Shoot it, Sketch it: Leaf study

Leaf study – ink, watercolour and digital, 175 x 210 mm, 2012.
Leaf study – ink, watercolour and digital, 175 x 210 mm, 2012.

This week’s sketch was a bit of an experiment. I wanted to see how watercolour behaved when applied to art board. Now I know. The biggest surprise was just how much water I could wash over the surface without it buckling.

All it needed was a little poem to finish it off (so I wrote one).

Leaf study in Golden Bay, 2011.

Follow the links to see what Clouds of ColourThe Little LeafLunch Sketch and Poppytump have been doing for Shoot it, Sketch it.

Shoot it, Sketch it: Paradise

Paradise in Golden Bay – acrylic on board, 250 x 320 mm, 2012
Bird of Paradise, 2011

I had a lot of fun painting this week’s Shoot it, Sketch it. It’s one that I’ve been meaning to do for almost a year (ever since I took the photo last Christmas). My only real problem was deciding when it was finished. Even now, I’m still not entirely sure that it is — but there comes a point when you simply have to walk away and start the next project…

This is what the painting looked like at various stages. I kept telling myself: just a little darker here, a bit lighter there… How CAN you tell when something is finished?

Follow the links to see other Shoot it, Sketch it offerings from Clouds of Colour, The Little Leaf, Lunch Sketch and Poppytump.

Shoot it, Sketch it: Sun shadow

Sun Shadow triptych – acrylic, ink and digital, 2012.

Photos of the solar eclipse, 14 November 2012.

Last week’s partial solar eclipse as seen from Christchurch, New Zealand. The photographs were taken at about 10:00, 10:30 (at its peak) and 11:00 a.m. I didn’t have a fancy solar filter so these are photos of the shadow of the sun. They’re not the most spectacular shots of the event (!) but they did inspire this week’s painting : )

Follow the links to see what Bec from Clouds of Colour and Alana from The Little Leaf have done for Shoot it, Sketch it this week.

Shoot it, Sketch it: Little bear

Little bear in a pretty cabinet – ink and watercolour, 150 x 180 mm, 2012.

I will admit to getting a bit carried away with this week’s Shoot it, Sketch it. I like all the lost edges in this drawing — I wanted to make it look really old and a bit mysterious…

This little bear sits inside a tall wooden cabinet full of treasures and family heirlooms. The original image (below) is another one of my phone photos. It was taken through the glass of the cabinet door. I cropped the image to remove the elements I didn’t want (namely my reflection and that of the heat pump on the wall). I could’ve solved the reflection problem by taking the photo again with the door open but I really like the bookcase and the globe in the ‘background’.

original photo

Check out what Bec from Clouds of Colour and Alana from The Little Leaf have done for Shoot it, Sketch it this week too.

Shoot it, Sketch it: Black bird

Black bird on a grey day – ink and watercolour, 125 x 170 mm, 2012

Here is my second sketch for Shoot it, Sketch it — take a photo of something and then sketch, draw or paint it. The initial sketch was done with dip pen and ink. The watercolour background (something I painted for another project last year) was added in Photoshop.

The photo (below) was taken on a grey, spring day when I spotted this little bird on a tree outside my studio window. It was taken in a hurry, through the less-than-spotlessly-clean window, but was still good enough to use as a reference. Something about the silhouette appealed to me and I thought it would be fun to draw — and it was.

original photo
original sketch

Check out what Bec from Clouds of Colour and Alana from The Little Leaf have done this week too. They’re the bloggers who introduced the Shoot it, Sketch it feature.

Shoot it, Sketch it: Blue door

Blue door – ink and watercolour, 220 x 205 mm, 2012.

Bec from Clouds of Colour and Alana from The Little Leaf started a new feature on their blogs this week. It’s called Shoot it, Sketch it. The idea is that you take a photo of something and then you sketch, draw or paint it. Just for fun. And I’m joining in…

Here’s my first offering. The reference photo (below) is not great quality — it was taken on my nothing-special Nokia phone which I carry everywhere mainly so that I can collect images for drawing and painting (such as this door) when I don’t have my camera with me. It’s quite handy as a phone too ; )