A few in blue
Posted: May 9, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chania, Crete, flower pots, flowers, Greece, plein air watercolour, pots, watercolour 19 CommentsIf you read the last issue of my newsletter “The Wheelbarrow“, you’ve probably already seen this little blue wheelbarrow. It’s one that my husband spotted tucked away in a corner of the Botanical Park and Gardens of Crete. It was so perfectly rusty and of course so perfectly blue, that I had to sketch it and add it to my collection of wheelbarrow sketches. A few people asked what blue I used to paint this. It was definitely a Holbein pigment because during this trip I was testing out that brand in my two palettes, but it wasn’t one single colour. I likely used a combination of Turquoise, Horizon Blue and Cerulean Blue, mixed in with a little bit of Burnt Sienna, of course.
I was fascinated by the rows of potted plants that people place outside their doors in the narrow streets of Chania, and of course by the shadow patterns their shapes create. On many occasions I saw these pots, as well as many others, being lovingly tended by their owners. This particular road was not much wider than the width of one car, but I set up my stool against the opposite wall and managed to wedge my easel in there too. Not long after I started to paint, a white van pulled into that narrow space, totally blocking my view and almost knocking over my easel. I was ready to pack up my gear and finish my painting indoors when a woman emerged from a door next to me. I understand a few words of Greek but language was not necessary in this instance. I understood from her gestures that she was telling the driver to move his van so that I could paint. With smiles of appreciation and my best efcharistó to both the driver and the woman, I happily finished my painting and moved on.
Seven port views plus a lighthouse
Posted: May 7, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: boats, Chania, Crete, Greece, harbour, plein air painting, watercolour 43 CommentsSometime after my first week of touring in Crete, I gave up on posting remotely. I am just never satisfied with images that are photographed from my iPhone. I much prefer to scan paintings on my trusty Epson Perfection V600 scanner, clean the images up in Photoshop (bring the whites back to white, make sure the colour matches the original, etc.) and then post them. So here I am, one week after returning home, finally over the jet lag and back at my desk scanning paintings and sketches.
In all, I painted 8 views around the Old Venetian Port of Chania, Crete (mostly 16″ x 12″). I originally thought it was seven but then realized that my final painting of the lighthouse is really the entrance to the historic port so I added that to the count. There would have been a ninth view if it hadn’t rained on my last day. Forgive me if you have already seen a few of these but the colour is not accurate in the previous images so here they are again.
I could paint this port for a year or more and never get tired of it. If you look it up on Google maps you’ll see that it has several bays. The one on the western side is lined with shops and restaurants and it has a wide strolling promenade. The eastern side is where you’ll find the docks and the boats — little fishing boats, great white yachts and catamarans, speedboats that you can charter to take you to beaches inaccessible by car, and strangely, a mini red submarine that allows you to have an underwater view if you choose. You’ll also find the remaining Neoria there. These are the old Venetian shipyards with the peaked facades that you can see in the third painting below.
On the outer edges of the port there’s also a long, narrow seawall that takes you to the lighthouse. I painted in a shaded spot along that wall for several of these paintings. In all of these, I tried to convey a sense of architectural history (bits of the remaining Byzantine and Roman walls, the clay-roofed colourful Venetian buildings, the only remaining Ottoman mosque that forms the corner of the Western section of the port) as well as a sense of what the port is like at different times of day. I was there during the period around Easter when it’s quite crowded so I included lots of people, but I imagine that a place as beautiful as this is crowded well into the autumn.
It was wonderful to live a bit like a local for a few weeks in Chania — to set off in the morning with my palette and easel in my backpack, not knowing where in the port I would stop to paint. I don’t think I’ve ever had the luxury of so much painting time in any other place.
In the next post: the sketches from our frequent road trips to different villages in western Crete.
The yellows
Posted: December 2, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: paint tubes, watercolour, yellows 38 CommentsI have way too many tubes of paint. If you paint, you probably do too. The oldest ones are left over from my university days. The next oldest ones made their way to me from my mother’s collection, after she stopped painting. Some have come from sponsors at various events, and of course there are many that I have purchased. Colours that I have wanted to try because I’ve seen them used successfully by other artists or colours that have simply called out to me from a shelf at the art supply store.
There are very few that I don’t like. In this bin, there’s a Jaune Brilliant that I bought for an online course. It’s the only one that was a real mistake, at least for me. This bin of yellows lives in a drawer with bins of the reds, the blues, the greens, the purples/blacks, and two bins of earth tones, separated into raw and burnt pigments. I may have a paint addiction, but at least I’m organized.
Cyclamen, two ways
Posted: November 20, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cyclamen, direct watercolour, flowers painting, watercolour 52 CommentsWork has been keeping me busy these days, and my sketching feels very rusty. I notice it as I draw and also as I paint. But I needed a break from my computer today and I had these beautiful cyclamen sitting on my dining room table — a beautiful gift from a friend that needed to be recorded in my sketchbook.
I started my first sketch with an ink drawing and then added watercolour. I really wanted the pink flowers to stand out, but I knew as soon as I painted it that the dark background was a mistake. I lost all the delicacy of the flowers and the whole thing became too heavy. My rusty painting manifested itself here with paint that is too thickly applied.
For my second try, on the facing page of my sketchbook, I gave up on the ink line and went directly to drawing with my brush. And not just any brush, it’s a new swordliner from Rosemary & Co. It’s a long pointy and slightly floppy brush (I have the 1/4″ version) that holds a lot of paint, and I am just getting to know it (and to love it). I think the dancing movement of the petals is much better described with lighter and more juicy washes, and I’m much happier with this version. I’ll make sure I post other experiments with the brush. I think it will be fantastic for florals and also for foliage and trees.
Cornfield
Posted: October 8, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cornfield, step-by-step, watercolour 12 CommentsCornfields are everywhere around here. I passed many on my way to paint this scene the other day. I was hoping to paint the corn on location but there’s nowhere to set up my easel by the side of road without getting plowed down by a tractor or a combine harvester, so I took a bunch of photos and then painted back in my studio.
I wasn’t sure what to do with this type of composition. There’s really no focus. It’s just a pattern of colours and contrasts. I also wanted to convey the light coming through the stalks and hitting the tops of the floppy leaves, as well as give a sense of all the colours that you see when you get close to the stalks and the decaying foliage.
If you want to see the step-by-step photos of how I painted the cornfield, it’s in the October issue of my newsletter “The Wheelbarrow”. If you’re not on the mailing list, you can sign up here. Also new is a downloadable pdf “25 Ideas to Get You Sketching Everyday“. Have a look!
The one that survived the lake
Posted: September 24, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: boat painting, hudson yacht club, watercolour 49 CommentsI didn’t think there would be any more opportunities to paint boats in Hudson this year, but my friend Michelle reached out with a nice invitation to join her at the yacht club last weekend, and I didn’t hesitate to say yes. I’m so glad I did.
We chose a painting spot out on the pier where we could look back at the marina and the trees on the shore. It’s a complex viewpoint but I chose to focus on the blue sail cover in the foreground and the masts behind it. Two thirds of the way through my painting, I briefly considered tossing it in the lake and starting again, but I think it was just missing darks. I repainted the background to darken it and that helped a lot. Painted on a pad of Arches 140lb CP paper, using lots of Cobalt Blue that had escaped a well on my palette.
Churchyard in Burnham Market
Posted: September 17, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Big Sky Art, Burnham Market, church painting, North Norfolk, The White House Inn, watercolour 23 CommentsAfter our chilly day in Wells-next-the-Sea, the wind died down for us and we had a most productive morning sketching in the churchyard at St. Mary’s Church in Burnham Market. We chose this view of the building primarily because it was so warm in that spot, but I’m never really sure what the protocol is for sketching in cemeteries. I’m always careful not to stand on top of a burial plot and not to touch the headstones. I guess each cemetery is different. This was a popular place for dog walkers and others out for a stroll, and even though I was sure a caretaker would ask us to leave, it never happened.
The rhythm of the overlapping headstones was what I found most fascinating about this scene. I painted them with a variety of dark tones, mostly using Umber, Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue to get a range of earthy and mossy darks, and I used a bit of splatter too, for added texture.
Worth the drive
Posted: July 16, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: boat painting, boats, Pointe Claire, Pointe Claire Yacht Club, watercolour 20 CommentsEven though I now live a little further away from the boat club in Pointe Claire, it’s still worth the drive to sit under a willow tree and paint the masts and the sail covers at the boat club. Even on a very humid day.
I love the complexity of this scene, and of boats in general, and I’ve missed painting them. For a composition like this, after my initial pencil drawing, I start by painting the bigger shapes first: sky and water. And then, because all the colourful darks of the sail covers are somewhat connected, I paint those next. That sets up the light/dark contrasts. My third section is to paint the boat hulls and reflections with a variety of middle values. And the last — but probably the longest part of this — is to get lost in the details. First the masts, and then the shapes in between the sail covers. I use an inlaid liner for those small details, starting with dark paint and finishing with Titanium White watercolour.
Chez Sauvé
Posted: May 24, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: architecture, Hudson, sketchbook, urban sketch, watercolour 29 CommentsIf you want to get a good sketchable view of Casse-croûte Chez Sauvé, go on a Monday or Tuesday when it’s closed. During the rest of the week there’s a constant stream of cars parking in front of it, and you won’t be able to see the small building from across the street.
I’ve been wanting to sketch this Hudson institution for years, but it’s only now that I live nearby that I’ve been able to get here on the right day of the week. At lunchtime during spring and summer, it’s packed outside with people eating hot dogs and fries, which makes it perfect for people sketching, but if you want to sketch the classic snack bar exterior, then you need to go when it’s quiet. Because it’s on Main Road in Hudson, people still park in front of it, but luckily most everyone who saw the sketcher across the street moved their vehicles. The kindest one was the school bus driver who moved his big orange bus when he saw me, and then came over to see my sketch and chat. Hudson is a very friendly place, as I am finding out.
These are a few of my favourite things
Posted: May 15, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Hudson, sketchbook, spring, street scene, urban sketch, watercolour 31 CommentsIt’s finally warm enough (and I am home long enough) to sketch outside. That’s a reason to celebrate. I’m still discovering new places to draw, and of course trying to find places that look like my old favourites. The village of Hudson reminds me so much of Pointe Claire, especially now that it’s spring and the main street is getting busy again.
Today I ordered coffee from Furley’s Bakery and sat outside on their terrace to draw the view down Main. I felt SO rusty so I started with something I feel comfortable with: the bins and the utility pole! My drawing grew organically from there. The tree was next, then the yellow picket fence, a bit of the building, the awnings, etc. It made me so happy to be outside, to be looking at the things I love to draw and to watch people going by.
There’s plenty to draw in Hudson, including lots of charming buildings, a lakeshore and even a boat club. I’ll happily be discovering it all with my sketchbook this spring and summer.
