Category Archives: Watercolor

Watercolor workshop in France. Let’s paint Brittany, my dreamlike region!

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brittanytitle

 

 

Hey, I am so happy to announce that I worked on a new watercolor workshop to offer, 😀 with Nancy Walsh, from Going Places Together!
This time, I invite you to discover my home town in France, the amazing Brittany, and especially the coast near where I live : the south and center Finistere.

This is such an awesome region! I am sure you will like the places I chose for you, here. 😍
I think you could say that the atmosphere, here, is a bit between Ireland (celtic cousins!) and… France, of course. ☺️

 

A watercolor workshop in France. September 2017.
Here is Brittany!

Here is where I would like you to paint with me. 😃 Continue reading →

Book review. The essence of watercolour, by Hazel Soan :

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So, today, I am really happy to offer my first watercolor book review! 😊

I admit that, a few years ago, I was not a lot into books anymore. We already have so much things to read on the internet! 😯😉
However, my love for sketching and watercolor painting made me start to buy some books again.

I love watercolor books because :

– It’s so enjoyable to be able to see and observe the sketches on paper, even if they are just printed! Of course, the pic have to be big enough, with sharp reproductions.
– That’s more handy and pleasant to have a book open besides your sketchbook as an inspiration than an computer or an ipad.
– There is no problem with luminosity with a real book. You can browse it outside, during summer, on your deckchair! 😍
– I tend to prefer real books (or even ebooks pdf files) better than ebooks on e-readers because, on the laters, the page setting is lost. And page design is really important for me. ☺️ (Note : ebooks can be a good option for too small books or not so great layout books as they allow us to enlarge the pics. They are suitable too, if the book you want can’t be shipped in your country).

The first book I decided to review is Hazel Soan’s book because it’s my favorite these days. 😚
That’s not a perfect book – I don’t know any – but I really like to browse it and to read some passages again these days.

 

The essence of watercolour. Hazel Soan

Let’s talk about the book then! ☺️
This is this book we are talking about.

 

hazelsoan01 Continue reading →

Indian woman holding a jar demo

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Hi guys!

I realized that there was a last demo from my Indian prep sketches I didn’t shared with you yet! 😉
That’s a short video where I sketch a woman wearing a yellow sari and holding a jar on her head. What a lovely scene to paint! 😊

I sketched this after a photo and I am really looking forward to painting this kind of subject, on location, in India, next February! 😀
I am so impatient!!!

I am sure that, on location, for some people sketching, I will have to paint even faster than 7 mn for a sketch! 😉

indejar1
Continue reading →

Why negative painting is always a good idea! :)

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So, that’s leaves season in the northern hemisphere! ☺️ I admit that this is one of  my favorite subjects, as it’s colorful, with an interesting shape, no ! So many different impressive shapes!… And I can make a cocooning sketching session with them, at home, when temperatures begin to lower. 😁😉

This morning, there were some red leaves waiting for me on the sidewalk, just in front of my house. I found them, going for the mail.


I sketched them in various ways and, of courses that isn’t new but this made me think, once again “who, definitely, negative painting is always a good idea!! Don’t ever forget it again!!”. 😝   Continue reading →

Manchester USK Symposium Videos [Episode 3] : Paul Wang workshop.

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Here is the next video about the Urban Sketcher Symposium!  😆

This time, it’s especially about Paul Wang workshop, with Paul explanations and demos, and my work during the workshop. ☺️
We keep browsing my sketchbook and we also have a glimpse into Paul Heaston impressive technique and enjoy a few seconds of Marc Taro Holmes drawing with his special “loop lines”, with pencil.

ManchesterEpisode3 Continue reading →

Sketching in Paris! Watercolor of Notre Dame, step by step. [video]

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Hi everyone!! I am back! 😀

Back from the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Manchester (Hiiiiiiii!!!! 😝) and back from some holidays (but to be continued 😉 )…
So many things to tell, so many sketches to share and videos to show!!!! 😃

As a start, here is a short fun video shot during the few hours I spent in Paris before heading to Manchester.

I didn’t bring my “demo gear” so this is not a real demo but a step by step, where I show you my painting at several stages to let you understand the process. I hope you will like it!

NotreDame
Continue reading →

Watermelon obsession, paper testing and backruns.

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Yesterday afternoon, I painted 5 times my watermelon slice!!!! 😁😂  With its gorgeous color and its juicy look, the fun didn’t end at all, even after several sketches. I was so happy to play with water and colors!! 😝 

This creative session was about trying new papers to paint on and ended up with a variation on the same theme aka various ways to paint my watermelon slice. 😀 

So, about the watercolor paper issue… Continue reading →

French church. Real time watercolor demo with explanations. [video]

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Hi!
I am very happy to offer, today, my first watercolor demo on location!! 😀
It’s not perfect but I think that this test shooting was pretty much convincing nevertheless. Please tell me what you think. 😊

DemoEglisePleyben

 

So, in the video, you will see me sketching a Breton church (in Pleyben) straight with the brush, with watercolor.
I try to explain, while painting, how I translate the subject on paper to create, I hope, a nice, loose and fresh quick painting. Once again, I have to apologize for my jabbering English… I will try to get better, I promise! ☺️

You will be able to see my gear, too, at the beginning of the video.

Recording these kind of videos makes me realize I fiddle sometimes too much with my sketches and am way too slow to grow some of the shapes 😉 but I hope the demo is good, nevertheless.
This is a real time video, so no speed up at all. However, you’ll see that I don’t paint the whole time at the same speed. It’s fun and a bit weird!! 😅 Sometimes, I paint at a slow pace, refining the shapes a bit too much and, suddenly, I dive into quick calligraphic marks and you could believe that I speeded up the video!! 😁

I hope that the video won’t be boring for you, as it’s a real time one, sharing the process for an around 35 mn sketch. Continue reading →