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.

Life drawing

I'm not sure if I can call these life drawing, as I used photo reference (hope I didn't lose too many of you with that admission). Better use of tone and pencil rendering are what I was looking to work on here. The model photos were provided by a very handy Youtube channel here.

I also made use of a trick my teacher showed me this week, which was to begin with cylinders. I really thought I'd gotten past the cylinder drawing stage of my artistic career, but I was amazed how much closer this got me looking at the orientation of hips etc.

Below is a recent location sketch (whilst I'm misnaming posts) done directly in pen - mistakes and all.

Holiday sketches

 

Holiday sketches from last January, except the very bottom one which was with Google street view - definitely the easiest way to travel.

Composition studies III

Happy new year

 

Hi, greetings from 2012!

I am back, and will posting again regularly. I hope this year is off to a good start for you.

I've just returned from a trip to the Lockyer valley, a region which experienced some of the worst of the 2010-2011 Queensland floods. This past week I was honoured to have the opportunity to give some illustration related presentations at a four-day arts festival held there.

Above are some drawings from the trip. I don't know the name of the trees, but majestic would probably be a good word to describe them. The top location sketch inspired the illustration below it. I hope you enjoy them.

Rusty roof

This sketch was done from my car. There was at least a dozen times I wanted to give up on it, but I'm glad I persisted. The light was fading fast and a storm brewing, but I think this all made for an interesting atmosphere.

Travel sketches

 

Travel sketches

Travel sketches

 

Travel sketches

I've just returned from a holiday in north Queensland. I'll be posting sketches from this trip over the next few posts. Here's two to get started on. I hope you like them.

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.

Plein air study

More practice with watercolour.

Location Sketch

The rear of some shops in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.

Japan sketches