Comments on: helderberg watercolours – 20091208

By: Stephen Quirke

Stephen Quirke — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:42:38 +0000

Ding! – OK I got it eventually
Thanks hey Leslie

By: Stephen Quirke

Stephen Quirke — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 05:12:26 +0000

Hi Rahina
Having seen your work, this is a great compliment. thanks hey – S

By: rahina qh

rahina qh — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:42:20 +0000

an excellent collection of paintings: i find them very appealing. r

By: Leslie White

Leslie White — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:55:41 +0000

Congratulations, Stephen, for receiving the RA blogger’s award from Carol.

By: Stephen Quirke

Stephen Quirke — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:39:11 +0000

Hi June – thanks – I am encouraged that you see improvement. I am finding this quite a difficult scene to paint. I am using a lot of paint. I have just made quite a long list of colours to buy the next time I go past the art shop. Cheers hey S

By: June Malone

June Malone — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:34:02 +0000

It’s interesting to see the progress jump you’ve made on this scene since the last post. You must get through a lot of paint with all these pictures…but clearly worth it. I like the fact that they’re both the same view, yet so different due to the time of day.

By: Stephen Quirke

Stephen Quirke — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:08:55 +0000

Hi Leslie – I feel more relaxed about the scene which is usually a good sign. The light changes a lot over the mountain, especially on cloudy days. I did a quick sketch while I was up there yesterday and it was completely different. In these paintings I have tried to capture the structures in the rock faces, the slopes and the reflections. I worked from the same photo in both but did not try to get the saturations perfect. I am looking through all the books I have about how people do water – there is a technique – thanks for the comments hey – S

By: Leslie White

Leslie White — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 23:35:14 +0000

These are wonderful Stephen.I am gathering that they were two different times of day as I see heavy shadows on the mountain in the first one. Your water has always looked convincing to me but in these you’ve captured the reflected colors. Beautiful paintings, both.

By: Stephen Quirke

Stephen Quirke — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:40:59 +0000

Hi Carol – thats an interesting observation. I have been mixing Cobalt blue and Cadmium red for the darks and in the top one I used more blue. And I guess the greens have more yellow (Cd yellow mostly) in the second one. I feel more adept at the water now. S

By: Carol King

Carol King — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:30:57 +0000

Ah Stephen, More wonderful paintings of Helderberg! I particularly like these with the water in the foreground.
The top one feels a little “cooler” to me. There’s still snow on the mountain tops yet I know you’are coming into summer there while we are slamming into winter quickly.
The 2nd one looks more like a summer scene. Both are beautiful. I love how you captured the refelctions on the water.