Coffee Bean Studies #2

This is the second series of coffee bean studies I’ve done. I really love the beans and when you take a really close look at them you realise how unique each one is and how many different shapes there are.

Coffee Bean Study 2.06

View slide show of all 12 studies

In this series I was working on getting the beans right to create a five image piece for my friend Dominique to hang in her Coffee Roasting Workshop. There are 12 small pieces in this series. Made on paper with inks, watercolour, aquarelle pencils and a wash made from walnuts to get a subtle brown.

 

Five Coffee Beans

Five Coffee Beans 39 x 29cm. Ink, aquarelles and wash on watercolour paper.

In this larger study of five beans I am really trying to get to the macro texture and different shapes of the beans.

 

Coffee Bean Studies #1

My friend Dom is setting up a coffee roasting business and I was over there taking photographs and tasting the different roastings. The beans are amazing and I felt inspired to do some water colour studies. I ended up using a magnifying glass to study the beans so that I could draw them. I was not sure how to post up all 12 studies, they are just small watercolour and Ink studies, but I found this tool to show them in a slide format. Click on the coffee bean image to view the slide show of all 12 studies.

 

3 White Aubergines [sketches]

I grew these little aubergines, a variety called Oeuf Blanc or White Egg. This is an old variety and one of the earliest kind brought to Europe in the 7th century. As the name suggests they are white and egg shaped they are also small, about the size of an egg and taste like mushrooms. This early aubergine explains why some call this vegetable eggplant.

3 White Aubergines No.1 18 x 13cm (7x5”). Ink, aquarelles and wash on watercolour paper.

3 White Aubergines No.2 18 x 13cm (7x5”). Ink, aquarelles and wash on watercolour paper.

I am not really happy with these two sketchy watercolours. I am kind of caught between the botanic studies I love but don’t want to do and my experimental approach to materials but it is a start and perhaps I should paint more of what comes out of my garden.

 

3 Pears Bright Blue

Sticking with my pears motif this one is brightly coloured and really cheerful. I painted it a couple of days ago and needed cheering up yesterday, looking at it certainly helped.

3-Pears-bright-blue, 29cm x 20cm. Ink, aquarelles and wash on watercolour paper.

 

Figs Colour Study No. 1, 2, 3, 4

There are several fig trees on our mountain and these figs are from a wild tree growing out of a terrace wall.

Figs, Colour Study No. 1 - Ink, aquarelles & wash

Figs Colour Study No. 2. July 2009, 18cm x12cm. Ink, aquarelles and wash on water colour paper

Figs Colour Study No.3 July 2009, 18cm x 13cm Ink, aquarelles and wash on water colour paper

Figs Colour Study No.4. July 2009, 18cm x 13cm Ink, aquarelles and wash on water colour paper

 

3 Pears after Ben

3 pears after Ben. Oil on linen, 46cm x 37.5cm, July 2009

I love the drawings of Ben Nicholson and when I came across his line drawing of 3 pears from 1948, I loved it so much it sparked a mini series of drawings, studies and finally this oil painting.

3 pears after Ben, Ink, aquarelles and wash on hand-made paper

3 Pears after Ben, colour sketch. Ink, aquarelles and wash. July 2009

Ben Nicholson, 3 Pears 1948.

 

3 green pears on a plate (oil)

3 green pears on a plate. Oil on gessoed board.

The two days I spent painting in Jean’s studio were a real eye opener. Since no one has ever shown me how to paint with oil it has been a bit hit and miss over the last few years as I tried to work out how to use the stuff. But 2 days in Jean’s studio was all I needed and a few simple pointers which were to:

Thin the paint with oil to make it easier to work with (previously I’d been thinning it with turps, which just leached the colours as it dried).

Use decent brushes (the 20 brushes for a fiver = clumps on a stick were definately not helping me).

Layer the paint on thinly so you can keep working on it to build up colour.

never be afraid!!!!!…..remember,play!!!

This still-life study was the result of the second day. You can see one of the pears has a bit missing like a bite but that was made by a hornet who sat eating the middle pear during the night between one session and the next.

 

Painting with Friends

Sometimes it can be hard to grab the time to paint when there is so much to do on the land staring you in the face so last week I went over to my friend Jean’s studio to paint. Jean Larson lives in a tiny hamlet, les monedes, about an hour from here and works every day in her studio to supply the many galleries that represent her work. She is a marvelous painter with a passion for the process and a real love of oil paint. A perfect mentor for me. At art school I was lens based and did not study painting so I have everything to learn about paint and particularly oil paint which I really struggle with. So it was a real treat for me to spend 2 days painting along side Jean learning from her and generally finding a little confidence to grapple with the oil paint.

Jean painting in her studio

You can see some of Jean’s paintings around the studio as she works on them. Jean will be heading back to the states herself next week so she needs to get these paintings finished and ready to ship to the states.

 

Three Knobbly Pears II

Three Knobbly Pears, II 18cm x12cm, Inks, aquarelle pencil & watercolour on watercolour paper.

The second study of these wonderful fat and knobbly yellow pears. I did not realise there were so many varieties of pear.