Irish castles are always dramatic and this is an example (with a little bit of “artistic” licence, thrown in) executed in ink and watercolour – line and wash.
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Animal love
Animal illustrations, Anne D'Alton's Artworks, Fabulous Art Classes & Courses in Brittany, W.France., illustrtation, Original Artwork., painting, Signed by the Artist, watercolour
I simply couldn’t resist painting this pair of truly beautiful Bengal tigers.
Cookies
Animal illustrations, Anne D'Alton's Artworks, contemporary art, Drawing and Painting Classes, illustrtation, Original Artwork., painting, portrait, watercolourWatercolour on paper, size A4, commissioned artwork – now with new and very happy, owner. The name of this little scotty dog is indeed, “Cookies”.
A simple tip for Acrylic Artists.
Acrylic painting, Advice, Animal illustrations, Anne D'Alton's Artworks, buildings, Landscap[es, Original Artwork., Signed by the ArtistOne of the problems facing acrylic artists is that this type of paint often dries out too quickly. Artists who work in acrylics ( as I do, albeit occasionally) know how frustrating it is when you leave a specially mixed colour, for even a short time, to find on your return, that the paint on the palette, is now as hard as a rock, totally unworkable and, therefore, quite useless……
Having seen artists try to keep their acrylics moist via the use
of cling film, kitchen foil and assorted covers, which worked for a couple of hours but not much longer, I have a solution that works very well, even in the summer heat of my Breton Studio. That is, to place the palette, plate, and so forth, on which you have mixed the paints, in a (preferably) clear plastic box that has a tightly fitting lid. This container will keep the acrylics moist and totally useable for several days. I use the container for a brand of chocolates (covered in gold foil) that are extremely popular at Christmas, for this purpose, and it has never let me down. I hope this tip will be of use to you.
A Slight Change of View.
Advice, Anne D'Alton's Artworks, buildings, illustrtation, ink, ink drawing, Original Artwork., Signed by the ArtistI always enjoy drawing buildings, but, sometimes, as in this case, the main body of the castle wall, wasn’t particularly interesting, so, I took the liberty of adding two towers in the background, each with a conical roof. This gave more depth and dimension to the actual entrance and, it gave the illustration, ink on paper, more for the viewer to focus upon and to digest.
This type of “improvement” if you like, can be applied to many situations. You do NOT always have to draw exactly what is in front of you. If a view looks better without that hump of land in the middle of it, exclude it. If you feel a tree could be “moved aside” in your work, then move (or remove) it. Art is the artist’s viewpoint: it is not (unless you wish it to be) a photograph. Do not be afraid to enhance your work, if you see fit. But please, please, avoid drawing or painting, what you think a work should depict. This latter particularly applies to landscape artists who have a predeliction for illustrating all hills and mountains as enormous spiked edifices and all water (river, lake, pond, even the sea) as being flat calm……
Be flexible yet imaginative in your artwork. You are the judge of the final drawing or painting should look like. And on that last point, I appeal AGAIN, to all artists to remember to take a break and stand well back from your work, at least every 20 minutes. Otherwise you will will plough on regardless, often with quite disasterous results…….. 
A frog-filled pond. Watercolour on paper.
Anne D'Alton's Artworks, contemporary art, Drawing and Painting Classes, Landscap[es, Original Artwork., painting, Signed by the Artist, watercolourThis little pond has a never ending fascination for our two cats as they stare endlessly into its’ depths for the noisy frogs that live in this shady environment. Sold.
Sometimes a little humour…..Watercolour on paper.
Animal illustrations, Anne D'Alton's Artworks, contemporary art, Original Artwork., painting, Sea-scape., Signed by the ArtistThis watercolour features a little cove in Ballycotton, a well known an very picturesque fishing village in West Cork. I added in the cat for a light touch. This artwork is now in a Private Collection.
Still life. Watercolour on paper.
Anne D'Alton's Artworks, contemporary art, Drawing and Painting Classes, Fruit, illustrtation, Original Artwork., painting, Signed by the Artist, Still life, watercolourThis artwork (Artist’s watercolour on rag paper) was built around the bunch of cherries, adding the deep blues of the plate and the copper browns of the jug for emphasis. Details and price available on request..
Art Materials. Acrylic on Board.
Acrylic painting, contemporary art, Landscap[es, Original Artwork., painting, Signed by the ArtistLarge original signed landscape. Details and price of this large, original and signed artwork are available on request. It is an autumnal view of a nearby town, with its unique church spire and the group of village houses nestling in the surrounding landscape.
One discipline that many artists lack is that of keeping their materials and equipment in good order, easy to find and disposed of when no longer required. The reason I say this is that recently, I was asked to dispose of the contents of a deceased artist and was quite amazed at the amount of totally unusable “stuff” he had accumulated over the years.
Considering this man was a competant watercolourist who worked in a very limited palette and on only one brand and size of watercolour paper, the huge amount of extraneous art brushes, pencils, pens, crayons, charcoal, acrylics and oils plus assorted thinners, etc., plus canvas and board that he had and would never use, was quite extraordinary. So why not like me, make an inventory of what you actually use and want, bin the rubbish and give what you don’t and won’t need to those who can make good use of it?
A little view of colour. Watercolour on paper.
Anne D'Alton's Artworks, contemporary art, Fabulous Art Classes & Courses in Brittany, W.France., floral artwork, illustrtation, Original Artwork., painting, Signed by the Artist, watercolourEven leaves can make a pleasing composition and a likeable artwork. Commissioned artwork. Watercolour on paper, size A4.
