Stephen J Quirke watercolour blog and online gallery
Posted by Stephen Quirke on May 5, 2013 under Art, Demonstration, Kogelbaai, painting, seascape, watercolor, watercolour | 
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Here is my latest version of the demo I am trying to get right – maybe I will achieve this before I die.
This is on Arches Hot Pressed (love that hot pressed surface) 300gm and is 760 x 560 mm – a full sheet.
I was listening to the most beautiful arias as I painted – Carmen Habanera by Bizet is playing right now.
Posted by Stephen Quirke on under en plein air, painting, seascape, Strand Pipe beach, watercolor, watercolour | Be the First to Comment
As Morne pointed out – yesterday was Thtar Warth day – May the 4th (be with you).
I had a surf at The Pipe – which was crowded – but I managed to have a bomb. I did not ride it expertly maybe – but I rode it and it was a blast. Then I did this watercolour:
This is on Arches 300gm cold pressed and is 290x390mm – more or less
Posted by Stephen Quirke on May 1, 2013 under Kogelbaai, landscape, seascape, watercolor, watercolour | 2 Comments to Read
I am so keen to get this right – making each stroke count so as to keep the colours fresh.
Arches 300gm cold pressed 760 x 560 ( a full sheet) this is not finished but should almost be.
Posted by Stephen Quirke on April 28, 2013 under Art, Demonstration, Kogelbaai, painting, seascape, watercolor, watercolour | 4 Comments to Read
It has been a while since I have done my “your life in light and colour” talk and I have been keen to get it sorted out again. I have updated my talk, reducing it to 7 points and an introduction and conclusion. And today I gave it a go, producing this painting:
This is on Canson paper which is about 185gm I suppose. It is the first time I have used it and I am not sure if it is even meant for watercolour. The painting is 760x560mm.
Posted by Stephen Quirke on April 15, 2013 under en plein air, seascape, Strand Pipe beach, watercolor, watercolour | Be the First to Comment
Calvin and I entered the family tag division again this year. He surfed really well but I surfed like a moegoe. So we made it through the first round but not the second.
On the first day I did this painting:
This is 190x280mm on Arches 300m Cold Pressed. I donated it to the prize giving.
On the second day (yesterday) I did this one:
This is on a half sheet of Arches 380×560 mm on 300gm Arches Rough.
Posted by Stephen Quirke on September 8, 2012 under Art, en plein air, figure, seascape, Strand Pipe beach, watercolor, watercolour | Be the First to Comment
This afternoon I got to The Pipe again.
This is 380x560mm and was painted on Arches Cold Pressed. Read more of this article »
Posted by Stephen Quirke on August 19, 2012 under Art, en plein air, painting, seascape, Strand Pipe beach, watercolor, watercolour | 6 Comments to Read
We had a beautiful day in The Cape yesterday. After a stormy, rainy, chilly week, we had a bright,warm sunny day. It has been a busy week and it was great to go down to The Pipe and sit in the sun and paint. Here is the watercolour I produced:
This is 560x380mm on Arches Cold Pressed.
Posted by Stephen Quirke on August 10, 2012 under Art, en plein air, Kogelbaai, painting, seascape, watercolor, watercolour | 2 Comments to Read
Yesterday I went out to the rocks I have been painting so often, set up and did a painting on site. It was such a beautiful day. Here is what I painted:
This is on 300gm Arches Cold Pressed – and is 560x380mm.
Posted by Stephen Quirke on August 9, 2012 under Art, en plein air, painting, seascape, Strand Pipe beach, watercolor, watercolour | 4 Comments to Read
My records show that I have not painted at The Pipe for 11 months! Can this be? This has been a different year. Lots of work and lots of surfing and not so much watercolour. But yesterday I decided it was time.
This is 380×560 and is on Arches 300gm Rough.
Posted by Stephen Quirke on June 2, 2012 under Art, en plein air, painting, seascape, watercolor, watercolour | 9 Comments to Read
This year is rocketing by in chunks – man!!! But I am getting the right things done and am actually getting some painting done in-between it all. This is the thing – living with intent.
Two weeks ago today I was travelling back from a workshop I facilitated for client of mine with their leadership team, at St Helena Bay up the west coast from Cape Town. And if the different areas in Cape Town (Rondebosch, Seapoint, Bellville, etc) could be different countries, well from Langebaan north you could be on a different planet. They have such an interesting culture. In Afrikaans they ‘brei’ their ‘rrs’ so they sound like ‘gh’. When I worked for the sea fisheries in Walvis Bay long ago I used to go to sea quite often on a research ship. The first mate was a pleasant old guy from the West Coast region. And he used to say “Ons het groot geword op droe growwe brood” which came out like a whole lot of guttural static with a few vowels ‘ingegooi’ – heh heh. Four of us, the First Mate, the Engineer, Uncle Paddy the cook and I, used to sleep in bunks around the wardroom table. And the other three used to snore loud enough to wake the dead. However, enough of the venacular and this regression and digression. To the paintings.
On the Friday afternoon I joined Marius and Rene for a drive to Velddrif to buy some ‘bokkoms’ (dried fish) and Snoek roe (which we ate that evening, deep fried with mayonnaise). We stopped at the Noordblinder (North breakwater I guess) for a beer. It was really just a shed with a counter, a TV, a stock of the usual liquor and some really (really really) interesting locals. Quite fun. After a beer and a chat with a guy who was doing training for the Air-force Academy up the road, we went down to the shore and while the others enjoyed the late afternoon sun I sat on the beach and did this painting:
This is 180x280mm on Arches 185gm cold pressed.
Then, because everyone seemed quite relaxed I did this one too:
This is on Arches Cold Pressed (300gm) and is 280x380mm. Then it was time to go back for the evening event.
The next after breakfast morning I went for a walk with one of the delegates, down to the Stompneusbaai lighthouse which is in the Shelley Point development. We chatted a while before he walked back and I stayed to complete this paining. All too soon (I eventually had about 20 minutes by the time I had settled down on a convenient rock…) I had to rush back to check out and hit the road back to Somerset West. This is the sketch I did which I think calls for a studio version:
This is also on Arches Cold Pressed (300gm) and is 280x380mm.
Watch this space for the studio version, but at this stage I would advise against one holding one’s breath – (o:
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