cyprus views

[jackiesimmonds]

Using Wallis paper has helped me in my quest to produce more colourful works.

Visiting WC is turning me into a much slower painter ... in terms of the amount of work I do ... the more time I spend here, reading or typing, the less time at the easel. Have to redress the balance.

Hilltop House, Cyprus ...started "plein aire" on a dull day, no nice sunlight in the scene, so I decided to turn it into an image which depends on colour, and texture, for its impact.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/18-Jun-2004/1805-Bellapaishouseonthehill2.jpg

And Sea Through The Wildflowers Sketched on the spot, pastel done in the studio.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/18-Jun-2004/1805-Through_the_Wildflowers,small_Cyprus.jpg

These were fun to do. Such a change from doing rocks on the beach!!

Next week I am off to attend a workshop with a "Scottish Colourist", doing fast still life in mixed media. My head will be spinning from these contrasting areas of subject-matter - but it is exciting.

[Gilberte]

Just found this under "new posts".

Lovely pastels ........ especially the top one.

[meowmeow]

Wow! These are gorgeous! I absolutely love the first one...the colros are fantabulous!!!! And it wasn't even a sunny scene...now that's something!
The strokes on that one seem different than what you usually do also...must be the paper.
Isn't Kitty's paper wonderful!
Now, of course that does not mean that your work before wasn't super! Just want to make that absolutely clear! :D


Sandy

[pjo]

Jackie - these are both very rich in color, very textural and exciting, I'd defininitly say that you have achieved your goal of producing more colorful work, although I really love what you do already. This is just a different facet of your work, very exciting. We have lots of color, and strong light here in NM, I hope when you come for the expo you can find time to paint (at least I hope I remembered correctly that you are signed up).

[jackiesimmonds]

thanks, Sandy and Gilberte, so glad you like them. I rather like the top one best, tho it is only a small one by comparison with the yellow flowers one. I might try it again, bigger. Sandy, you are right ... I "broke" this one up much more, with a lot more texture and short choppy strokes than usual...but then again, the subject matter lent itself to that treatment.

It has LOADS of layers. When I got home, I worked on it some more, trying to pull it together. I have no idea what I did before, and after. It was one of those images done by someone else, not me. !!

Jackie

[Kathryn Wilson]

Wow, Jackie, I don't know which one I love the best - the top one is different for you and just goes to show how you are willing to take risks and try something new and be successful at it. Wonderful!

But I almost love the second best - I like the play of yellows against the blue - I can imagine sitting at that scene looking through those flowers to the sea.

Either way, they are both brilliant.

[jackiesimmonds]

Thanks girls, I appreciate the comments.

Kyle - that play of yellow against blue really fascinated me. I was sitting right by the roadside, and involved in a totally different view, did a little watercolour sketch of that view, hoping to catch the shepherdess with her floppy-eared goats:

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/18-Jun-2004/1805-shepherdess.jpg

,
and then turned my head and could hardly believe my eyes! When I had been standing, I hadn't noticed the yellows against the blue, because there was a lot of landscape in between, but sitting down, with the flowers right in my face, it was totally different.

So I did a fast, simple watercolour sketch to fix it in my mind (this is about 5" x 3")

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/18-Jun-2004/1805-yellowdaisiessketch.jpg
Now I look at this again, I think I may crop the darker area off the bottom of the pastel.

While I am at it, I know some people are fascinated to see the original scene, so here is the photo taken from where I was sititng, in the carpark under the house on the hill!!!

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/18-Jun-2004/1805-carpark.jpg

Lots of green, as you can see. I used lots of imaginative colour, as you can see too.




We have lots of color, and strong light here in NM, I hope when you come for the expo you can find time to paint (at least I hope I remembered correctly that you are signed up).

Yes, I will be taking a kit of pastels with me to NM, spending some time near Scottsdale first, at a friend's place with views of the mountains, and I want to do a pic to thank her for having me. Then, I am hoping, all fingers crossed, to have time to paint in Santa Fe.

Jackie

[judwal]

I really like them both alot Jackie. I'm wondering on the top one how you choose the colors that you use. Do you actually to see those colors in your subject or do you just pick colors you like together? I'd love to try this style of painting. I'm so stuck on representational painting. I'd like to get more drama into my paintings.

[jackiesimmonds]

I really like them both alot Jackie. I'm wondering on the top one how you choose the colors that you use. Do you actually to see those colors in your subject or do you just pick colors you like together? I'd love to try this style of painting. I'm so stuck on representational painting. I'd like to get more drama into my paintings.

I think we cross-posted, so do refresh the page, and you will see the photo of the place.
As you can see, it was fairly uniformly green ... with grey bits. I was inspired by the possibilities there ... the variety in the texture, the unusual location of the house making a sharp "ping" of light in all that greenery. I began by thinking a bit about tonal greens ... darkest for the fir trees, and then I found other cool and warm greens in the foliage. As is so often the case, nature seen with the naked eye offers so much more than seen in a photo, there are lots of nuances of colour to be seen. I could spot touches of cool, icy green; warm, ochre-y greens; brilliant sharp viridians; all kinds. The earth was warm and pinkish, a lovely contrast. I only had a small box of hard pastels with me, so I just did the best I could at the time, but when I got it home, I went to town, adding nuances of colour all over the place, trusting my instincts. I simply added to what I had started with, making the various areas of green as interesting and lively as possible - yes, adding the colours I liked, (but in general terms from the same side of the colour wheel in the various areas - greens, blues, purples for the foliage shapes; pinks, oranges, browns for the warm ground shape) and that I felt worked well together. One mark, one colour, would lead to another.

You say you are "stuck" in representational painting. Well, so am I. I try abstraction from time to time, but it just doesn't do it for me emotionally. What I can tell you, is that when you tackle a landscape scene like this, with loads of textures everywhere, and no need to be too precise, as with a portrait, it sort of gives you permission to let go a bit!! Just go for it ... try and see what happens. Sometimes when you "freewheel", and are prepared to bin the results, all kinds of wonderful things happen.
Go find a bit of shaggy landscape, and have a bash.

Jackie

[judwal]

I think we cross-posted, so do refresh the page, and you will see the photo of the place.
As you can see, it was fairly uniformly green ... with grey bits. I was inspired by the possibilities there ... the variety in the texture, the unusual location of the house making a sharp "ping" of light in all that greenery. I began by thinking a bit about tonal greens ... darkest for the fir trees, and then I found other cool and warm greens in the foliage. As is so often the case, nature seen with the naked eye offers so much more than seen in a photo, there are lots of nuances of colour to be seen. I could spot touches of cool, icy green; warm, ochre-y greens; brilliant sharp viridians; all kinds. The earth was warm and pinkish, a lovely contrast. I only had a small box of hard pastels with me, so I just did the best I could at the time, but when I got it home, I went to town, adding nuances of colour all over the place, trusting my instincts. I simply added to what I had started with, making the various areas of green as interesting and lively as possible - yes, adding the colours I liked, (but in general terms from the same side of the colour wheel in the various areas - greens, blues, purples for the foliage shapes; pinks, oranges, browns for the warm ground shape) and that I felt worked well together. One mark, one colour, would lead to another.

You say you are "stuck" in representational painting. Well, so am I. I try abstraction from time to time, but it just doesn't do it for me emotionally. What I can tell you, is that when you tackle a landscape scene like this, with loads of textures everywhere, and no need to be too precise, as with a portrait, it sort of gives you permission to let go a bit!! Just go for it ... try and see what happens. Sometimes when you "freewheel", and are prepared to bin the results, all kinds of wonderful things happen.
Go find a bit of shaggy landscape, and have a bash.

Jackie
That was a wonderful explanation Jackie. You are as good with your words as you are with your art. Thank you! I think I will take your advice and give it a try.

[Kitty Wallis]

Beautiful pieces Jackie!

I love the hillside best. But I love blue and yellow...

When I look at them I imagine you, reveling in color, on a vacation in Cyprus, and even tho you came from a heat wave in England to a dull day in Cyprus, the color burst thru.

[chatfieldstudios]

Love, love, love both of these, Jackie! But...I am so partial to the second one. I am a landlocked ocean lover and that painting just gives me the feeling of being back on the coast sitting on a hillside. The colors in both are very appealing, the texture of your strokes is very energetic without being distracting. I could live with either one of those for a long time :)

[Deborah Secor]

Delightful, Jackie! I know what you mean about Wallis paper and COLOR! You can slather on color in great slabs and still have room for those textural dabs and bits that give your paintings so much excitement.

What a nice example of using a watercolor sketch and turning it into a pastel--and may I note to my pastel friends that this illustrates the incredible intensity one can get in pastels that has always frustrated me in watercolor. I would put down a rich path of color with the paint, look away and when I looked back it was pale and insipid...but in pastel I put it down a lively color stroke and it stays that way! May I say that your juicy blues are a great foil for those yellows and greens. Mmmmm, mmmmm, good enough to eat. And that dash of red against white is just a treat.

Okay, I need to go paint.... see, you've inspired me!

Deborah

[Kathryn Wilson]

Lovely watercolors in their own right, Jackie! I can't wait to see what you do with the "goat lady" painting - that is a wonderful subject.

[Khadres]

I agree with Dee about most watercolors. I think it's just the nature of the medium...they start out wet and rich, but tend to dull when dry. Pastels are what they are from start to finish...one reason I decided to try 'em in the first place! Watercolors are great for quick sketches tho, especially in small format.

I like the floral one best, Jackie, but that's simply because I love that color combo and that rich, rich blue! Both are beautiful and look like fun to have done!

[jackiesimmonds]

Lovely watercolors in their own right, Jackie! I can't wait to see what you do with the "goat lady" painting - that is a wonderful subject.

I agree, but unfortunately, I did not get a decent shot or drawing of the goats before they disappeared down the hillside, and they were very extraordinary - long-haired, like Afghan hounds, most unusual. If I can find some good reference of these types of goats, I may give this a try, but to be honest, it wasnt done as a potential for a painting, I just did it for fun.

Jackie

[EdK]

Jackie - I love both pictures. Thanks for sharing the sketches. I really enjoyed and appreciated having an insight into your thoughts. I often stumble when it comes to sketches. These examples help a lot. :D

[Kitty Wallis]

it wasnt done as a potential for a painting, I just did it for fun.
Jackie

Quote attributed to Cezanne: "Real work is done in the spirit of play."

[jackiesimmonds]

never seen that quote before Kitty, thanks for that. And fancy Cezanne saying something like that, doesn't seem to fit somehow.

J

[Kitty Wallis]

never seen that quote before Kitty, thanks for that. And fancy Cezanne saying something like that, doesn't seem to fit somehow.
J

It doesn't, unless I remember how serious play was as a child. fun, yes, engrossing, oh yes, not casual at all.

[jackiesimmonds]

It doesn't, unless I remember how serious play was as a child. fun, yes, engrossing, oh yes, not casual at all.

Engrossing is a brilliant word.

I find painting about as casual as bathing a cat.

Jackie