Posted by Stephen on April 24, 2010 under Art, en plein air, landscape, painting, seascape, Strand Pipe beach, watercolor, watercolour | 
Son Surf is holding the Longboard Classic this weekend and I offered to paint a watercolour of event for them to use as a prize. After I had finished my events in which I surfed like a nana (short for banana) I sat and painted this:
this is 560x390mm ( a half sheet of Arches) which is bigger than the size to which I am accustomed now. But there it is. My nasty little perfectionist is saying “not good enough” so I am doing it again from photo’s in my studio.
This is how it looks after an hour, a bath a cup of coffee and some chocolate digestive biscuits:
Not the best reproduction but I am ready to continue so that is it for now. I am enjoying sitting in my studio, listening to the music of Hotel Costes and painting – though I am feeling really tired
OK – and here it is – it is now going on for 11:30 and I am ready for a snooze. I have signed this piece to show that it really is the end:
I am listening to Allegri’s Miserere mei, Deus which is one of the most beautiful choral pieces. When I was a little boy I used to sing descants like this. The score of the work was kept under lock and key and it was sung only at Easter (I think). Mozart listened to it once and rewrote the complete score from memory.
Posted by Stephen on April 18, 2010 under Art, en plein air, figure, painting, watercolor, watercolour |
When I started painting on site I used to tell myself that being there painting was more important than what I painted. Yesterday we went to watch Sinead play hockey in Stellenbosch. We had about an hour between games and I settled down to paint the beautiful school grounds under the mountains. As I got started the plans changed and I was given ten minutes to finish and head back. So I did this. There was a team playing and I wanted to capture more of the action but did not have time.
I guess there are some good parts to it.
Today we did an adventure race at Lourensford which has to be one of the most beautiful valleys in our country. Just before prize giving I wanted to paint the people and the mountains and sat just behind the speakers (kind of out of range of ear damage) and did this:
Also not bad in some places I suppose. I would like to try using a smaller, higher quality sable brush for people. Whatever – if I keep doing this, eventually it will come together. I have been looking at my progress at the Pipe. Since I started sitting there just over a year ago I have definitely improved. So…
Now I am going to lie in the warm Autumn sun and read “Thinking Differently about Teams” from J Richard Hackman – sorry – Professor J Richard Hackman “Leading Teams”, which is the core piece for my research. He sounds cool – in addition to being a prof at Harvard, he plays Bass Trombone in a community orchestra, and is a keen trout fisherman.
Posted by Stephen on April 11, 2010 under Art, painting, watercolor, watercolour |
Here is a late offering for Ryan’s challenge – well – it is Autumn here – though Autumn and Winter are really quite mild compared with what you my Northern Cousins experience. I did two and would love to do more. Here is the first, which I did last night:
And here is the second which I did today after reading two chapters from “The Enthusiastic Employee” towards my research.
I am not sure how firm he will be about the deadline – but I wanted to do this before coming to see all the other work.
Big day tomorrow but if there is enough light later I will take better photos and post them – otherwise the next day
Posted by Stephen on April 10, 2010 under Art, Drawing, en plein air, landscape, painting, watercolor, watercolour |
As I get into my reading for my research I am spending less time painting. This is unfortunate but I hope to be able to take some time out to paint. Last weekend we spent a night with our friends at Betty’s Bay. Another relaxing evening. The winter swell is hitting the Cape and I went out with Calvin and Jonty but was too chicken to catch any waves because they were peaking and closing out so fast. Our break at the pipe was a little easier and I had time to ride some monsters this week (for me anyway). But while in Betty’s I had a chance to paint one watercolour. And I took a video though I have not had a chance to edit it and will more than likely wait until I can do something better before I take the time to post another video on YT. Here is the painting which I left with our gracious hosts:
I was not so wild about the end result and this past week got to hectic to reflect on this so here it is now.
And here is a photo Sinead took while I was drawing. It shows how I place the video camera on a tripod in front of me. I still have to get used to working more at arms length – like Alvaro – this I feel can only be a GOOD thing – heh heh
Posted by Stephen on April 1, 2010 under Art, en plein air, landscape, painting, video, watercolor, watercolour |
And here is the second part:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh9Zhxgnkxw&hl=en&fs=1]
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