Watercolour Work
I've been experimenting with water colour painting for many years. I usually start with a sketch on watercolour paper, then work with the paint depending on the style I'm looking for. The piece above on the left (bunny) was created predominantly with wet-on-dry, to contain the pigment. The piece above on the right (blooms) was created using mostly wet-on-wet to allow freer movement of the pigment, giving a sense of flow to the flowers.
Assorted Sketch Work
I enjoy drawing the world around me. I get a lot of my inspiration from natural subjects like animals and plants, but I also love drawing places of meaning. The above sketch on the right depicts a reading nook in my home, where I've spent many pleasant hours; I wanted to capture the cosy feeling of the spot, and I spent time working on shading and shadows to give the work depth.
Acrylic on Print
As part of an assignment for my first year in my photography degree, I was given an open brief to produce a series of work that experiments with the constraints of the photograph. The theory-rich foundations for this project come from the concept that while the image shown on a physical photograph is usually the focus for the viewer, the physicality of the print itself, the very paper, also has value. I chose to explore this idea by painting pastel-coloured detail directly onto black and white prints using acrylic paints. I captured of items of significant sentimental value to me, then I produced the images in a dark room. the top images are high-contrast scans of the final works which clearly show the brushwork additions, while the bottom images are the works as they were submitted, where the colour is more obvious and the paint blends more seamlessly with the photograph.
Something Else Entirely
One of my favourite ways to create artwork is to choose unconventional surfaces to paint on. I've painted work straight onto walls, on to a trim in a caravan, on leftover vinyl... whatever I can get my hands on!
The challenges that crop up working this way keep me on my toes, and I enjoy adapting common techniques to work in unconventional ways.
