capturing light
Two new portraits
Two new watercolour head and shoulder portraits for the New year.
I love to get in close to my subjects so that there is plenty of room between their features for the watercolours to mingle, flow and “sing”. I often get them to pose in strong, one-directional light to emphasise the shadows and create a more three dimensional effect.
Spring appears to be on the way, with the first crocuses open in the garden (though maybe it’s a little early here in England as Storm Eunice prepares to hit us!)
Looking ahead, I have a couple of brand new workshops planned for May and June. A vibrant cafe scene to help us practice loose figures. And a chance to expand out of representational subjects towards the semi-abstract with some gorgeous garden borders.
Click here to book online
I’m excited to have had my new painting Forest Bathing ii accepted into the next round of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour 2022 open exhibition applications – wish me luck!
Bath Watercolour Workshop Watercolour Seascapes on Wednesday 9 February is now full but I have several other workshops booking this spring (below) and lovely new subjects in the pipeline.
Email to join the workshop mailing list to be kept “in the picture” – I look forward to painting together.
Catherine
There are a couple of spaces remaining on next week’s watercolour seascapes workshop on Wednesday 9 February (10-3:30) at Museum of Bath Stone (BA2 5HZ).
Take a trip to the seaside, using this dynamic beach scene to try reserving white paper for wave crests, manipulating sea-green hues to suggest movement and adding texture to rocks to culminate in a dramatic marine painting.
£80 includes all materials, coffee and lunch.
Bookings are being taken here: https://catherinebeale.com/bath-watercolour-workshop-booking-form/
My January beginners workshop (Bath Canal) is now full and a new date has been added to the schedule:
Saturday 23 April 2022 Beginners’ retreat – local landscape (10 – 3:30)
In this packed day we will be experimenting with watercolours before completing a beautiful motif of a hilltop near Bath in saturated colour.
I am happy to have sold my watercolour “Dusk at Catherine Hill ” last month at the Victoria Art Gallery (Bath Society of Artists’ Exhibition).
I’m excited to have sourced a sleek, black frame for my limited edition prints. I think it provides a nice contrast to the watercolour detail.
Signed, giclee prints are £70 or £90 framed plus £8 UK postage.
Last orders for Christmas post is Wednesday 15 December.
Delivery/collection available in Bath area until 24 December.
Today I enjoyed showing visitors to Cam Valley Arts Trail a small sample of how I go about constructing an image from wet-in-wet watercolours and my imagination.
The hardest thing was choosing the colour scheme as I went along. You may have noticed that I have a mount offered up to the painting. This is a useful tip to help me identify the final shape of the painting around the focal point and it also helped me pare back the colours.
Get ready for Christmas with this “chilled” watercolour session.
Catherine will share her own source photo and help you to create a frosty and atmospheric scene using her wet-in-wet “gravity painting” techniques.
Mince pies and coffee supplied!