A Little Old Man
"Sunlight on the Old Man" - watercolour - 13 x 18 cm
Another very small painting and
probably the last one this small that I'll do for a while. The small
size doesn't make them any easier to paint. If anything, the
difficulty seems to increase as the size decreases. I feel the need
for more space for freer brushstrokes.
The subject of the painting is the famous rock stack, known as The Old Man of Hoy, in the Orkney Isles.
Comments
I agree with your take on the smaller formats. I need as much open space on my canvas ... as I need the wide outdoors to feel my greatest comfort while painting! Why fight that ?
My most recent 5x7 pochade sketch so frustrated me... that last evening, I ceremoniously offered it to the Art Gods who reside in my fireplace. That act added more warmth and satisfaction to my evening! HA HA!!
Good (larger) Painting to us both!
Warmest regards,
Bruce
All the best,
Keith
One thing I look for in pigments is versatility. I don't like to have colours that can only be used for one thing. I wonder whether Naples Yellow might be like that. I have seen other watercolourists use it successfully, but I don't think I have ever seen it used in mixtures.
I am also liking Saunders Waterford paper more now. I have found that wetting the paper all over, before painting, softens the sizing and allows the paint to go on better. At the moment I use Saunders, Fabriano Artistico or Bockingford, depending on the subject and the effect I want to achieve.