Mini outdoor pastels

I've been making a regular exercise of getting out and doing quick small pastel studies. Hopefully I can keep this going. The biggest challenge is often finding a spot to paint. There's a lot to think about - how's the light, the shadows, am I being too conspicuous, is there a shady spot to sit, etc. But it's also kind of fun driving around looking for inspiration. If you enjoyed looking at these, I'll be posting more regularly over at my facebook page, here.

Imaginary landscape II

Another imaginary landscape in gouache.

imaginary landscape

A while back I had the idea to do a series of these imaginary landscapes. I hope I can find the time to do more of these soon. I can't decide which I like doing more, characters or environments.

Brisbane on stilts

Inspired by the city I live in, Brisbane. Colonies of flying foxes at dusk, and seemingly rickety Queenslanders on stilts. Growing up here these were pretty typical sights, though don't try and find where this is. This one's made up. More process pictures can be viewed on my Facebook page.

Composition studies IV

 

Back to experiments with colour and composition.

Composition studies III

Composition studies II

Another colour and composition experiment. I can't stop drawing paperbarks right now...

Composition studies

Small (roughly 3 x 4 inch) experiments with colour and composition.

Horse Paddock II

 

Horse Paddock

Watercolour canal II

Watercolour canal

 

Landscapes

Inspired by some recents visits to a place called Marburg. My personal view of observation is that sometimes it's best used through the filter of memory. I think we somehow distill what was important to us in the subject when we recall it from past observation. When the subject is in front of us the details can be overwhelming.

Urban landscape studies II

It's refreshing to be using lots of colour, and these mini compositions really are a joy to play around with.

Urban landscape studies

These quick mini-studies were a lot of fun to paint. These two were my favourites. They are interpretations from memory of familiar places around my city. I was exploring colour, space (or depth), and composition. Size is about 5x6 inches. Next, the plan is to make a more polished piece from one of these.

Watercolour landscape

One of my favourite spots to paint outdoors recently. This was done back at home after several sessions on location. Far from a masterpiece, but I definitely feel like I am making progress.

update / more plein air

oh dear.. good thing I didn't make any promises! Between a bad cold and other commitments I missed getting my Illustration Friday entry finished on time (see previous post). I didn't want to rush it as I thought the painting had some potential, so in the meantime here's a quick plein air I did before breakfast.

Plein air study

Brisbane river is still muddy from the flood.

Plein air study

More practice with watercolour.

Watercolour study

 

An outdoor painting that I redid back in the studio. Studying light, colour and composition.