Posted by Stephen Quirke on December 27, 2010 under Art, figure, Helderberg, painting, watercolor, watercolour | 
Here is a painting from a photo I took of my friend Marius and his wife Charlotte on a walk up Helderberg. Marius and I worked on an IT project together many years ago in one of the large oil companies. Now he lives in Ann Arbor Michigan and was out visiting family and friends. He has such an interesting accent, American Jaapie.
This is on Arches Hot Pressed and is 280 x 180 mm.
Posted by Stephen Quirke on January 4, 2010 under Art, en plein air, Helderberg, landscape, watercolor, watercolour |
This morning I had a wander around the Helderberg Reserve. There was a light breeze but it was baking hot. I sat under the Keurboom (what is that in English? - Kigelaria Africana) and sat contemplating the mountain. There was a terrapin the size of a matchbox sunning itself on a lily pad but it scooted off before I could take a picture (or a sketch heh heh). I was attracted by the lilies which are all flowering. So I painted the lilies rather than the whole scene. mmm – what do you think?
This is how they looked:
You can see the reflection of the sky and the mountain. When the water is still I could see all the detail and colour of the mountain in the reflection. And the reflection is much darker than the lilies. Look at all the yellows and greens! Definitely something for the studio. While I was painting a group of people came to see the painting and chat. They were speaking an Eastern language and I learned that the father of the wife of one of the couples had come out from Taiwan to visit his daughter and – well – I just felt it would be good for him to have this painting so I caught up to the couple and asked her to give it to her father.
When I sat down again I did this painting:
Still not what I want to achieve but there it is. While I was painting I chatted with another local couple to whom I gave another painting and also to a lady who also paints in watercolours. So – a nice friendly morning – very lekker.
Later I wandered up to the forest (where the wedding had taken place last year) where I painted this watercolour:
Also another place I would like to paint again. Pine forests are so therapeutic. There was a raptor flying at the edge of the forest calling with a plaintive cry and the wind blew through through the trees with a rushing sound. I remembered the nights when I used to sleep in Newlands Forest when I studied at the University of Cape Town. A little bit of magic.
Posted by Stephen Quirke on December 8, 2009 under Art, Helderberg, landscape, painting, watercolor, watercolour |
At last I feel I am making progress in capturing the mountain and the pond in watercolour. It helped leaving out the water-lilies – too much detail and fuss. This is the latest:
This is 19×28 inches on Arches 185gm cold pressed. And this is the one I did earlier this morning:
this is 28×38 on Arches 300gm cold pressed
Posted by Stephen Quirke on December 6, 2009 under Art, en plein air, Helderberg, landscape, watercolor, watercolour |
I have received a number of requests for a painting of Helderberg mountain from people visiting the exhibition. So I thought I would sit and bang off a few sitting there – lots of confidence there. And I have found the scene to be a whole new party. There are so many shades of green, grey and red in the mountain. And there is the matter of the body of water complete with water-lilies. Dear me – it is quite a project. There were a small number of people who did a LOT to help me prepare for the exhibition and I wanted to give them each a painting of the mountain. I think I am getting close but there is still a way to go. Here is what I have done so far – more or less in chronological order. These are all 19×28 inches except for one.
In the following painting I tried to organise all the colours on the page.
Below is the last one I did sitting at the pond. This is 15×22 inches:
I did the following three in my studio over the last couple of days. I have been feeling rather tired lately so I battled a little with concentration. But I feel as though I have made some progress that I can take back to the field. My new art box is part of a display in the exhibition, with a board on it on which I have taped the unmounted paintings from the wedding commission. I am looking forward to getting it functional again.
I have been reading about how other people capture water. This is definitely my new area of endeavour.
Posted by Stephen Quirke on November 22, 2009 under Art, en plein air, Helderberg, painting |
This afternoon I went up to the lake at Helderberg reserve. I had about an hour for painting. The sun was baking down and there was a light breeze. I set up my new bamboo painting box – with fold up feet!!!! and I sat back to contemplate the view. There is a LOT going on in this scene. There are a multitude of greens, greys, reds and browns in the mountain slopes. Then there are all different shades in the water. And there are also waterlilies and phragmites (reeds) on an island in the middle. Things happened fast as I painted. I will have to develop a different approach to painting in this hot weather. In winter I can only do one wash because it doesn’t dry. Now in summer I must maybe do lots of little washes. Anyway…
And here is a photo of my new set up with Helderberg in the background. Don’t you love the box?
Here is a painting from a photo I took of my friend Marius and his wife Charlotte on a walk up Helderberg. Marius and I worked on an IT project together many years ago in one of the large oil companies. Now he lives in Ann Arbor Michigan and was out visiting family and friends. He has such an interesting accent, American Jaapie.
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