More James Dean on my lunch break

I painted the same picture again. It's fun to play around with a simple motif and a small format, the watercolours are 8 x 11.5 cm on Arches rough, 300g.

Another waiting for a train sketch

This was sketched this week too.

Waiting for a train

A little sketch I did on the way to work this week. I wait at Söderstation in Stockholm for my local train most mornings. I'm quite happy to just miss the train because this gives me ten minutes to do a sketch. I then finish the drawing while aboard the train.

Lunch break with James Dean

I wanted to practice my watercolour figures so I chose that rather famous picture of James Dean walking in the rain in New York. I completed these two paintings in half an hour. Speed helps me, I don't have time to think, when I think everything goes wrong. Each watercolour is 8 x 11,5 cm in size on Arches rough, 300g.

James Dean on a lunch break. 

A model from 1925

I found a wonderful photo of a nude on the internet, to my surprise I found an original copy on Ebay. I plan to do a large watercolour once I receive the print. The original photo was taken by Heinrich Maass from Berlin and was featured in a book called "Nature & Culture", a collection of nudes of women from different cultures around the world. It was assembled by Dr. Peter Landow in 1924 & 1925.
I used a Cretacolor Monolith 9B  for toning on A4 Fabriano Eco Artist paper.

Drawn from an original photo taken by Heinrich Maass, 1925

Lunchtime watercolour

It's amazing how hard it is to get back into a routine. Today, I finally started painting again during my lunch break. I mean, it's been at least two weeks since the last one! I'm such a slacker.

Lunchtime archipelago. Paper: Arches rough 17 x 12 cm, 20150707.

Holiday snap

I painted this while on holiday in Greece. It takes longer than a photograph but the memory of the occasion is so much stronger because of it.

Corfu, Greece 20150628. Paper: Arches rough 12 x 17 cm.

Weekend sketch

We are not having the best of summers here in Sweden this year. Last week was great though and I took full advantage of it at the weekend. I set up a hammock by the water's edge and lay there looking at all the boats going by. I live quite close to the city centre so the traffic on the water is intense at this time of year. I later did this watercolour in my sketchbook, I'm happy with it although I wish I had access to better watercolour sketchbooks than Moleskin, I like Arches Rough and so I always find it disappointing when I use the Moleskin. Still, it's a sketchbook and it will do fine until it's finished, I will use small Arches blocks in future. If anyone knows of good watercolour sketchbook, please let me know.

Sketchbook painting of Waldermarsudde, Stockholm.

Waldermarsudde

First wash

Sketches from my sailing holiday in Greece.

Greece, a beautiful place with lovely people. Shame about the trouble it is in. I hope it gets better for them real soon. I spent a week sailing between Corfu and mainland Greece. I had a wonderful time.

A commission

My boss asked me to paint his summer house. I have a number of orders now, I have to admit it's hard to paint something that has no personal value, this is a new frontier for me. Still, I was happy with the result. My boss didn't fire me after I presented the watercolour to him! ;)

Summer house, Arches Rough paper, A3