watercolour

Shoot it, Sketch it: Windermere

| Anna Cull
Windermere, Akaroa – ink and watercolour, 210 x 295 mm, 2013
Windermere, Akaroa – ink and watercolour, 210 x 295 mm, 2013
Windermere, Akaroa – ink on watercolour paper, 2013
Windermere, Akaroa – ink on watercolour paper, 2013
Windermere historic house, Rue Lavaud, Akaroa, 2012
Windermere historic house, Rue Lavaud, Akaroa, 2012

I drew a quick sketch of this historic Akaroa house a couple of years ago (see below) and thought it might be fun to revisit it — figuratively and literally. The photo was taken a few months ago with this Shoot it, Sketch it project in mind. Windermere was built as a boarding house in 1877.

Akaroa – sketches, 2010
Akaroa – sketches, 2010

Can you spot the subtle difference? The house no longer has a chimney (the earthquakes that have rattled the Canterbury region over the last couple of years are probably to blame — an awful lot of chimneys and brick buildings were damaged in 2011).

Others participating in Shoot it, Sketch it are Clouds of Colour, The Little Leaf, and Poppytump.

Shoot it, Sketch it: Room with a view

| Anna Cull
Room with a view – ink, watercolour and digital, 265 x 195 mm, 2013.
Room with a view – ink, watercolour and digital, 265 x 195 mm, 2013.
My new workbench and the view of our beautiful plum tree.
My new workbench and the view of our beautiful plum tree.

I’m so thrilled to have a workbench I can stand at to draw and paint — it is SO MUCH BETTER than sitting at a desk all day. It is perfect for me and I love it. Goodbye horrid old computer desk that didn’t even have enough room for an A3 sheet of paper. Hello beautiful (and, let’s face it, unashamedly sexy) oak workbench with cupboards and drawers and lots of space. What a great way to start the new year.

The sketch was done with a dip pen and ink. I’m afraid some abuse of the pen was necessary to get those scratchy textures — but it has survived to dip another day. The watercolour ‘tree’ was painted on a separate piece of paper and added in Photoshop.

– before –
before
– after –
after

~ new year ~ new work space ~ new outlook ~ and a new WordPress header : )

Also participating in Shoot it, Sketch it are Clouds of Colour, The Little Leaf, Lunch Sketch and Poppytump. Why don’t you join us?

Shoot it, Sketch it: Double rainbow

| Anna Cull
Double rainbow triptych – Christchurch, 2012.
Double rainbow triptych – Christchurch, 2012.

One evening last October I noticed a strange light coming in through the window. When I went outside to investigate, I was met with this beautiful sight: a double rainbow over the neighbouring rooftops. These are my three favourite shots.

I drew the houses and trees with an Indian ink brush pen and the rainbows and sky were painted with my trusty Neocolor II watercolour pastels to give the rainbows a naïve, childlike quality. I really like the way they’ve picked up the corrugated texture of the watercolour paper.

Double rainbow #1 – ink and watercolour, 2012.
Double rainbow #1 – ink and watercolour, 2012.
Double rainbow #2 – ink and watercolour, 2012.
Double rainbow #2 – ink and watercolour, 2012.
Double rainbow #3 – ink and watercolour, 2012.
Double rainbow #3 – ink and watercolour, 2012.

Others who have been participating in Shoot it, Sketch it are Clouds of Colour, The Little Leaf, Lunch Sketch and Poppytump.

See you in the new year : )

Shoot it, Sketch it: Little angel

| Anna Cull
Little angel – ink and watercolour, 230 x 160 mm, 2012.
Little angel – ink and watercolour, 230 x 160 mm, 2012.

Anna Cull Little Angel

The little angel on the top of our Christmas tree inspired this week’s Shoot it, Sketch it (yes, it’s a fake tree — I’m allergic to the pine variety). I knitted her years ago using one of Jean Greenhowe’s wonderful patterns — she was a fairy in the pattern book but I turned her into an angel by making a halo instead of a bow. She’s about 100 mm tall.

Others participating in Shoot it, Sketch it are Clouds of Colour, The Little Leaf, Lunch Sketch and Poppytump.

Happy Christmas, everyone : )

Shoot it, Sketch it: Leaf study

| Anna Cull
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 Colour, The Little Leaf, Lunch Sketch and Poppytump have been doing for Shoot it, Sketch it.