Owner: Watercolour artist Tracy Hall URL:http://watercolour-artist.blogspot.com Join Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:42:33 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Realistic flower paintings, life like pet portraits and wildlife art from watercolour artist Tracy Hall. Work in progress from the studio and latest news. Site statistics:Click here
Happy Hens 2007-04-22 21:12:00 This is pretty well finished now I hope. It is a large painting (28" x 20") and I think much of the detail I have been labouring to include is completely lost reduced here! Hopefully it will make an enjoyable jigsaw puzzle though. Have posted a couple of close ups as well - my personal favourite is the hedgehog......modelled by a particularly friendly specimen who wandered around our garden alot last summer and took up residence in one of the outbuildings over the winter. It is still there, and last seen eating the remains of a moorhen...(actual size is 1.5" long - the painting, not the real one!)...and a bathing blackbird behind the cockerel: Read more:Happy
The Puffin Lady 2007-04-26 15:17:00 This is a bit of fun! I was recently contacted by Donna (aka The Puffin Lady) for permission to use one of my paintings on some tissue boxes she wanted to have made as gifts for some friends. She very kindly sent me one as well and here it is:Donna has some of my puffin things in her absolutely enormous collection and is passionate about these little birds and their welfare. The Puffin Project website is full of information about them together with very real ways you can help the Seabird Restoration Program - why not Adopt A Puffin?! Great stuff, Donna!Related Links:http://members.aol.com/puffins/ (The Puffin Lady)http://www.ProjectPuffin.org (Audubon's Project Puffin)http://www.BarbarasBakery.com (Did you know you can get Puffin Cereal?!)
Cliff birds in watercolour 2007-04-30 17:41:00 The latest painting for the bird book features Kittiwake, Guillimot and Razorbill perched precariously on the cliffs. It is pretty well done now, although I will doubtless be coming back to it later for a final check. They are shown in their winter plumage in the bottom corners. Read more:Cliff
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Red Squirrel in pencil (wip) 2007-05-06 17:32:00 This is in graphite and coloured pencil and is 11" x 14" on Arches HP. I forgot to take any photos before, but better late than never. I do try to be disciplined with pencil and work methodically from top to bottom, but it never lasts. This is much more fun. I will be leaving his eyes until last though. I'm drawing the woodland floor out as I go - its not really as chaotic as it looks and is completely absorbing to work on! Read more:Squirrel
Local garden show 2007-05-05 19:31:00 I am exhibiting some prints once again at the Seaforth Gardens on Burray, which are open to the public for a couple of weeks during May, and as in previous years 25% of my sales will be donated to a charity of the owner's choice. There are crafts and lots of bedding plants for sale as well. Hopefully the weather will stay fine.... Read more:Local
Waxwing and Dunnock wip 2007-05-10 20:17:00 Here is an update on the waxwings, dunnock and wren painting for the bird book. Still a fair bit to do, but getting there. There are no wrens in yet, but since I remembered to take photos I thought I would post them and I hope its interesting to watch the painting progress.I was curious as to where the waxwing gets its name, and apparently it is because of the red bits on their wings which have waxy knobs. The ones that we usually see in Britain, often arriving in large flocks after berries, are the Bohemian ones.The little dunnock (or hedge sparrow) looks a bit drab by comparison! I'm not supposed to say that, its very pretty. I must thank Brian and Annette for their close up photos which have been such a help for this one.
Churchill Animal Protection Society 2007-05-09 13:17:00 I am supporting this year's art auction by the ChurchillAnimalProtectionSociety
again with two signed prints. It will be held on October 13th in Fallon, Nevada. Jennifer Williamson and the team of volunteers put in a huge effort to bring this event together and it vital to help fund the shelter (last year the auction brought in an amazing $10,000 in one evening!).More information and a list of some of the artists who are donating work this year can be found at:http://www.capsnv.org/2007auction.html
Birds in watercolour 2007-05-13 17:31:00 This one isn't quite finished but I am leaving it here for now, and will come back to it later on with fresh eyes! The Waxwing, Wren and Dunnock. All the birds are now in, but there are some odds and ends to do in the background and I ran out of steam. I know well enough when to leave alone now, stop fiddling when you can't really see the painting anymore, and luckily this project gives me the chance to do that. Next up for the book is the robin, redstarts and bluethroat.Related links: Orkney Book of Birds Read more:watercolour
Red Squirrel Painting in Pencil 2007-05-15 10:36:00 The squirrel is finished, done in graphite and coloured pencils. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, although I had to resist the urge at the end to add some extra whisps of hair on his tail with paint! Hopefully it looks sufficiently fluffy as is. Prints and cards will be available soon.The red squirrel is native to the UK, although it's survival is threatened by the more robust and adaptable greys which were introduced about a century or so ago. I don't think it is anything personal (its not as if they come to blows) but when the two share a habitat the grey usually takes over. Red squirrels are not always easy to see, but we were lucky to get the chance to watch this one for quite some time - it lives around the landmark adventure park in the highlands where they have a feeding station and consequently the squirrels are remarkably unbothered by fascinated humans with cameras! Read more:Squirrel
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Watercolour Cottage 2007-05-17 22:55:00 I forgot to post the final painting of the cottage that I had shown as a work in progress a while back, so playing catch up here it is:The traditional roofs (is that even a proper plural?!) in Orkney are often pointed - I don't know if this is a unique thing to the islands, but I don't recall seeing it anywhere else. When you have winds like we do I guess it is just common sense! The owners decided to have the roof in its unpointed state in the painting, so you may not know what I am talking about...and by 'pointed' I mean with cement put inbetween the slates, not pointy!
Eagle Owl wip 2007-05-25 02:43:00 I've been working on some owl studies in the evenings recently in prep for a series of paintings later on, and this is the progress on one of an eagle owl (at least I think that's what it is, I was a bit remiss with my notes when I took the photos and will have to double check!). I got some Prismacolor Verithin pencils last week which are fantastic, and allow for a really sharp fine line - so the drawing is far more detailed than it needed to be and turning into a more finished piece than intended, but great fun and I'm enjoying trying out the pencils. Read more:Eagle
Robin, bluethroat and redstarts 2007-05-31 05:10:00 This is the robin, bluethroat, redstart and black redstart for the bird book, not finished (are they ever?!) but I'll be back to it later on:Related links: http://www.watercolour-artist.co.uk/bookofbirds.htm Read more:Robin
Eagle Owl drawing 2007-05-29 02:54:00 Here is the Eagle
Owl study finished, 9" x 12" coloured pencil on Saunders waterford HP. Very enjoyable even if I did get completely carried away, but since I seem to use pencils in much the same way as paint it has been extremely helpful and I am really looking forward to painting him later on.Apparently eagle owls do appear in the wild in the UK but this one lives in a falconry centre. They are the largest species of owl (one of the horned ones) and have the wonderful latin name of bubo bubo. Read more:drawing
Birds in watercolour - little passerines (chats) 2007-06-11 14:20:00 Where does the time go?! I do make an effort to update the diary at least once a week, but...well,sometimes I forget. Anyhow here is one recently completed (almost) for the bird book. It features stonechat, whinchat and wheatear, the little
members of the thrush family.The two wheatears are facing the same way on purpose - it doesn't do much for the composition, but it apparently helps with telling them apart, which is of course the main idea. Read more:Birds
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snowy owl wip 2007-06-15 05:24:00 Another owl study in progress - this time a snowy (or as any self respecting child will tell you, a Hedwig). The basics are in, and am just beginning to get down to some detail. I used mainly verithin pencils again for this one.
Snowy owl portrait 2007-06-18 04:51:00 The snowy owl study is finished:The amount of barring seems to vary alot on these owls, from almost pure white in the males to heavily marked in the youngsters and females. (This one was sort of looking over its shoulder, but I am not sure which it was). The eyes are mesmerising - who'd be a mouse? I think this owl will be available as prints in the near future, along with the eagle owl. More owls to follow... Next up, apart from the paintings for the bird book, will be some flowers in watercolour...seems like a while since I did any, so it will make a nice change! Read more:Snowy
Bird painting - skylark, pipits and dipper 2007-06-21 08:25:00 The next painting for the bird book featuring the skylark, meadow pipit, rock pipit and dipper. I am not sure about the skylark's crest...I have been watching them for weeks now and only today finally saw one closeby raise its' crest, and it didn't look so much like a proper 'crest' as a fluffing of a couple of head feathers. Its so fast it's hard to tell. Hmm. Maybe I have made it too big? Will come back to it (and some other things in the backgrounds). Anyway, nevermind the birds, the most fun to paint was the old boat on Swona!
Water Rail, Corncrake, Moorhen and Coot 2006-11-11 11:51:00 Here is the latest painting for the bird book - water rail, corncrake, moorhen and coot with a little spotted crake in the centre: It is painted in watercolour; both transparent and opaque - which has proved essential for these illusrations due to the unfortunate need to make corrections... I think both the paintings and I have benefited from this in the end though! This was actually finished last week and I am now working on the next one (which is skuas), together with a couple of private commissions and some outline sketches for two more jigsaw paintings commissioned by The House of Puzzles. Lots of variety then!
Coot 2006-10-24 12:13:00 I mentioned the coot's feet last week on the current painting I am working on for the bird book, and then completely forgot to post an update to show them. So here it is - coot's feet; aren't they amazing?! I still have a way to go with this one, but they are all interesting birds to work on. On the same painting are the corncrake, water rail and moorhen. This is one (unfinished) corner of it.
Bird Book 2006-10-10 07:30:00 As I mentioned before I have been working on the illustrations for a new bird book. This is a long term project together with author Tim Dean, and it is due to be published in December 2008. We are doing pretty well so far and I have done nearly half the paintings, some can be seen on my website here - ' Orkney Book of Birds' - but I haven't been able to keep the pictures updated very often! Perhaps now I have this diary set up I will be better...Here is a recent one showing Kestrel, Peregrine and Merlin: Today I have been preparing for a painting of Moorhen, Coot, Water Rail and Corncrake. I am also working on a Room With A View - this is a landscape for a lovely lady who has commissioned a couple of paintings in the past. I don't often do landscape commissions, but this should be great fun to work on.
Painting Hair/Fur in Watercolour 2006-10-08 14:05:00 Here's a way of painting hair or fur in watercolour, specifically lighter hair falling over darker hair. Watercolour is a fantastic medium, but believe me I am no expert; I am learning all the time and will continue to do so for as long as I can hold a paintbrush. But I have learnt so much from other artists generous enough to share their techniques, so in the same spirit here goes:After laying in your base colour, let it dry. Then begin to add the darker hair strokes, working up into the lighter colour. You can soften the edges a little as you work with some clean water if you need to. Always work in the direction of the hair growth - or in the opposite direction if you are wanting to create the idea of lighter hair falling over darker hair where the two meet. Continue with progressively darker mixes, leaving some of the earlier layers showing through each time as you gradually build up the depth, working up into the lighter area and beginning to add some strokes down into the edge Read more:Painting
Passion Flower in watercolour 2007-06-24 08:57:00 Here is the latest finished painting of a passion flower 'Passiflora caerulea'. It is 12" x 16" in watercolour
.Related links: Flower Paintings Commissions Read more:Passion
Garden Moths Count 2007-06-22 03:59:00 "Find out what moths are in your own backyard and help wildlife conservation!"'GardenMoths
Count' this weekend (22 -24 june) is a nationwide survey to discover which amazing moths live in our gardens. Anyone can take part, old or young, using simple methods to attract them. There is lots of information at the website: http://www.mothscount.org/ We run a moth trap here over the summer months, and it really is amazing to see the incredible variety out there - kids especially find these beautiful creatures fascinating. If you can spare a few minutes over the weekend do have a look in your own garden or local park. You don't need any fancy equipment, or even a trap (Despite its name, the 'trap' is entirely humane! The moths are admired, recorded and then released unharmed). The picture above is of a Poplar Hawk Moth that visited our garden last week. What has this got to do with my artwork? Well eventually I will be painting them!Related Links: Butterfly and Dragonfly paintings
tawny owl w.i.p 2007-06-30 11:03:00 Once again behind with updates, so to remedy that here is the progress on one of the current pieces, a tawny owl. There is still lots to do, but it is coming together now. This is another is the series of owls I am doing in coloured pencil in prep for some larger paintings later. As before, I am finding that the verithin pencils are too delicious to work with, and the simple colour studies intended turn into more finished pieces as the level of detail you can achieve is so great. Very hard to stop...Despite their adorably cuddly looks, these little birds are apparently very agressive, especially when they have young. My thanks to Brian Hewitt whose photo I am working from for this one. I'll post some updates of other paintings on the go just now when I get time.
Flower painting demo (watercolour) 2007-07-04 04:00:00 Something a bit different today. I thought it might be interesting to see the various stages involved in a flower painting, and since I am recording this one for the lady who commissioned it I have no excuse! Because everything is very light to begin with it is difficult to get a clear photo of it so you can actually see the lines - so the first couple are overly darkened to compensate (the paper is actually white). It is a simple study of a pink aquilegia (columbine) in watercolour
on Arches. It all starts with the drawing, which you can do on a separate sheet and then transfer to the watercolour paper when you have finished scrubbing it out and adjusting it. Arches especially I find very delicate - it does not respond at all well to rubbing out which ruins the surface for painting. So if you anticipate any corrections, its a good idea. The next step is a tonal underpainting (above) to give a three dimensional feel to the piece and establish the shadows using a light shading mix of pa
Tawny Owl Portrait 2007-07-05 05:08:00 I'm calling this little fellow done. It is a Tawny
Owl study in coloured pencil. The trouble is I am now itching to make a start on the paintings that this and the previous two owl studies were preparation for - they have been so much fun to work on I just know the actual paintings will be completely absorbing! But that won't be for some time yet, so a case of watch this space (but don't hold your breath)... Read more:Portrait
Bird painting in watercolour 2007-07-09 10:01:00 The latest painting for the bird book, almost finished - blackbirds, ring ouzels and song thrush in local settings: Related links: The Orkney Book of Birds Read more:watercolour
Pink Aquilegia in watercolour 2007-07-13 10:01:00 This is the finished painting of the pink aquilegia (columbine) which I showed the w.i.p stages of in a previous post:I have another columbine to do next, and am also working on more thrushes for the bird book. And the sun is shining outside for a change which is not helping! Read more:watercolour
ACEO Miniature paintings 2007-07-18 14:01:00 I have recently discovered ACEO's. Actually, I think I probably heard about them a while ago, but didn't take any notice until I was looking for something to do the other evening and stumbled into them again. For those, like me, who are blissfully behind the times, it stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals. There is only one rule and that is they must measure just 3.5" x 2.5". As the name suggests, they can be originals or Limited Editions, and are intended to be collectable, affordable miniature art. This is one that I did, a tiny watercolour of my daughter's cat:I thought I would issue them as tiny limited editions of 25 prints - you can see more here. They are reproduced in exactly the same way as my larger paintings, using the same archival papers and inks. There seems to be quite a following for them on Ebay, although originals appear to sell for very low prices! I'm not going that far so I've priced the originals realistically - and I don't much mind if they don't sel
Bird painting 2007-07-28 09:39:00 Here is the latest for the bird book, in its 'almost finished back to it later' state - the Fieldfare, Redwing and Mistle thrush, once again in local settings and in watercolour. I don't know if its just me, but the locations seem to be getting more cryptic and harder to identify (and I speak as one who knows where they are!). Next up for the bird paintings are the warblers. Apart from that I've been making strawberry jam and if anyone has any good ideas for removing strawberry juice from wooden surfaces, I'd be really pleased to hear them (and so would my kitchen trolley). Top tip - don't leave the strawberries sitting in colanders while you get everything else ready...
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