Tag Archives: watercolour painting

Paint Shapes Not Things

I gave a workshop for the Calgary Chapter of the Federation of Canadian Artists last weekend. It was a brand new workshop for me so I was super excited to see how it would go. I’m really pleased to say that it was fabulous. It was based on some new ideas that I’ve been working on lately, namely Paint Shapes not Things. It’s a simple and very effective way to look at shapes. It helps simplify and organize the shapes. When you paint the shapes accurately you are painting the things accurately.

How to See a Subject as Two Shapes

Here are the first 2 demos I did. Both are based on seeing the subject as 2 shapes: One shape is everything in sunlight and the second shape is everything in shadow. Such a simple idea but what a difference it makes!

Painting When There is No Sun

This last demo is based on a subject where there is no sunlight. I have to admit that, for me, it’s the hardest to teach but the most fun. It’s a chance to play with colour and mood.

These are most of the student samples. All are works in progress.

Just a note. One participant worked in pastels and it was very interesting to see the watercolour instruction converted to pastel.

A great workshop and many thanks to the FCA!

Rosebud Plein Air Weekend

I participated in a wonderful art event the past weekend in Rosebud, Alberta. Rosebud is a little hamlet that is almost totally dedicated to the arts. We’ve visited Rosebud many times to go the theatre but this is the first time I have actually stayed there, if just for a weekend. It felt great to be a temporary resident of Rosebud. I even participated in the drum circle and got to perform a couple of songs. I camped there and the sense of peace and quiet especially at night was wonderful.

Anyway, this is one painting I did. It’s based on my plein air study. It’s a view from the top of the valley looking down on Rosebud. I been drawn to this view for a number of years but I was never sure how to paint it. This style is something completely new for me which makes this painting super exciting.

This next image is a view of the ‘downtown’. Again I’ve looked at this scene many times and it never really spoke to me. This time I had a bit of time to kill and I wanted to try something so I just started with a little pencil sketch and all of a sudden I thought there was some potential. This really showed me that anything can be turned into a good subject. It’s all about the eye of the beholder. So don’t keep looking for the perfect scene. Work with what you have and turn that into a great painting. This is a plein air study.

It was a great time and many thanks to all the organizers who made me and all the other participating artists feel so welcome.

Gibsons Landing Workshop

I had the pleasure of offering my first in-person workshop in 16 months. It was for the Gibsons School of the Arts. They do a fabulous job of presenting quality art workshops every summer. They are a very vibrant and friendly group.

The participants in the workshop were also an especially great group to work with.

Rex Beaanland, Class photo, Gibsons — A great group of enthusiastic watercolourists

The Paintings
Piazza del Popolo

The first demo was of the Piazza del Popolo. It’s a great subject that teaches so many useful watercolour skills. We took a lot of time learning how to create a mass of background figures.

I’m including a detail of these figures. They tend to look unfinished when you look at them up close but from a distance they magically become figures.

Another thing that I use frequently in urban landscape painting is what I call ‘ghost figures’. They are figures in the foreground that are there to draw you in to the painting. I particularly like the way that their lower half sort of disappears.

The participants’ examples.

Granville St

The last demo we did was a scene from Granville St in Vancouver. We didn’t have time to finish it but you can see that everyone is well on their way.

Boats At Gibsons

We also did a painting of boats at Gibsons. This was a challenging painting but as you can see from our Wall Of Fame it was also well done.

Rex Beaanland, wall of fame, Gibsons — The Wall Of Fame

The workshops are now being held in the High Beam Dreams which I believe was originally a church. A great space.

My demos

Here are the paintings I did. I finished them off at home.

Rex Beanland, Piazza del Popolo Gibsons — Piazza del Popolo

Rex Beanland, Boats at Gibsons, watercolour, 20 x 15 — All Quiet In Gibsons

Rex Beanland, Granville St, watercolour, 15 x 20, Gibsons — Granville St

Thanks

I just love teaching art so it was a wonderful experience being in Gibsons. Many thanks to everyone who participated for making it such a great experience. Thanks also to Dee for being my excellent assistant!

Plein Air Painting

After the workshop Susan and I spent a week meandering to the end of the Coastal Highway (about 150 km). I did a few plein air paintings which I super enjoyed. I remember so much more of a location when I paint it then I ever do from a photograph. It’s the greatest way to visit new locations.

Rex Beanland, Lang Bay, watercolour, 9 x 12 — Lang Bay

Rex Beanland, Saltry Bay, watercolour 9 x 12 — Saltery Bay

Rex Beanland, Historic Town Site, Powell River, watercolour, 15 x 11 — Historic Town Site – Powell River

Rex Beanland, Pender Harbour, watercolour, 11 x 15 — Pender Harbour

It was truly a great experience!

Finally – In Person Workshops

After a year of isolation my first in-person workshop will be happening April 17 – 18 at Swinton’s Art Supply, Calgary.
For information visit Swinton’s website. You can also call the store 403-258-3500.

I’m very excited about this workshop for 2 reasons. Firstly I want to emphasize ‘how’ I approach almost any urban Landscape subject. In other words I want to show the process I use. It’s a fun and easy way to paint but the main benefit is that it gives you a consistent plan to follow when doing an urban landscape painting but in truth it will also work for many other subjects. The second reason is that I decided that I wanted to do something completely different on the second day. So for the first time I’m going to do something I’ve been working on for a long time – namely a portrait. I imagine many people will be very surprised but I intend to show that even a subject like this that might seem daunting can be done fairly easily with the right process which is what I’m going to show.

This little video clip promotes the workshop.

Zoom Demonstration!

On Thursday, Nov 19, 2020 I did my first zoom demonstration for the Calgary Sketch Club. It was a fairly stressful process simply because I got a new, powerful piece of hardware that I hoped would make the experience better for the viewers. I worked beautifully.

Here is the painting as it was when I finished the demo (1 1/2 hours).

I spent about another hour in the studio and this is the final version.

I’m really happy with the painting and I’m over the moon with the process. I think I can use this technology to continue my teaching in this most challenging of times.

What’s Your Story?

I try to make sure that I include play as an important part of my painting process. This is where I just try things to see what they look like. I find I learn a lot in these ‘fun’ times. This painting is a beautiful case in point.

This is a painting of the Empire Building in Edmonton. This painting just uses the basic shape of the buildings as they actually are. I wanted to see if I could completely change the lighting to go with this extreme sunrise theme. I also wanted to see if the building were interesting enough shapes. The painting turned out absolutely fine, but nothing special.

Rex Beanland, Empire Building, Edmonton 1, watercolour, 11 x 15

I thought both the sunrise theme and the shapes of the buildings were fine but then why isn’t it very interesting. The thing that jumped out was that the buildings in the background are as detailed as the closer buildings. This gets the eye wandering down to the background too much. I asked myself what is my story? Where do I want your eye to go? For me the story is the life on the street in the front so in this painting there are too many distractions.

So I redid it with the clear intention to push the background buildings further back and keep the detail only in the closest buildings.

Rex Beanland, Empire Building, Edmonton, watercolour, 11 x 15

In this version your eye is definitely drawn more to the foreground. It’s a more focused and comfortable visual experience.

Lesson learned!

Sketching In England

Last week I was able to attend the funeral in England of a long time friend. I was actually born in England though I have only lived there about 5 years in my life. Still the country, the landscape, the people and especially the architecture always calls to me.

I had hoped to take the opportunity to do a lot of painting but it just wasn’t possible. However, I did manage to find some time to do some sketching. This really reinforced the power of sketching. It is intense observing and a great preparation for future paintings. I found those moments when I could get away and take 30 – 60 minutes just to sketch quite magical.

In cafes or at the train station or just getting off the main road and taking in some the historical buildings there are so many opportunities to sketch and that time spent engaged is so very rewarding.

Here are some of the sketches it did.

Rex Beanland, Worthing From The Train Station — Worthing, from the train station

Rex Beanland, Worthing Coffee Shop — Worthing Coffee Shop

Rex Beanland, Worthing Coffee Shop 2 — Worthing Coffee Shop 2

Rex Beanland, Holme On Spalding Moor — Holme On Spalding Moor

Rex Beanland, St John Of Beverley Church, Harpham, Detail — St John Of Beverley Church, Harpham, Detail

The only painting I got to do was in the beautiful town of Beverley from a coffee shop.

It is a truism that if you sketch a place you will remember so much more of that place than you will from any photo. When I look at these sketches I can re-experience the sights, the sounds, the light and the feelings. Wonderful!

Experimental Watercolour Workshop

I recently had the opportunity to teach a fun workshop at a location that I really love – The Leighton Centre.

It has been a while since I taught this particular workshop and once again I came to appreciate how much fun it can be and yet how many useful watercolour techniques are involved.

It was a great group of participants and we formed a very supportive and enthusiastic group.

The three main activities were a fun way to do figures, a painting of Haystack Rock and a painting of a pond near Cameron Lake in Waterton Park.

Rex Beanland, Leighton Experimental Workshop, Class with Haystack Paintings

Rex Beanland, Leighton Experimental Class with Cameron Pond paintings

As I mentioned it’s always the people that make the workshop!

These are just a few shots from the workshop.

Rex Beanland, Leighton Experimental Workshop, Students

Rex Beanland, Leighton Experimental Workshop, 4 Students

Thanks to everyone for a great workshop.

Plein Air – Here’s Looking At You

I worked hard not to title this post Plein Air Currie Barracks. I felt that I had to create a title that would attract people’s attention more because in reality it is another in the never ending series based on the Currie Barracks. I’ve never found as much inspiration as I have at this location . . . and it’s only minutes away.

Anyway, I did a previous plein air version of this painting which included the entire side of the building. This time I wanted to zero in on the real story which was this small room and the connecting shadows. Emphasizing this part gives it more of a narrative and human element. The first version just recorded the scene.

I love that the 2 little windows right at the front seem to be eyes looking out.

I also like the big tree on the left which adds a nice element of depth to the painting especially with the bits of white gouache over the darker watercolour washes.

Here’s Looking At You
watercolour & white gouache
9 X 12