HAPPY NEW YEAR

I can't begin to tell you how inspirational I've found starting  my 2 blogs Painting & Nonsense (where I hope to make you smile)  and My Watercolour Blog which is more serious. I've met some lovely people and you have given me the joy of painting back.  I thank you.

I wish my arty blog friends a Wonderful 2013.

If you have your health you have wealth
If you have friends you are rich
If you have arty bloggy friends you have inspiration a-plenty
(Polly: 31.12.12 A.D.)

My New Year Arty Resolutions

1. Paint more often
2. Paint different subjects and media
3. Experiment more
4. Don't use ultramarine in every painting
5. Enjoy the battle, be brave and have fun throughout each battle

Have you any arty resolutions?

LAKE DISTRICT

We've just come back from spending Christmas in the Lake District.  Typical Lake District weather!  Even so it was still very beautiful.  I never tire of the views. 

This is a view of the lake at Grasmere looking towards the village.   It's no wonder Wordsworth loved it so, and William Heaton Cooper painted it so often.   Every day and every hour the light is changing, never mind the changing seasons.  It is one of my favourite places.

ROBIN OR SOMETHING RESEMBLING ONE

Here is the watercolour of a robin, done without a photo. Yes, I know that's brave!  You may guess it's a robin, but thought I had better tell you so that you weren't wondering if it was or not.  Busy week.  Art Club do, Art Class get together, day out with my lovely Sister and that's for starters.  So this will probably ..... not definitely ..... be my Christmas blog to you.

Friends are gifts you give yourself.

 Have a wondrous Christmas wherever you are.  Luv from Polly

FEELING CHRISTMASSY AT LAST

Went to my art class yesterday and forgot to take my photographs so this one is sorta made up.   I had a few conversations and helped wash the tea things, so this is all I got done!  Well I tell a lie as I have a robin too (he is terrible really I needed the photo) but want to splatter some snow on him.

Next week about 40 from the club are going to the pub next door to our club room, followed by a sorta normal club with mince pies etc. We usually have Jacobs table and quizzes! Are any other art clubs having ' a bit of a do' ?

HAZEL SOAN WORKSHOP

My hubs brought some lovely apples home, which reminded me of a painting I did on one of Hazel Soan's wonderful workshops.  She used all different reds for these apples. How exciting was that, when normally you add a little red here or there. It was painted on Khadi paper.  We wet each apple first and then added either transparent washes or opaque, and looked at the effect of adding a tiny amount of yellow, to give the apple a glow e.g. Cad Yellow which pushes into the red wash, or Indian Yellow,  which gives a very soft hint of gold.  Her control of the paint is so easy for her. This exercise is on her DVD The Essence of Watercolour.

 I know on her courses and holidays she usually uses a limited palette, but here she introduced me to Scarlet Lake, Quinacridone Red, Quinacridone Gold, Perylene Green and Indanthrene Blue. Yummy, as she would say!  The course was about colour, and instead of painting boring squares of this and that, we experimented (yes that is Hazel too) with these lovely hues. She explained lifting, staining, opaques etc in a  very exciting way. And did you know that opaques are easy to spot in your palette as their colour is really bright, yet the transparent ones are so dark that you can hardly tell what colour they are.

 We painted Masai, grapes, landscape, her favourite elephants etc. I now have my main palette and one with my special colours.  A very inspirational weekend.

CAREFREE DAYS NO. 2

I've had some good advice by fellow bloggers Sharon Whitley and Laura Moore to crop my original painting of Carefree Days.  Well, like a good little pupil I have done as I am told, and yes teacher(s) always know best.  Here is the result, but only tried using photoshop.

Perhaps a little grey/brown in the sky, would give it more atmosphere.  Could even crop a little more. But I can see the improvement, can you?

Many thanks.