Monday 30 November 2009

Artist Showcase

Some time ago I decided to showcase some of the artists in my forum. The objective is to give some internet coverage to little known artists so that their work would be more widely seen. The plan, quite simply, is to showcase a different artist and their work each month. Having run successful showcases for three artists I have decided to put myself into the frame for the next showcase.

It was difficult choosing just 6 pieces to display but I decided to show some watercolour, pencil and pen pieces as they are my favourite media. I will probably do this again in the future and the next time I will concentrate on a single medium.

My showcase is now online at www.JWJonline.net/Showcase.php and a link on the main menu leads to previous showcases.

Monday 23 November 2009

Water Mill - Lower Slaughter

Lower Slaughter is a small village in the beautiful area of England known as The Cotswolds. The scene is of the mill and a couple of typical Cotswold Stone cottages This drawing was copied from a photograph submitted by one of my forum members for use as a painting project.

This is my first line drawing. I've often read of the theory of hatching but this is my first attempt at creating blocks of tone entirely from 'lines'. Though there are some area's I wish I'd done differently, I'm extremely pleased with the result and consider this to be one of my better creations. Now I need to do some research and read more on how I should have tackled the grass area's and some of the brickwork. It would be good to receive critiques from any artists conversant with this medium. (A larger version of the picture can be seen here.)

Friday 13 November 2009

Pateley Bridge

When on holiday in Yorkshire last year, I stopped briefly at Pateley Bridge. I was only there long enough to walk to one end of the High Street and back, but was totally captivated by the old Yorkshire Stone buildings and small shops.

This is a view of one small section of the High Street, looking up the hill. I found the perspective tricky and haven't fully captured the steepness of the incline, but I found this to be an interesting and thoroughly enjoyable painting.

Saturday 7 November 2009

Mushrooms

In my garden I have an annoying clump of mushrooms that grow each year near the base of one of the apple trees. I usually try and remove them as soon as I see them, and since they grow in my lawn, they are almost always hacked up by my mower. Because of the way mushrooms leave their fungal spores in the soil, I even tried replacing a square of grass so as to discard the infected area, but still they grow.

This year, due to my inability to deal with them at the appropriate time, they have been left to grow. Today, with the sun shining nicely and me having time on my hands, I wandered out there with my camera and have loaded the results to my web site .... www.JWJonline.net/Mushrooms/.

I've tried searching to identify the strain (? variety) of mushroom but have had no success so far. If anyone knows, please let me know. ;-)

Monday 2 November 2009

Knaresborough

A short while ago I did a quick pen sketch of Knaresborough, a small market town in Yorkshire. This was the view from the castle, along the valley towards the railway viaduct.

For a bit of fun I decided to print the sketch onto watercolour paper and add some colour. It was an interesting exercise especially in view of the small size of the paper (7" x 9") and the amount of detail in the sketch.

Sunday 1 November 2009

Halloween


Just a quick sketch of a pumpkin for Halloween.

Actually, this has been set as a Drawing Project for members of the art forum, and all of the entries can be seen on this page.