Posted by Stephen Quirke on October 8, 2009 under Art, figure, painting, watercolor, watercolour | 
I am sitting skoffing chocolate covered raisins by the handful and listening to Gypsy Music from Putamayo (Russian rap sounds really cool). And I am working on my hand-in for Saturday for the local Watercolour Group. Please give me some crit on this painting. I may be able to do one more version, depending on how I feel tomorrow evening.
This is on 185gm Arches Cold Pressed and is 380x560mm (half a sheet). I would like to do another with the girl on the left’s right hand more visible over her knee to lead up from the the dance of feet into the hands and faces.
How do you like the dudes shooting the breeze at the back there?
Oh yes – I almost forgot… what is going on in here? This guy has taken up residence on my wall.
And this guy lives in the karakul rugs on the shelf and has made a lovely web anchored on my brandberg #2 painting in my rack – it is a jungle in here…
although, I haven’t seen the rain spider lately.
Posted by Stephen Quirke on under Art, en plein air, landscape, painting, seascape, Strand Pipe beach, watercolor, watercolour |
Ethan was doing his surf class at Duckies today – just down the beach from The Pipe. I had stuff to do and got back with no time (or inclination) to surf so I sat on the pavement above the beach and painted the mountains at Gordons Bay – there are so many colours in those mountains – colours, values and shapes.
Posted by Stephen Quirke on October 5, 2009 under Art, figure, painting, watercolor, watercolour |
Here is a watercolour I have done from a photo of two girls sitting on the steps to look at the photos they have taken.
We have a hand-in for our local watercolour society for the annual merit exhibition this Saturday and I was keen to use the photo for a submission. We will see how the time holds out.
Posted by Stephen Quirke on October 4, 2009 under Art, en plein air, painting, watercolor, watercolour |
We have just returned from an outing to Franschoek the town established by the French Huguenots when they settled in the Cape in the 17th century following the persecution that followed the final revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV. The town is in a beautiful valley at the foot of the Boland Mountains. I did the watercolour as we waited for our meal.
The car behind Calvin’s shoulder pulled in just as I had drawn the one on the other side of the road which made me a little indignant – I mean… – I thought of Bill’s comment.
Posted by Stephen Quirke on October 3, 2009 under Art, landscape, Namib, painting, watercolor, watercolour |
the first wash was a little more difficult – i think I should have use staining blues rather than French Ultramarine – I was keen to have a smooth wash – but I will see how I feel in the morning:
I had to stand on top of a step ladder and hold a camera over the painting to take this.
Posted by Stephen Quirke on under Art, en plein air, landscape, painting, seascape, Strand Pipe beach, watercolor, watercolour |
The waves were really small at the pipe. Calvin and I went down early to have a surf before Calvin had to coach a class at 09:00. He didn’t even want to use my longboard. So I sat and painted the mountains over Gordons Bay.
I still had some time because I decided to wait for Calvin to finish. So I did this view. I was sitting near the path so lots of people stopped to chat and look at my work. This is quite fun. But I lost concentration when I was doing the sea so it became a bit of a mess.
Here is a framework I had in mind as I did the first one:
- “Approach each critical task with an explicit goal of getting much better at it.
- As you do the task, focus on what’s happening and why you’re doing it the way you are.
- After the task, get feedback on your performance from multiple sources. Make changes to your behaviour as necessary.
- Continually build mental models of your situation – your industry, your company, your career. Enlarge the models to encompass more factors.
- Do these steps regularly, not sporadically. Occasional practice does not work.”
It was really hot – I got a little burnt – what a pleasure – then class came up from the surf and I felt an urge for a waffle – Mugg and Bean make the best round here – so Calvin and I joined the crush at the mall – so there.
Posted by Stephen Quirke on October 2, 2009 under Art, figure, landscape, Namib, painting, watercolor, watercolour |
I have just had a wild evening – heh heh – I remember once doing the Comrades Marathon from Durban to Pietermaritzburg. I called an old friend of mine, who was a party animal and asked if she wanted to join me at the pre-race “carbo-loading” party – sponsored by Nike. ”Oo yes” she said “I feel like going to a party”. So we picked her up and it was all these guys eating pasta and talking about shoes and time splits. Well it was a short evening.
My wild evening tonight has been spent preparing my next Brandberg painting. ”And why” I hear you ask “are you doing another one?” Why thank you for asking.
I have been given an opportunity to hold an exhibition in the info-centre of our local nature reserve. Which I think is quite fun. And I think two large Brandberg paintings would make a great centre piece. So – there you are.
AAAnd more news
I have bought two brushes I would like to use to replace my horse-hair travelling brush which sheds hair on each stroke. These are goats-hair brushes. I was trying them out on some old paper – they are quite soft – not as stiff as my sable brushes – but they seem OK.
And, while I am on a roll, here is a visitor that I am still trying to get used to.
It is a lizard-eating spider – though the locals call them rain spiders because they come indoors when it rains – this is a male and they get rather aggressive though they are not poisonous. A while ago I picked up the hose in the dark outside my studio and my grabbed one.
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