From chime to chime
Posted: August 24, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized 15 CommentsPeople often ask how long it takes to do a painting or a sketch and usually I don’t know. I always lose track of the time. Except today I know exactly how long it took to do this half sheet. The church bells chimed at 9 when I was setting up my easel and then again at 11 when I was putting everything back in the car.
This week I have been thinking about how to treat foliage in watercolour so the last three paintings have had good sections of trees. Today I tried a few different brushes because I instead of making deliberate marks for every leaf I wanted the brush to do some of the texture work for me. I used a hake and a squirrel mop brush, both much more floppy than I’m used to. If you treat the foliage quite dryly, you can get some nice texture from both of these brushes.
Shari Blaukopf's Sketchbook 
I like your trees so much ,i would like to know the brush you used!
I am Too new here, and with the sketch only 10 months!
I am Anna from Athens Greece!
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Hi Anna,
Welcome! I used a hake brush for the trees. Here is the link: http://www.cheapjoes.com/the-ron-ranson-hake-brush.html
I have a 2″ brush and I like it very much.
Shari
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The windmill is gorgeous..like jewels. I have loved a dagger brush for trees .
They have a mind of their own which makes using them an adventure.
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I wonder if your dagger brush is like my Cheap Joe’s scroggy brush. That one has a mind of its own too.
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The texture of the stonework, in addition to that of the trees, is wonderful. So well rendered.
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Thanks Kari!
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A little flattery here, but this is so Van Gogh………your rendering of the trees and the windmill are simply brilliant. Thanks for showing!
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Thanks Kipps!
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Lovely, Shari. Reminds me of Holland. May I ask, “what easel are you using?” Quick up or not?
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Zoe, I was using my En Plein Air Pro easel until this week but the tripod broke so for this I used my big, heavy Julian French Easel. It’s good as long as I don’t have to carry it on an airplane.
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Thanks, Shari. I bought a new light weight, easy to assemble easel yesterday in PA. Can’t wait to see how it handles beyond a shop. 🙂
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Which one did you end up with Zoe?
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I tried a few and returned one (to Utrecht) as it was not easy to put together. I ended up with a “Norcross Steel Tripod Easel,” which appears to be Art Alternative (brand). It was less than USD50.00 in Lewisburg, PA at a great art shop, Brushstrokes. They had several types and brands, and the owner is so patient she permitted me to assemble & disassemble all they had.
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Ahh, yes, I see that you left “some room for the birds to fly through” as Ron Ranson would say.
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I love that Mike. Thanks for sharing it.
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