In this June 2023 edition of Light you can see:

• The next watercolour in the 2023 False Bay project.
• The Glazing Project in the Watercolour Class – the tugboat
• The Figurine and Lemon project
• The Gordons Bay Yachtclub workshop
• The Ladybrand sequence – build-up to Launch

mmm!  Many topics – some big some small.  However there is very little text and some great works of art – so it is all OK

And my friend Mike has another sublime piece of  music.

Therefore pause…
Sit back.
Close your eyes and take a deep, breath.

Now

Read on…

This is my latest painting for the 2023 project.  It is a view looking North across the Pringle Bay lagoon.  That is the Rooiels peak on the other side of the bay.  I tried to be faithful to the folded TMS quartzites in the foreground (Table Mountain Sandstone).  And the clouds.  It all makes for quite a busy scene so I kept the middle ground ocean as calm as I could.  So there is a summary of my design strategy.

Glazing, layering one wash over another is a way to create luminosity in watercolour.  It is also a way to control washes by ‘deconstructing’ the colours into the primary, pure colours.  In the project the class completed some interesting views of a scene I gave them from the Harbour in Cape Town.  The tugboat “Palmiet” was moving out to assist a container ship with docking.

What is that I hear you say? 

“Tug Boats aren’t PINK!” 

mmm – the joy of glazing.  You can see the painting unfold at the blog post link below.

The class also had a field-trip to Cape Town International airport to sketch the travellers on their final coffee and snack before heading off who knows where.

Both watercolour classes did a drawing and brush-handling exercise.  The still-life we used included figurine from Malawi, lemons and a cutting from a Kei Apple tree.

Here are the guys in my start-up class “Kitting Up” at work

The Watercolour Journey Class created some designs I found quite compelling.  This exercise was a good introduction to a series of classes we have started on how to paint portraits:

“Light is Sweet” is the official SJQ Watercolour newsletter.

Please drop me a comment on the blog posting and share this post and email with abandon.

The 2023 False Bay project may well form the basis for a 2024 Calendar.  If you know of organisations who offer year-end gifts to their clients please let me know or show them the page about “Calendar Projects”.  And drop me a note.  The clients who gave away the 2023 calendars received positive feedback from their clients.  Thank-you

Oh OK – Here is a sneak peak at what we did at the yacht club

Here is another cleaned up posting about small adventures on the S708 – the backroad to Ladybrand.
I am setting up a limited edition print of sets of these paintings.  Next month I want put an offer for a gallery wall based on this story.

Launching the Ladybrand series

And there we go – record of quite  busy month 

Light is Sweet – June 2023

And it was almost in time for June