Hello everyone,
I hope you are well wherever you are in the world.
Today I took my sketchbook and watercolour & gouache kit to a park in Hove, Brighton, England and finished this little plein air painting.
The walk took me about 20-25 minutes from my house. It was a typical cloudy day, a little cold, but it was actually fine to sit still for just over an hour to get this study done.
This was my first time taking the watercolour & gouache kit out for a few months.
It's a quick study in St. Ann’s Well Park, a bit of practice keeping it to about 1 hour.
It felt good to get back out there again and get a sketch down. It always does.
I also took my camera and tripod with me this time, and I made an effort to make my first recording of me painting with these materials. I am thinking about turning it into a video. We shall see.
I also met another local artist who saw me as I was finishing.
I kept to a limited palette for this painting, sticking to just 5 colours. I will paint a few more of these in the next couple of weeks as part of an exercise.
A bit about my process
Before I start, I find an area I want to paint, and make a mental note of what it is I want to capture.
I then start off with a light pencil sketch of the composition before I lay any paint down, I then spray the watercolour pad with water, and begin laying down my background colours.
I then go through the stages of adding the correct values and colour temperatures around the painting, starting off with large brushes, and finishing up with smaller brushes.
Then before I my fingers go numb from the cold, I quickly wash my brushes, clean everything and pack everything away in my backpack, and begin my walk back home with a brand new painting.
Thank you very much for reading
Robbie