Posted by Stephen Quirke on April 11, 2011 under Art, Demonstration, Kogelbaai, painting, seascape, watercolor, watercolour | 
Here is a painting I completed in my studio over the weekend. Included in this posting are some of the steps along the way. I have been asked to do a number of watercolour demos lately so I have looked at this scene from the point of view of starting and completing a finished work in about an hour.
More recently I have created a presentation in which I do a painting and relate the insights on what makes good watercolours to what it takes to successfully discuss, design and implement an effective team strategy.
I have included some of the steps in the process in this posting.
This painting was done on a 560×380 mm sheet of Arches 300gm Cold Pressed.
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Posted by Stephen Quirke on March 1, 2011 under Art, Demonstration, Kogelbaai, painting, Strand Pipe beach, watercolor, watercolour |
Last week at this time I was driving around Meadowridge, to find the venue for a watercolour demo. The group was the Constantiaberg Art Society and I had offered to do the demo. And what a friendly group of people they were. Thank you so much all of you for the warm welcome you gave me. I have not been painting much this year, as my lack of posting here attests and I must say I felt a little rusty. But I decided to put this to the group and suggested that I would find a photo on my lap-top and paint from that, using my outdoor kit. ”Lets all pretend we are down at The Pipe”.
So here is my first piece. I guess if I had been feeling more confident I would have done a single painting but allowed myself this start:
this was on 300gm Arches 370×280. There is some fun stuff going on in the sky but overall mmm. Ja well no fine!
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Posted by Stephen Quirke on November 27, 2010 under Art, en plein air, Kogelbaai, landscape, painting, seascape, watercolor, watercolour |
This afternoon I went down to Kogelbaai to paint with my brother-in-law Tim and my nephew Ben. It was a beautiful afternoon. After wandering around a bit we settled at the bottom of the path off the Caves Beach. I found a nice big square rock and sat in a bunch of grass near the tap. And this is what I did.
Painted on Arches Hot Pressed (man I love that Hot Pressed) 380 x 280 mm.
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Posted by Stephen Quirke on October 10, 2010 under Art, Kogelbaai, painting, seascape, watercolor, watercolour |
Here is a studio version of the same scene I did last weekend.
Cold pressed Arches 300gm 560x380mm (a half-sheet)
I am pleased with this work. The rocks on the beach are covered in treacherous seaweed. It is good to walk on when it is dry but when just a little damp is very slippery. Throughout the summer the rocks are covered in sand – how does that weed survive? Anyway I think I captured it well. I would like the big rock to have tuned more at the edge
I feel though as if it is waiting for something else.
Someone to step into the picture, an entry…
Posted by Stephen Quirke on October 2, 2010 under Art, en plein air, Kogelbaai, painting, seascape, watercolor, watercolour |
Eventually I made it down to the beach this afternoon, after fixing a toilet flush mechanism and waiting for other people to arrive. I took my son and his mates down to Kogelbaai. They dissapeared round to Caves Beach and I sat on the rocks, in a chilly, blustering South-Easter, and did this painting.
This is on 300gm Arches Cold Pressed and is 380 x 560 mm.
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Posted by Stephen Quirke on September 27, 2010 under Art, en plein air, Kogelbaai, painting, seascape, watercolor, watercolour |
I spent a morning at Kogelbaai on Saturday. I have been engaging in a conversation with Linda Crank who wrote a posting on Facebook about the importance of the abstract structure of paintings. Kogelbaai always blows me away because there is so much to paint so I picked a view and started. I used a full sheet of Fabriano rough so there was a lot of paint to put on. And the light changed, as usual, as the sun came over the mountains. The view I chose looks to the South East so the light and the colours on the slopes changed a lot. And as the shadow on the beach crept back the foreground rocks changed too.
Fabriano rough 300gm – 560 x 760mm – still to be completed
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Posted by Stephen Quirke on September 5, 2010 under Art, en plein air, Kogelbaai, landscape, seascape, watercolor, watercolour |
This is one of my favourite places. There is a walk through the coastal fynbos, over a little stream and down a rocky slope to get Caves Beach. Each step along the way seems to open new beautiful views. The sea here is usually clear and blue, maybe it is because there are no big rivers flowing into this part of False Bay. And the waves are bigger and somehow less constrained. From the top of the rocky walk down you can see the beach, the rocky points and far in the distance, table mountain. I have painted this view a few times and will find the referrence.
Caves Beach – 300gm Arches 560x760mm
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Here is a painting I completed in my studio over the weekend. Included in this posting are some of the steps along the way. I have been asked to do a number of watercolour demos lately so I have looked at this scene from the point of view of starting and completing a finished work in about an hour.
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