Shoot it, Sketch it: Southern Alps, Oxford

September 19, 2014June 15, 2015 | Anna Cull

Southern Alps, Oxford – acrylic on canvas, 204 x 204 mm, 2014 (SOLD)

Southern Alps, Oxford, original photo, 2012 — Cropped and Photoshopped photo, 2014 — Southern Alps, Oxford, original photo, 2012 — Cropped and Photoshopped, 2014 (click to embiggen)

Question: when is a bad, low-res phone photo a good photo? Answer: when it’s the only one you’ve got. After opening my horribly pixelated image in Photoshop, I lightened it a little and messed around with artistic filters until I had something I didn’t object to looking at, printed it, and painted it. The details you would normally expect to see in a ‘good’ photo were slightly blurred and kind of painterly even before I started working on the canvas — which was an unexpected bonus because it meant not having to squint (a time-honoured technique for getting rid of unnecessary details). I really like not having to squint.

I’ve struck gold

September 15, 2014September 14, 2014 | Anna Cull

Goldmine – acrylic on canvas, 102 x 102 mm, 2014

I’ve just discovered Winsor & Newton’s beautiful Gold artists’ acrylic (seen here on a black textured background along with a few touches of Quinacridone Gold and Dioxazine Purple).

For sale on Etsy and on my ‘Paintings for sale’ page.

Now… what else can I paint gold?

Shoot it, Sketch it: Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse

September 8, 2014July 5, 2016 | Anna Cull

Lighthouse – acrylic on canvas,102 x 102 mm, 2014 — Lighthouse – acrylic on canvas, 102 x 102 mm, 2014. Sold.

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, Western Australia, 2011

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse stands where the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet. I posted the photograph a few weeks ago as a Wordless Wednesday feature — and I still have no idea what that cow is doing there (saying ‘cheese’ perhaps?)…

I’ve fallen in love with painting these modest little 4″ x 4″ canvases, so don’t be surprised if you see a few more in the not-too-distant future.

Paintings for sale

September 4, 2014June 23, 2020 | Anna Cull

Yes, it’s shameless self-promo time… Monday’s Shoot it, Sketch it landscape (below) is now varnished, dry and for sale. It’s available from my Etsy shop Anna Cull Art : )

Sidetracked

September 1, 2014September 1, 2014 | Anna Cull

Hello there. How are you? It’s a little over a month since my last blog post and I’m sure you won’t be at all surprised to learn that what I planned to do during my time away and what actually occurred are two completely different things. As unglamorous as it sounds, I had planned to catch up on housework, beat the garden into submission and paint a few pictures — and I have had a lovely time even though the housework–gardening–painting thing didn’t really happen. The reality is that I spent most of my time working on several graphic design jobs (logos and business cards, which I love doing). And now it’s September, it’s spring and it’s time to get back into blogging again : )

I did manage to complete one painting while I was away. Would you believe it’s called ‘Sidetracked’? It will be for sale once I’ve finished varnishing it.

The different textures in this landscape really appeal to me. I love the clearly defined sections of grass, stone, railway track and sand. And whether you see that patch of blue at the top of the painting as sea or sky is entirely up to you.

Shoot it, Sketch it: Encore

July 21, 2014July 20, 2014 | Anna Cull

Snowflakes, July 2014 — ink, watercolour and gouache study, 130 x 180 mm

The snowflakes are back. This is my second study of a photograph I took in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens last spring. It’s looser and more dramatic than the original sketch (below). I really went to town adding watercolour pencil over the top of an ink and watercolour sketch. Using the pencils wet (by dipping them in water) and then drawing on the wet sketch not only produced some wonderfully intense colours, it also added a rather nice texture. It’s a technique that definitely warrants further investigation… My thanks again to everyone who voted in the poll and asked me to draw this one again.