Month: January 2022

Quite please that I got the general shape about right – tricky because it’s a curved cuboid in perspective.

This time I tried to pre-mix the red, so the brush strokes could be simpler and the paint thinner. I think it works better. I wonder what it would look like on water colour paper. Another thing that works better here is that I tried to bring out the texture of the red more – the little flecks at the edges.

Maybe it just needed more contrast, though.

A first attempt at painting the apple. It was on normal print paper (as all these paintings are) and the colours are mixed by overlaying them on the paper. They are not pre-mixed. This means they look overworked and a bit dull.

Still struggling to match the red of the apple, with the colours in my small watercolour box. I’ve concluded it’s Alazarin Crimson with Burnt Umber. These swatches tried to see how the red would join the yellow/green of the rest of the apple, and if a transition colour was needed.

I struggled to match the colours on the apple – particularly the red.

A light sketch in preparation for a painting.

Copy odf a picture of a vase from a book. Again, trouble with the circles – notice the misaligned pointy circle ends at the top.

Another bit of practice with circles in perspective. Again, though, I didn’t plan this. What a mess. It’s so important to get the basic geometry right. Also I used a fountain pen again. It makes a nice line but is probably best used over a light drawing in pencil, where all the mistakes have been corrected.

I did the sketch quickly so I’ve experimented with representing the text in lines. Not sure if it works. Maybe I should have tried to draw the text, despite the thickness of the nib.

I drew this with a big thick pencil – it must have been a gift from somewhere, or maybe it’s for DIY. Anyway, again I didn’t plan the drawing to get the perspective right and it really shows. I’ve really got to improve my circles in perspective!

I forgot that I started last year with drawings in biro and gave up on them. I didn’t like them because they were too messy. Here’s another one. I’m not very tolerant of messy lines and visible mistakes, which I get in my biro drawings. I should get over that, I guess.

I’ve returned to tackling perspective. Like at the start of last year, I drew this without measuring it out or drawing cubes as guides. The two block taper a little as a result.