Thursday 17 July 2014

Starting Somewhere

Hello lovelies,
many of you will know of my affection for this book...........


 My copy was picked up in a charity shop and I've often shared it's beautiful watercolour illustrations here..........



A few weeks ago Mum passed this book on to me, it had been given to her by a neighbour and belonged to his late mother..........


It's by an Artist I hadn't heard of before called Jill Bays.

I loved the colourful and flamboyant paintings of garden plants..............




Pretty scenes............


and wild flower studies..........


It made me think maybe I should give watercolour painting a try. I knew it would be tricky, I've virtually no experience of this hobby. But my drawing confidence has grown since that first coloured pencil picture last FEBRUARY. 

And you have to start somewhere, right? 

The landscape around here is looking so lovely right now I decided to base my first attempt on this photo, it's from last week's walk.................


I hope you lovelies are not expecting too much :0)

It's a much different experience than my usual easily controlled drawing. I was just guessing what to do really, mixing colours is a new thing and so is dealing with wet paint.

But despite all the mistakes and guesswork I ended up with something that's not too awful. In fact I kind of like it..........



It was fun to do and I liked the way I just went with a simple drawing and didn't obsess to much over the details. I love the intense colours you can easily achieve and the whole thing took me less than an hour to do.

The field looks like it's full of Poppies, rather than Knapweed. I mixed the wrong colour and made them too big, but I'm not letting that bother me.

Any hobby is about leaning new skills and having fun I think.....so that's what I'll be focusing on with this one.
Jacquie x



26 comments:

  1. Your painting is really good. I like it a lot. It reminds me of an embroidery I did years ago. Are you going to frame your painting?

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  2. For a try, it's rather a success ! I like the very bright colors ! Do you think you 'll make others ? I hope so ! Have a nice day !

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  3. I think that's a super first go! Well done!

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  4. It's lovely, I like the seedheads in the foreground and the sense of distance.

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  5. You're very good, I wish I was half the painter you are...

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  6. I had the country dairy book when I was young, so beautiful!!!
    The author was very talented.
    And you are too, this is just the beginning but time after time you will learn techniques.
    Go with the bright colours first and the dark colours to finish.
    So nice to try something new.
    Congratulations
    Miss

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  7. Beautiful illustrations and I think your watercolour painting is ace, well done, x

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  8. Oh, I love it! (better than my first one! lol) I look forward to more. :))

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  9. Well done, for a first attempt I think it's fab! I love watercolours and the illustrations in your new book are beautiful. Keep going with your new hobby, you clearly have a gift for it.
    xx

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  10. you have the eye Jacquie. It's lovely.

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  11. That painting is lovely, you have a real talent there.

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  12. Oh Jacquie, you are inspiring! I want to try this too!

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  13. It's beautiful, Jacquie :-)

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  14. I think it's a lovely painting (much better than my first encounters with watercolours) and I really like the way you've used the colours. You should definitely do more! xx

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  15. It really is cheerful. Well done.

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  16. I would prefer to walk through your painting than the real version!

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  17. Oh that is lovely and yo should certainly keep it up! :-)

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  18. You definitely have a hidden talent, that's an excellent first try :)

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  19. It looks lovely Jacquie, and whether they be poppies or something else, they look great! xx

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  20. Another book you may like Jacquie is 'An illustrated country year' by Celia Lewis, I've just picked it up from the library.

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  21. Wow Jacquie, this is SO great. You really are an artist; Keep on going!

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  22. Wow, if I managed something like that first time I would be really delighted. So glad you have tried watercolours it looks like an exciting new medium for you to enjoy your love of you surroundings. Elaine

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  23. I love the picture and very good first attempt in deed. I bought a copy in a charity shop of the diary after your last blog post about it. Inspired by you I'm going to get out my paints and have a first go too.

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  24. I love your picture, amazing first attempt.
    do you remember there used to be a programme called Watercolour Challenge, a bit like Masterchef for painters, I used to love it.

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  25. I think it's beautiful!!!! You really have a talent for this and it should be something you should pursue!!! If I didn't know better I would not believe that this was you first attempt at watercolors!!! You can be very proud!!!! Have a happy weekend!!!
    Love
    AMarie xxx

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  26. Your painting really has captured the essence of your photo, I wish I could paint like you do
    Jackie x

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