Tag Archives: eastwitching

Busying Around Ready to Paint a Big Massive Hare!

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That’s it! I’ve decided to really go outside my painting size comfort zone.

Now “big” to me is A3 as I am usually an 8×10 inch kind of girl. Also I can’t go bigger than A3 as my scanner won’t take it and I want to be able to scan my artwork and make cards and possible prints in the future.

The reason - this absolutely gorgeous Indian Hare.

My latest muse - a glorious Indian Hare

My latest muse - a glorious Indian Hare

I purchased her image from a royalty free site along with 4 others yesterday - blowing £30 but so worth it don’t you think?

These are th eother hare images I bought - so excited to use these in future works...

These are the other hare images I bought - so excited to use these in future works…

I printed her this morning - she slurped up a tonne of ink but I don’t care! I want to see large details…

Hare printing this morning

Hare printing this morning

Lately I have been painting a few hares for a client and so I am in hare “groove”.

A recent hare commission in watercolour 11x14 inches

A recent hare commission in watercolour 11×14 inches

The thing is - now I have her printed and ready to go and feel I want to do her in pastel and not watercolour I have realised that I am short of yellow pastels….Oh dear - well - any excuse to go and buy a nice new set of the fabulous Unison soft pastels to complement my stash so far:)

I love drawing in graphite, carbon and painting portraits in soft pastels. This is my drawing gear.

I love drawing in graphite, carbon and painting portraits in soft pastels. This is my drawing gear.

Unison are the best pastels if you ask me - the way they handle, the shape of them and their colour richness is amazing.

I will be painting this hare on Art Spectrum Colourfix Pastel Paper in sand - a divine and fine yet gritty surface that accepts soft pastel like a dream.

Now I just have to get myself all set up as I had put all my pastels away after having a painting day with 3 lovely ladies this week.

My large reference photo - on wall and ready to roll!

My large reference photo - on wall and ready to roll!

Watch this space:)

Painting Day with Anne, Gwyn and Glynis

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Three members of Pentyrch Art Society came for a whole day’s painting on Tuesday and we ripped through the demos - producing four paintings each - it was a fast-paced day and I enjoyed their company and chat about all things art.

 

Here are some pics of the ladies in action!

 

Gwyn beginning the underwashes of her ladybird

Gwyn beginning the underwashes of her ladybird

Anne enjoying tackling one of the 4 demos...

Anne enjoying tackling one of the 4 demos…

Glynis almost finished with her ladybird.

Glynis almost finished with her ladybird.

Nitty gritty showing details of cherries and Blue Himalayan Poppies - well done all

Nitty gritty showing details of cherries and Blue Himalayan Poppies - well done all

Bringing it all back Home

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A few months ago I went mad and set myself up with a little website. I thought it was about time that I branched out from Etsy and excitedly learned new skills to do with using this new platform. It was hard going and I never really felt that the “look” was what I was after. I soldiered on though, adding images and trying to create a feel that was rustic, natural and arty.

Original watercolour hare - 9x11 inches "Fisty Cuffs"

Original watercolour hare - 9×11 inches “Fisty Cuffs”

To me though the whole site was clunky and too hard and commercial looking.

Well, long story short is that after about 6 months of it really not doing much I decided to knock it on the head. And what a sense of relief I feel.

Original watercolour fox "On the Trail" 7x10 inches

Original watercolour fox “On the Trail” 7×10 inches

Amazingly almost the same time as I came to that decision I encountered a WordPress template that is so utterly gorgeous that I fell in love with it. The look is exactly what I am after and I am going to enlist some expert advice this time to help me get underway faster!

Original watercolor foal - "Sitting Pretty" 7x10 inches

Original watercolor foal - “Sitting Pretty” 7×10 inches

So come the Autumn I hope to be writing these posts to you on my new blog which will be integral to my new site - everything under one Eastwitching roof!

 

Meantime - I brought home all my original paintings that were on the other site and for now they are safely roosting on Etsy until I get their new quarters ready!

 

Above are some new works … enjoy the gallery:) Alison

What you can do with some watercolour and paper!

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This week I held another Art Blossoms Painting Day (I refuse to use the word “workshop” as it conjures up images of people doing difficult and unpleasant activities and anyway art isn’t work!)

Mary showing the poppies who's boss!

Mary showing the poppies who’s boss!

Two sisters - Mary and Pam came over from Tonyrefail and Efail Isaf respectively to build on their watercolour skills.

This is a spare palette I took as I picked one of the ladies as my shadow painter for each demo - they painted along with me as the others watched us both

They had requested activities on flowers and animals and some general watercolour techniques on how to create a good composition from a complicated floral landscape scene.

Using the wet into wet technique Pam was soon creating poetic poppies

Using the wet into wet technique Pam was soon creating poetic poppies

For our flowers we did a magical blue himalayan poppy. Using wet into wet for the background we simply lifted out any colour that went over the flowers and then painted those in when the background was dry!

This is what you might get if you follow along with the demo in this post - good luck!

This is what you might get if you follow along with the demo in this post - good luck!

Here is the demo if you want a go and please - send me in pics of how you do?

Blue Poppy 1Blue Poppy 2The animal we painted was a simple greeny-yellow seahorse which allowed for loose and atmospheric painting of underwashes before tightening with accents and shadows as the painting dried.

Seahorses are delightful to paint in watercolour

Seahorses are delightful to paint in watercolour

Again - have a little dabble and maybe use different colours.

I like my students to paint an eye as this is considered a tricky subject and I want to show how to tackle it with ease. What do you think of their very first attempts below? Not bad at all if you ask me

After a brief eye demo by me Pam and Mary knocked out these two fab eyes:)

After a brief eye demo by me Pam and Mary knocked out these two fab eyes:)

We had a lovely day batting cat back and forth as we worked about watercolour, art, drawing, places we had visited in the world and despite the heatwave outside my north lit painting room kept us bearably cool.

eye dog alsatian

Thanks for coming Pam and Mary and I hope you continue to build on what you did during your day.

Art Blosoms final

If you fancy watercolour tuition and live in the South Wales Valleys area give me a call on 01443 791532 or email me at eastwitching@hotmail.com - we can sort out a day or half day tailored to your needs!

An Art Blossoms Morning with Pencoed’s Kestral Art Group

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What a fun morning we ladies had down at the Woodlands pavilion yesterday.

Situated in Pencoed just outside Bridgend in South Wales the low level building is surrounded by lush mature shrubs and trees and wide open green spaces making it a gorgeous location to come for a morning of watercolour.

Jayne - in her oils - or should that be watercolours?:)!

Jayne - in her oils - or should that be watercolours?:)!

Below are some photos of artists in action!

No stopping them now - painting seahorses in watercolour

No stopping them now - painting seahorses in watercolour

The day was boiling hot but our end of the building was light but mercifully cool! We opened all the doors wide though to let in a lovely breeze.

A sample of the finished paintings - aren't they gorgeous?

A sample of the finished paintings - aren’t they gorgeous?

I had been invited back to Kestrals to do this morning workshop following on from a demo I did for them a month back. So Audrey, Jayne, Gill, Christine, Elaine, June and Diana were my class and it was a joy to be able to do the demo and then go around and help as they got underway with trying the painting for themselves.

Part of the seahorse step by step handout I had prepared for each member of the group

Part of the seahorse step by step handout I had prepared for each member of the group

I had done each demo myself at home a few days before and photographed each step. That way I was able to create handy step-by-step A4 sheets in full colour with instructions which I gave out so to help everyone follow the process with ease…

Untitled-1

We painted a magical emerald seahorse and a very realistic dog’s eye as well as having a brief introduction to watercolour papers, paints, brushes and fundamental techniques.

I wish I had got shots of all the eyes painted as there were great results!

P1130385

Art9One such technique - The Thirsty Brush” proved very useful during the morning as we lifted out colours to create highlights or simply to remove paint from places we didn’t want it to be.

This is a spare palette I took as I picked one of the ladies as my shadow painter for each demo - they painted along with me as the others watched us both

This is a spare palette I took as I picked one of the ladies as my shadow painter for each demo - they painted along with me as the others watched us both - first was Elaine and then Jayne - well done girls for coping with the pressure!

We had a lovely teatime with Christine having made sweet and ever so pretty flower decorated and butter-creamed cupcakes as well as slabs of cherry and chocolate cake. Thanks Christine for that. Wish I’d taken a photo of them but I was too interested in getting my mitts on one and eating it.

P1130630

Audrey painting her seahorse

Several ladies had not done much with watercolour at all and so it was lovely to hear as we worked how much they were enjoying having a go at it. I hope that they will continue to experiment at home now with their new found confidence.

As usual I got so absorbed in the class and what everyone was doing that we painted right up to the bell and we all had to rush to pack away then! So sorry about that ladies. Next time we’ll stop 15 minutes earlier and re-cap and reflect!

Jayne - here seen agonising over which shade of green to use - decisions, decisions:)!

Jayne - here seen agonising over which shade of green to use - decisions, decisions:)!

If you would like to come to my home studio in Ynysybwl, Pontypridd, for an Art Blossom Painting Day or half day please contact me at eastwitching@hotmail.com or call on 07554344686.

Art Blosoms final

You may also like to read about what to expect here in my blog post - https://eastwitching.com/2013/04/18/art-blossoms-painting-days-new-for-springsummer-2013/

Haystackers at the ready! Game 17 Is Up!

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Welcome all you Haystackers to Game 17 and the final one for the summer until September

Sorry for the delay haystackers!

This is the last game until the Autumn now as so many people are away on holidays and I need to spend some serious time in studio over the summer months.

I wish you all luck in Game 17!

So - are you set for this fortnight’s challenge?

The section of my Etsy shop to search in is

SMALL 5×7 inch prints

Find this small black needle and win a print!
  • The 17th game starts today with the deadline for entries being
  • Saturday 15th June at midnight London (GMT) time
  • and the winner being announced Sunday 16th June.

HOW TO PLAY

OK - this week please start scrutinising images found H E R E

  1. Once you find the black needle that I have secreted…
  2. send me an email with your answer to eastwitching@hotmail.com or send me a convo in Etsy
  3. then come back here and write a comment saying what archival print you would like to win from my Etsy shop Eastwitching !

So - START SEARCHING HERE

You have just under 2 weeks to submit your answer.
On draw day I will use the random number generator to select a winner. If it says 3 for example then the third person who left a comment will win etc…

Deadline to submit your entry is - Saturday 15th June at GMT (London Time:) Midnight.

Have fun! - Alison

Why So Crabby?

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Gone mad with crabs I’m afraid. See what happens when you leave me alone with my many crab paintings and Adobe Photoshop! LOL

Undearsea Mele - a cushion

Undearsea Mele - a cushion

Here are two crab inspired beach house cushions - inspired to keep you checking to see if they are about to pinch your bum!

Neptune's Cornucopia

Neptune’s Cornucopia

Available now at Society 6

Neptune’s Cornucopia - http://society6.com/eastwitching/Neptunes-Cornucopia_Pillow

Undersea Melee - http://society6.com/eastwitching/Undersea-Melee_Pillow

Haystackers at the ready! Game 16 Is Up!

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Welcome all you Haystackers to Game 16

I use a new TWITTER hash tag for my regular animal art print giveaway game.

Want to win one? Search #haystackers now.

Find me on Twitter @eastwitching

This week the needle is a hidden in amongst my Animal Prints

So - are you set for this fortnight’s challenge?

Find this small black needle and win a print!
  • The 16th game starts today with the deadline for entries being
  • Saturday 25th May at midnight London (GMT) time
  • and the winner being announced Sunday 26th May.
  • Then on Monday 27th May the new game will start.

HOW TO PLAY

OK - this week please start scrutinising images found H E R E

  1. Once you find the black needle that I have secreted…
  2. send me an email with your answer to eastwitching@hotmail.com or send me a convo in Etsy
  3. then come back here and write a comment saying what archival print you would like to win from my Etsy shop Eastwitching !

So - START SEARCHING HERE

You have just under 2 weeks to submit your answer.
On draw day I will use the random number generator to select a winner. If it says 3 for example then the third person who left a comment will win etc…

Deadline to submit your entry is - Saturday 25th May at GMT (London Time:) Midnight.

Have fun! - Alison

Making a song and dance

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This Spring I’ve got a lot to make a song and dance about. Why? you may ask. Well with 4 of my animal art prints currently featuring in 4 UK national glossy home and lifestyle mags I’m doing a happy dance.

So to celebrate I thought I’d bring in the rats - their exuberant Morris Dancing seems to express how I feel in animal art form - which is what I am all about.

Take it away rats!

Take it away rats!

So if you want to know where my art can be found here’s the scoop!

Mag 1

Mag 2

Thanks to all the mags - some of whom contacted me and some who I contacted myself.

Haystackers at the ready! Game 15 Is Up!

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Welcome all you Haystackers to Game 15!

I use a new TWITTER hash tag for my regular animal art print giveaway game.

Want to win one? Search #haystackers now.

Find me on Twitter @eastwitching

This week the needle is a hidden in amongst my original April artwork sale HERE.

So - are you set for this fortnight’s challenge?

Find this small black needle and win a print!
  • The 15th game starts today with the deadline for entries being
  • Saturday 11th May at midnight London (GMT) time
  • and the winner being announced Sunday 12th May.
  • Then on Monday 13th May the new game will start.

HOW TO PLAY

OK - this week please start scrutinising images found H E R E

  1. Once you find the black needle that I have secreted…
  2. send me an email with your answer to eastwitching@hotmail.com
  3. then come back here and write a comment saying what archival print you would like to win from my Etsy shop Eastwitching or from my original April art sale !

So - START SEARCHING HERE

You have just under 2 weeks to submit your answer.
On draw day I will use the random number generator to select a winner. If it says 3 for example then the third person who left a comment will win etc…

Deadline to submit your entry is - Saturday 11th May at GMT (London Time:) Midnight.

Have fun! - Alison