves: coloured glass and faceted glass. For “Ready…
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The Power of Softness
I was at a workshop last week taught by the wonderful artist, Fabio Cembranelli. I feel like the mental furniture in my head has moved around quite a bit, and I’m still getting used to the new arrangement. Fabio paints beautiful watercolours of flowers, with many soft and lost-and-found edges. He works very quickly using…
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Explorations
“Between each fruitful phase are long periods of exploration, faltering, learning, and working things out.” — Kenneth Noland The weather is finally warm enough to paint outdoors, and I have been eager to go out at least once a week. I’ve been experimenting with a variety of styles and approaches, as well as new surfaces.…
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A Different Light
Seeing things in a different light can make all the difference. I had passed by this spot many times and wanted to paint it, but couldn’t quite figure out how. One day late last fall, after spending several hours sketching in another part of the conservation area, I was on my way home when…
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Landscape Lessons
“Every artwork you create has a story to tell you, a lesson to impart.” – Leonie Dawson Painting landscapes in watercolour is challenging. It requires the combination of a lot of different skills, which is why I don’t think I will ever feel I’ve mastered it. And the challenge is why I will continue to…
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Need for Speed
One of the many challenges of plein air painting is the need to work quickly. In two hours, the light will change completely, and sometimes so does the weather! In plein air events and competitions, there is additional pressure to complete work and prepare it for exhibition by a certain time deadline. After taking part…
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Sharpening the Edge
Experts from Aristotle to Twyla Tharp agree on the importance of regular habits to the creative life. On my last plein air outing, after an absence of about six weeks, I realized that I had lost my edge. In conversations with several other plein air painters, I discovered that they had also had this experience.…
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Earth and Water
Earth and water is one of the definitions of mud. Ending up with “mud” is a common complaint of new watercolour painters who are trying to mix colours. Painting mud on purpose is a different thing altogether. One of the challenges I have been focusing on lately is how to paint water in the shallow…
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Inspired by Van Gogh
A late summer day filled with sunshine, a field of flowers with tall clumps of sunflowers dotted here and there like scarecrows: it seemed like a Van Gogh kind of day. Recently I was fortunate to see the Van Gogh: Up Close exhibition at the National Gallery in Ottawa, Canada, just before it ended its…
Carol Hughes art 