Brides By Design

Brides By Design, I had to laugh when I saw this array of bridal wear proudly hanging of what I suppose are armatures but it's the name that really cracked me up.
It's a quaint shop so I thought it should be saved for posterity.
The taxi, bus and car blending into the gowns were a kick when they began to appear as the paintng progressed.
There are a lot of subtle colours that don't appear in the photo.
76cmx105cm , Arches 300gsm, all W&N watercolours

King Street Reflections Wins Award

I'm pleased to report that this painting won top watercolour award at the City of Melville Art Awards for 2008.

City of Melville also purchased the painting for their collection and will display it in one of the their civic spaces.

The judge's comments were: "The unusual approach to the watercolour medium reflects the complexity of the ideas explored within this work"

Flutterby

The summer version of our back garden is dominated by agapanthas.
I'm no gardener so if a plant can survive summer with minimal human intervention here in the Perth hills it's ok to stay.
They attract these orange butterflies, which apart from some small iridescent blue ones are the only b'flies we get here that I know of.
I took several shots one afternoon and forgot about them until I was searching for something relatively "simple" to put on a my first 40+ inch watermedia painting last week.
Since finishing the Skiva piece I've worked on two larger paintings.
This one is 43x43 inches and was a really approached as a learning exercise.
And currently another window about 30x43in which is about 3 days from being finished at my leisurely rate.
This one started off as regular watercolour but by the time I was through with it had been touched up liberally with fluid acrylics (first time using them in any appreciable quantity as well) They're extraordinarily versatile but don't have the same surface reflectivity properties as regular watercolour when used neat(without w/c pigment mixed with them).
They have a sheen which I'm not fond of, for me this creates a look of plasticity.
Certainly no problem when standing back and probably less evident behind glass but if you're accustomed to the dull even look of a standard watercolour this slightly glossy look is a bit of a rub.
I guess it's a matter of weighing up the advantages against such a small nit. For working large, economy is important and FA are winners there.
Flow is also different I think; Not having applied any scientific method of testing I can't be too definite but I think FAs have a different holding threshold when painting on a slope as compared to regular W&N watercolour of equal viscosity. ie they let go and run more readily so less angle is tolerated. It would stand to reason I think that when glazing over acrylic areas that this would be the case but if you're used to w/c it means you need to be aware and make adjustments to technique.