I'm reposting this here, as it fortuitously fit with the Inspiration Challenge and I literally posted it to image sharing a couple of hours before the launch ;)
I've had a bit more time recently to practice watercolour, with the summer holidays here in Melbourne, though managing washes at 35-40 degrees Celsius is a challenge in itself! The below is my latest. I'm reasonably pleased with the progress I'm making. I'm trying out different ways to paint eucalypts trees, which I struggle with given how sparse and full of skyholes these are. I also focussed a lot on the different shades in the water, and trying to make a rocky shoreline work without detracting from the tree as the main subject (only partially successful in my view).
The image is based on a view of Port Arthur in Tasmania, looking over the small island named the Isle of the Dead. It's a beautiful place which belies a disturbing history - first for the atrocities carried out against the Aboriginal inhabitants in the early 1800s, and then as a penal colony in the 1830s. The Isle of the Dead is so named as it served as the prison's cemetery.
Any comments welcome!
You bring back so many memories of my time in Tassie. The landscape is something else.
I love the clean lines in your painting and the water looks just as I remember it.. like the calm before a storm. And eucalyptus are just a different breed. They’re either gappy, half burnt, falling down or oddly blue. I met an oil painter many years ago, who moved from Belgium to Brisbane and he said it took him years to adapt his colour palette to Australian trees. I think we’re just special :)
And I hear you when you mention the heat and watercolour. Brisbane summers are a constant speed-painting challenge!