Start of something new...well old really!!

Here we go. Back in my teens I used to enjoy painting/artwork etc and every week I used to go with my Aunt Brenda to a artists club in my home town of Waltham Abbey. I must say that I enjoyed my time painting there but I didn't like the art they taught me at school. Hence I never progressed in that field, I didn't like the modernistic style they instructed you with. Every now and again I tried my luck with starting it up again but it normally took a back seat all too soon. My real interest was with the Birding and addictive photography side of Birding. 

Now in my late 40's, I once again have started painting again, but with more of a passion this time, and I find myself really chilling out in my spare time when painting and listening to some relaxing music. I will portray the paintings as I go along, I use watercolour as a medium and I am finding all different techniques and styles to use all the time...I would never of thought I would be using clingfilm in a painting!

Here is a collection of the first paintings I have created.

If you follow my Blogsite "Back In Birdland" the you will know of my interest in moths and butterflies, so I thought I would try to capture that love as a watercolour. With the butterflies I went with something totally different with plenty of fine detail and then with the edges running with colour as if leaving a vapourising trail when rising. My wife Sarah said this type of painting was like marmite....you either like it or you dont!

A study of a Death's Head Hawkmoth.

This was my first attempt at a sea scape painting, not entirely happy with this painting, my step-daughter promptly snapped it up for display in her home.

 This is a painting of a White Stork at Trujillo in Spain, I decided to paint from one of my photographs that I took when I was on a holiday in Trujillo.

Who doesn't like Kingfishers? I had to try from one of my photographs taken locally, here you can see the progression from the original image.

Okay, now for something different. This was a new aspect for me, and the next 2 paintings were both constructed in the same medium, that of painting with a ...toothbrush.

I had an outline template as such and then used a tooth brush to give the platter effect! It was fun trying something different, I also produced a painting of a Bee-eater using the same technique and gifted that to a friend in Spain, Neil Renwick.

On this Winston Churchill splatter painting I shaped it to that of a Union Jack pattern.

There you have it, my re-start into watercolour painting, with hopefully many more to show.