If you paint landscapes, you probably have painted rocks. Rocks come in many different shapes and sizes. Not all of them are famous, but they are nevertheless beautiful and vary in shapes, size and with the material that compose them.
There are many different ways to create texture on rocks, here are a few options:
- lift wet paint with a crumbled tissue paper;
- dry brush irregular shapes;
- use a water bottle, spray dry paint and scrub some of the paint off;
- drop water into wet paint;
- splatter darker colours;
- add cracks by painting irregular lines;
- scrape the paint with an old credit card; or
- paint in some details.
This doesn't mean that anyone should use all of these options in one painting. Only one or two should be adopted. This may be the easy part to do. The greater challenge comes in the use of colours and values:
- define rocks by contouring them with darker colours which are the shadows behind the rocks;
- distinguish some of the rocks by applying a glaze of a slightly different colours;
- emphasize how light reflects on the rocks with reflected light;
- Gradate the colours of the rocks with warmer colours at the front and cooler at the back; and
- Adding shadows from surrounding objects.
This week's artist find is Ann Pember, I'm a huge fan of her rocks and waterfalls.
Have a great week,
Danielle
I used to think that a still life was limited to a table setting with a grouping of items as the focal point. In these cases, artists spend time setting-up the items, the lighting to create a mood they want to convey. Although I've seen some beautiful still lives, most of these don't look like natural to me and hence I have never been drawn to them.
Only recently did I also associate still life to other things than the "traditional" still life. This opens up a whole world of possibilities and interesting subjects.
Today, Diana-B (from ArtTutor) mentioned David Poxon to me, as I have been painting old rusted tools. I had never heard of him and looked him up online. What a pleasant surprise that was. I am grateful that Diana mentioned him to me.
David is a British watercolour artist who paints old items using traditional multi glazing techniques. His paintings are photo realist.
Although he lives in the countryside, he regularly visits old Industrial sites and Farmyards where there is an integrity and honesty in the daily struggle of working men and their machines. As nature reclaims these man made items for itself it creates its own beauty that could not be constructed other than through the passage of time.
I encourage you to visit his web site. I've also subscribed to his Facebook page. I couldn't choose one photo, therefore, here is a small collage.
Still lives like these are so so beautiful in my eyes. They are so real.
Have a great week,
Danielle
Have a great week,
