“Don’t only practice your art, but force your
way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine.” Ludwig van
Beethoven
For a long time now, I have wanted to learn how to paint on vellum. For those that don’t know, vellum is a type of parchment prepared from
animal skin (usually calf). It is prized for it’s smoothness, it’s durability
and above all, that magical translucent luminosity that it brings to
watercolour paintings.
 |
| Cherry leaf on vellum, Dianne Sutherland Ball |
However, it’s not that easy- painting on vellum is not like
painting on paper. It doesn’t like a lot of water, so requires a special dry
brush technique and an awful lot of patience. It’s also eye-wateringly expensive!
Fortunately my friend, the very talented Dianne Sutherland Ball, recently set up an online course in vellum painting, and as I am a huge
fan of her work, I signed up. I’ll be writing more about vellum as the course
progresses.
So this week found me going right back to the basics once more, drawing out little squares and circles onto paper and practicing over and over again- flat washes, graded washes and dry brush techniques. I experimented with different brushes, trying ones that have been long neglected and forgotten, some that have never ever been used! Some worked beautifully whilst others were a total disaster! It’s the perfect excuse to order some lovely new brushes… well, I’ll need them for the vellum!
 |
| Back to basic- the top was my first attempt with dodgy washes and odd shaped balls. The second attempt was better. The egg was my first dry brush attempt.. |
I played with the paint, trying out new ways of putting pigment
onto paper and pushing it around the page, lifting and blending and
occasionally cursing! As I worked, I
found myself contemplating how beneficial these kind of exercises are, and how
they can open the door to new discoveries about ourselves as artists.
 |
| A previous practice page of fresh dates (Phoenix dactylifera) with some real ones thrown in |
So often in life, we rush into things headfirst, impatient
to start and too eager to finish. However, there is a lot to be gained in
taking things slowly and going back to the basics. Often the path to mastering
a technique requires endless repetition.
 |
| Page of olive leaves (Olea europaea) |
There is something quite satisfying about filling a page
with leaves, repeating it over and over again. I’ve often spent an afternoon,
chasing something across a page, each time tweaking it to get the right colour,
the right tone.
 |
| Struggling to capture the soft fuzzy grey of the Dusty miller plant (Senecio cineraria) |
It’s that relentless pursuit of perfection, or as Vincent
Van Gogh said “I am seeking. I am striving. I am in it with all my heart.”
 |
| Oleander leaves (Nerium oleander) and a strange looking Aloe succotrina leaf |
 |
| Cinnamon quills |
 |
| Shells make great practice pieces |
 |
| A small dry leaf can keep me busy for a few hours... yes, I'm easily amused! |
 |
| There's never an excuse not to practice... I once whiled away an afternoon in a busy waiting room . |
Next week I hope to start on the vellum and will let you all
know how I get on. For now I will leave you with a few useful links and another quote. I'm off to practice some more!
"As practice makes perfect, I cannot but make progress;
each drawing one makes, each study one paints, is a step forward." Vincent van Gogh
Fabulous post Shevaun. Really great to see all of your practice pages, your observation of every angle and characteristic of your subject is just extraordinary. Enjoy your vellum course, I may just sign up for that later.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this, Shevaun. Everything you say about practice here is so true. And your practice works are works of art in themselves! You have reminded how important these exercises are and also that they can be enjoyable too!
ReplyDeleteThanks a million, Jarnie, you're very kind. Yes, I'd really recommend doing Dianne's course- she's a fantastic tutor.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Shevaun,love your practise pages,it really does make perfect xxx
ReplyDeleteLove your post, Shevaun! Yes, I agree - I tend to get excited and rush forward and have to go back to basics. I also love how your practice pages show all different angles. So helpful when you go later to do a finished piece as well, since you have first-hand reference material!
ReplyDeleteCarol
Thanks Carol. I used to rush into painting too, but so many times lived to regret my haste! Keeping a sketchbook was an important part of the SBA course and helped me form good habits. I still use the SBA sketchbook as a reference... it's filled with colour charts and little notes. There's another lovely quote from Winston Churchill "Armed with a paint-box, one cannot be bored, one cannot be left at a loose end, one cannot 'have several days on one's hands." How very true!
DeleteHave you tried ordering the brushes that the miniaturists use? If you look at Rory's artwork it's actually masses of tiny little strokes - same as the way miniature painters work spots and strokes!
ReplyDeleteKatherine, I actually went a bit mad and ordered a selection, including the sable miniatures. It was interesting trying out the different techniques... my regular brushes just weren't suitable for the tiny movements and just roughed up the paper. Dianne has a series of videos for her students demonstrating the technique... it's certainly the "painting of a thousand strokes". I am itching to start now! :)
DeleteWhat a delight to see your sketchbook pages--you are such an inspiration, Shevan. I could only tell the real dates from the painted by their shadows. I am experimenting with vellum as well, but think I may be in over my head with my current piece. Vellum seems too expensive to use for practice, at least that is my excuse!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that you're trying out the vellum, Janene! It is too expensive to practice on, which is why I am trying to get the techniques right on paper first. I do have a small sample piece for experimenting on... but that will be next week's post! :)
DeleteThese are all beautifully done, from the most finished painting to the quickest (which is still pretty finished) sketch. I didn't know you could paint watercolor on vellum - now I know that you have to use more pigment and less water :) Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rhonda. There are some amazing paintings done in watercolour on vellum. I am looking forward to starting.
DeleteBeautiful work, as ever! Those dates... I also had great difficulty in seeing which was painted and which was real!
ReplyDeleteI think you have the skill to make even a painting on toiletpaper look fabulous:-)!
I remember going to the first seminar of the SBA course and looking at the sketchbooks. Yours was marvellous and we all started becoming very anxious- was this the standard we were supposed to deliver? I would not ever come close! And now working on the paper of that sketchbook I am even more impressed at your skill. I cannot make it work at all for doing sketches in watercolour, I curse the paper, and then I remember your beautiful painting of an olive tree- on that same paper... I realise it is not the paper, it is the person holding the brush that makes the difference!! If i only had a tiny percentage of your skill;-) ! Now I am looking forward to see more of your lovely work, now on vellum, to which I am sure you will take on like a duck to water :-)
What a really lovely comment! Thanks! That sketchbook paper is a real challenge! I did some of the studies on good paper and then stuck it into the sketchbook. It's just a matter of practice, I'm afraid... There's no shortcuts! Good luck with the course :)
DeleteShevaun your blog is very inspiring! Love your style and the way you work. Your sketchbook pages are absolutely gorgeous, I don't get tired of looking at them.
ReplyDeleteThank you Maria! I enjoyed looking at your blog too! :)
DeleteBeautiful work as usual and I agree with all the other comments. Ditto, ditto and more ditto!!! I never thought of drawing cinnamon sticks (what you call quills) ... will have to give them a try and will enjoy the fragrance while I paint them!
ReplyDeleteThanks Carole. Cinnamon sticks make great subjects...in fact anything that sits still, doesn't wilt and smells divine is a great subject. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
DeleteThanks for directing me here to your page (Linda Martha in the Botanical Arts group here:). I think you hit on my problem here when you said rushing in and being impatient to finish. I am going to work on practicing with the squares and circles to see if that doens't get me on a postive curve:) Thanks again Shevaun-very helpful.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Linda. I'm pleased that you found it useful. Best of luck with it all!
Delete