Watercolour painting Archives - Yvonne’s Artwork

What’s on my easel?

What is on my easel this month? It has been a busy month with a workshop and commissions, and these are three of the ones I have finished. Mike the Greyhound This is Mike, a stunning Black greyhound looking especially smart in his bow tie. This commission was given as a gift and the recipients decided this image of Mike was perfect for painting. The owners wanted a tonal background so I used Phthalo Blue, Bamboo Green, Dioxazine Purple and a splash of lemon Yellow. I applied water using a mop brush to the background, then applied the paint liberally onto the wet surface, I splash the colours over each other to help the colours blend, the paper at this point it is very wet and glossy, I wait for the paint to dry slightly to a “satin sheen,” then splash clean water. I do this several times, each time applying less and less water. The main subject is painted when the background is completely dry. I use my usual colours for the black pets, a mix of Phthalo Blue, Dioxazine Purple, Bamboo Green, Lemon Yellow, a hint of Red Gold, Bengal Rose and Daniel smiths Quinacridone Purple and indigo Santa’s Little Helper Christmas is just around the corner so I have designed my 2025 Christmas card, and will be be adding it to my Facebook page, for preordering. I miss my “Little Bird,” Daisy, so she graces the cards again this year. I would give anything for one more Christmas with her, she was such a beautiful little soul. If you would be interested in buying some Christmas cards this year please let me know. You can message me using the contact commissions form, or email yvonnechapman841@gmail.com They will be sold in packs of 6 for $18 AUD plus postage. The Old Swan Brewery, Perth foreshore, Western Australia The Old Swan Brewery is a heritage building that sits on the Swan River, just under Kings Park in Perth. No longer a brewery, but is now used as apartments. This Acrylic on canvas commission was fun to paint, using bright colours, as requested. I used low tack masking tape to help maintain the straight lines, which made it much easier to paint. I don’t do buildings often so it made a nice change to paint such a landmark.

“Paint your pet” workshop August 2025

What a great way to spend a weekend 5 ladies attended my latest workshop, in my studio in Pinjarra WA. The workshop runs from 9.30 am to 4pm both days. The first day was warm and sunny but the second day the weather turned wet and windy. Our first day was supposed to cover stretching paper to use for the weekend, but as the forecast wasn’t looking great, I pre stretched some Archers 300gm paper onto MDF boards for the ladies to use. One lady used a Langton Watercolour block in a 12 x 16 size, I use these blocks too, being gummed on all sides with just a 2 inch gap for separating the paper after use, they are convenient to use without having to stretch the paper. , Day 1: Drawing and background Day 1 starts with the drawing using a grid to enlarge an A4 photograph up to and A3/ A2 size painting. The grid is a very useful tool for this purpose creating an accurate image, that is proportionally correct to the photograph. All the backgrounds on these images are fantastic. This is a challenging workshop, the artist has to work with a completely different technique than they are used to, plus use colours in a very bold and bright way. They have to think about which colours will work together side by side, as some colours do not mix well with others, plus learning how the warm and cool colours will affect the finished painting. Day 2: painting the subject Now the fun starts. Day 2 is very full on with a lot of work to do. Using my warm and cool colour technique to create highlights and shadows, they begin to paint the subject. I do not expect them to go home having mastered this way of painting, it has taken me years to develop my style, and it is constantly being tweaked and adapted as my paintings are created. At first they are nervous to make a start, but with plenty of guidance they all create such wonderful images. Suddenly the bold and bright backgrounds are no longer the main focus as the subject emerges. Another workshop completed and 5 very happy students have taken away paintings they can all be very proud of. My aim in these workshops is to give the student the opportunity to play with colour and to learn that there are so many colours you can use to create the finished painting, even if they never use these colours like this again, just learning that black dogs, for example, are not just black, but blue, purple, green even pink, that white can also have pale tones of blue and purple in its shadows. If you are interested in attending a workshop or if you have a group that wish to attend, let me know via my contact commission form.

Reflection

Painting reflective surfaces in watercolour I love a challenge almost as I love “My Therapist,” A Harley Davidson Softail Deluxe that I have called Dixie. I have painted this , and other Harley’s in acrylic, so I used watercolour this time. The process is the same as any of my artworks, grid up a photograph for the sketch, and then I paint one small piece at a time. As the engine is the hardest and most visually complicated part I start there first. By concentrating on a small area at a time I can paint what I see, not what I think I should see. It is very easy to get distracted, and often I don’t actually see what is in the reflection until I look from a distance. For the chrome I use a mix of Art spectrum (AS) indigo, and a wash of AS Lemon yellow that I have dirtied with a tiny but of purple to make a brown tint, and diluted. There is also some AS Phthalo blue and a hint of Holbein Bamboo green, the black is a mix of Dioxazine purple and indigo. The tank is Windsor and Newton Cobalt blue light, in places with a Phthalo blue mix. This bike doesn’t have chrome but has a lot of shiny painted surfaces, the red was Daniel Smith Deep Scarlet and Pyrrol red, with a hint of Quinacridone red to create the crimson colouring. I had to change the back of the seat to add the red cover after I had painted the seat, as the client requested it be added, this was not the easiest thing to do, as the paint has a staining quality that can be hard to remove. Luckily the painted area did lift a little with water, but some of the staining remained, so the back cover is not quite the brilliant red of the tank. Not just motorbikes Now this commission was a challenge. My art journey included a BA hons degree in Graphic Design, so Typography was something we covered, and something I don’t do very often. This was commissioned as a gift for the sponsor of the car, Geo Tech, and this was made up from a couple of different photographs, and to add a degree of extra difficulty, from different angles. Luckily both client and recipient were very happy with the result. The Series 2 SS Holden Commodore was a commission for a friends Husband. This was one of the last cars produced in Australia by Holden, hence the number plate 1OVTHELST. I enjoyed this commission but had to brighten the photograph to see any subtle details in the paint work. when I had painted the bonnet it looked really abstract, I had to remind myself, paint what you see. The best part was painting the side of the car, that hint of green in the indigo worked perfectly. My colours were Indigo (AS) Bamboo Green (Holbein)and the browns made from Australian Red gold (AS) and Dioxazine Purple, (WN) with some Phthalo blue (AS) and Cobalt blue light (WN)

Going Incognito for a great cause

This year was the first year I have entered the Incognito Art Show. An amazing 20,000 pieces of art were submitted this year! three of them were mine. Every piece of artwork is A5 in size and is sold for just $100. Profits raised go towards funding programs, supporting artists working with disabilities. There are some very famous prize winning and very well known artists in this show, but that’s the beauty, you don’t know whos art you have until you have bought it. “Our mission… To support arts organisations / To provide emerging artists with professional pathways / To inspire and develop a new generation of art collectors and supporters. The Incognito Art Show is a not-for-profit organisation supporting Australian artists. We run Australia’s biggest and most inclusive art show. “ Give it a go! With this in mind I was eager to have a go. I realised that with so many art works on show, in one place and online, the art had to be bright enough to stand out on first glance, be a recognisable subject that would appeal to a wide audience, be well executed, and a good example of my individual style. So my subjects were easy. Firstly there had to be a greyhound, as greyhound lovers tend to be drawn to art with a greyhound on it, and why not!So my first image was Otis in his sunny spot. Being A5 in size the detail was important to me. I used watercolours, gouache and pen on my finished Image. Second was a Tiger. I love painting tigers, their colours and markings are so beautiful, and they also appeal to a wide audience. I have painted this close up tiger face before on an A2 size. This time I added splashes of gold Alcohol inks to catch the light. With this intense stare it is a hard image to ignore. Thirdly, “The head tilt” a beautiful brown and tan Kelpie. Kelpies have a wide appeal in Australia, the ultimate working dog and loved family pet. Their keenness to work and eager to please attitude makes them a firm favourite. I have painted many kelpies in the last decade or so, some examples were prize winners for me too, so third choice was an easy pick. This one also had that splash of gold alcohol ink to catch the light. So, how did I go? Otis and “The Sunny spot” sold on the first day! My other two sold in the first three days. I was thrilled to be able to contribute to this show and ecstatic they all sold for this great cause.Next year I will encourage more of my students to enter and get a “group pack”. My process will be the same, bright and well executed artwork, plus an appealing well known subject.

Yvonne Chapman-Brooks

Biography I was born in the UK in 1962 and have been painting all my life. After leaving school at 16 I went to art college for 2 years then onto Lanchester Polytechnic, (now Coventry University) in Coventry UK, where I completed a 3 year BA(hons) course in Graphic design, finishing in 1983….pre computers! In 1983 on leaving Polytechnic, jobs were scarce, in 1985 I started my State Registered Nursing at Leighton Hospital in Cheshire. This nursing role took me to Australia in 1989. Sadly ill health meant I and had to leave nursing, so I concentrated on my art as a hobby. I used pastel and acrylics as my main mediums, then began including textiles in 2009. My hobby and passion is my art, and around 2013 I started exploring watercolours, my specialty is pet portraiture, animal paintings and recently tree-scapes. I am known for my very vibrant colours. I have been sending my pet portraits worldwide now for several years and have won prizes for my art in Art Exhibitions in WA. I have given workshops in my rainbow colour theory technique. I am the Artist in residence at Vineyard 28 in Harvey, Western Australia. Painting and textile workshops I also work with textiles and have won awards in the USA and Australia for my art quilts. I specialise in thread painting and have held workshops in this technique. My watercolour workshops are a perfect way to explore the watercolour medium beyond the normal parameters of colours, by using the vibrant colours seen in my portraits. The techniques used to create the signature background of my work are demonstrated, along with the stretching of watercolour paper, and drawing from a photo using a grid. There is a materials list of requirements, paints, brushes etc if you would like to do a workshop with me. The workshops are held over two days as there is a lot to learn, and in groups of 6 to 8 people. I can come to you if you are a group that would like to have a visiting tutor. There is a fee for travel and accommodation. The following paintings shown are students work, so far no one goes home without a painting they are proud of, and an idea of how bright colours can work to create highlights and shadows. Textile workshop students I have held a couple of textile workshops and demonstrations in Perth, for various groups of ladies who want to have a try at Free motion sewing. They are held over an 8 hour day as there is quite a lot of ground to cover. They leave with having experienced the basics of how to reach a finished image using just straight and zigzag stitching. Below is my finished “Out of the Ashes” that they are using as reference for this workshop. Tree scape workshop Some examples of student paintings at the Tree Scape workshop. If you would like to attend or enquire about me hosting a workshop for you please contact me using the commission request, or email yvonnechapman841@gmail.com

A look back over 2024

Well as we say goodbye to 2024 and hello to 2025! I would like to wish you all a very happy New year. Thank you all for you continued support for my artwork, and for those who entrusted me with creating a loving memory or portrait of your pets, (several this year went overseas to the USA) A big thank you to all of you. As I look back on the last 12 months we have seen some sad changes in the Brooks household, the main one being the loss of our beautiful Greyhound, Daisy. Daisy was my muse for over 11 years, and she will be greatly missed. Luckily, I have several paintings of her dotted around the house, along with Otis who we lost at the end of 2023, so they will always be looking over us. The last year started with my shoulder surgery which meant no art for nearly 4 months, then the creation of my art quilt for the Australian Quilt Challenge “Oh my stars” where my quilt was selected as a finalist to tour the Eastern States. It has now returned and is hanging on my wall alongside “Saving Magic” It is great to see them daily hanging together. I ran a couple of workshops last year and will be planning a couple for this year too. Watch this space or follow my Facebook page for details. https://www.facebook.com/@YvonnesArtwork/ Cossack Art Awards this year was another good exhibition for me too, with a sale and a Pilbara Ports People Choice award, for “When the working day is done,” that was a wonderful award to win and one of my best paintings for the year. It is too hard to choose a best piece or best portrait as I love doing all of them. I have a couple to do for the New year, and a few for home and for sale at the cellar door at Vineyard 28 I look forward to sharing them with you on my website and on my Facebook page. Have a very safe, prosperous, and healthy 2025 everyone.

Watercolours: Lets start with the basics part 2

What to consider when buying watercolour paper PAPER When you start watercolour painting there are so many things to consider, paper becomes a personal preference as to make, surface and weight. The traditional and most common paper to paint on is Cotton, or cotton and wood pulp (known as RAG content,) these make up most of the papers, but also bamboo and agave are becoming popular. Watercolour paper is heavily sized. This sizing is like a glue that seals the paper and stops its surface absorbing all your paint. Artist quality paper has good archival quality meaning your painting will last. There are different formats available: sheets, pads and blocks. Sheets need stretching, using watercolour paper tape, and can be cut to customised sizes. Pads are usually spiral bound or gummed on one edge, pre-cut to a certain size. Blocks are gummed on 4 sides with a small opening to remove the page once painted, these don’t require stretching and will remain flat when the image is dry. They have less sheets than the pads but give a stretched paper finish. Stretching paper prevents the paper cockling (buckling) when dry, it will stick cockle while wet but will dry flat, unstretched paper will cockle and this will remain as the painting dries. WEIGHTS OF PAPER The weight of the paper is important. Watercolour paper is mostly made in different weights, shown here in gsm (grams per square metre for metric), or British imperial lbs (pounds per ream) The weight indicated on the paper pack or pad is the weight of a full ream, so 140lb is the weight of 500 sheets measuring 22” by 30”. 190gsm/ 90lb, 300gsm/140lb, 425gsm/200lb and 640gsm/300lb. 185/190gsm is thin and needs stretching, 640gsm is similar in thickness to card and therefore doesn’t usually need stretching. In summary, and as a rough guide, I recommend that paper of or under 140lb needs to be stretched to avoid the paper buckling. PAPER SURFACE What the difference is between NOT, hot pressed & rough papers? These terms refer to the surface of the paper and its texture. Hot pressed papers have a smooth surface made by passing the paper between two hot cylinders. Great for lots of very fine detail such as botanical paintings. Cold Pressed or NOT (as in not Hot Pressed) papers have a slightly textured surface which is great for most types of painting. Rough the roughest surface. This surface is great for painting landscapes where a more textured finish is required. Telling the front from the back of your paper sheets can be difficult, however if your paper has a watermark, it will read correctly on the right side when held to the light. Usually there’s is little difference and either side can be used, but the right side will have more “tooth” or texture. Not every make of paper is the same and you will find a paper you prefer and a weight you are comfortable with. Stretching your paper You will need… a board (MDF 9mm thick is a good size) large enough to take your selected piece of paper. Paper, watercolour paper, ( as a rule paper over or around 600gms does not require stretching) watercolour stretching paper tape, gummed on one side and easy to tear, KEEP AS DRY AS POSIBLE when stored! Clean sponge Cold, clean Water How to …. Dampen the board by wiping with a damp sponge. Tear selected lengths of tape to fit your paper with overhang, Check your paper for the correct way round, look for embossed paper marks or watermarked name. Soak your paper well on both sides, you can use a hose or watering can for large pieces, or for smaller pieces a sink/bath of cold water, submerge your paper. Drain the excess water slightly. Place paper evenly on the board, some buckling will happen, try to keep it flat but don’t pull the paper flat, or try and smoothen out the buckles. Dampen the tape with a wet sponge. Don’t soak it, just LIGHTLY wipe with the sponge, don’t rub hard or you will remove the glue. Place the tape so half its width is over the edge of the paper and press down, do this for all four sides. Leave somewhere warm to dry. It should dry nice and taut/flat. To remove your painting from the board when finished, run a cutting blade halfway through the brown tape where it covers your paper, if you give yourself a 5mm margin where there is paper behind your tape, you will find the tape stuck to the board will remove easily . Excess tape can be removed by soaking it with water, then using a scraper remove the softened tape, wash the board with soapy water to remove the glue, let the board dry. You are now ready to stretch another piece of paper.

Watercolours: Lets start with the basics

Usually just a few good brushes will do, the choice is split into Synthetic or Natural hair, personally I prefer the synthetic, they are cheaper, easier to replace and work well for watercolours. I find the synthetic holds its shape well, and the hairs are slightly firmer than the natural hair brushes. Natural hair brushes hold larger amounts of water and are great for mop brushes. Natural hair brushes are more expensive, BRUSHES ROUND This brush is very versatile, comes in a good range of sizes and is the one most often used, the round refers to the round profile at the tip of the ferrule, the metal bit before the hairs…and they taper to a fine tip, ideal for detail. by applying pressure as you paint you can spread the brush hairs to widen the stroke. (You can create fine detail with any size brush if you have a nice fine point, so you don’t have to us the smallest brush available to create small fine detail.) Mop brushes or Quills Great for painting very large areas or wetting areas for wet-on-wet applications. Quills have extra large, round body of hair that tapers to a fine point. Mops have densely packed hairs in a rounded shape. Riggers or Liner brushes Riggers are similar to rounds but have much longer hair. They’re perfect for painting long, fine lines. You need more fluid to create a longer stroke. Flat/Chisel or Filbert Flat brushes can be useful for covering large areas or for creating angular strokes. Use the large flat side of the brush for the best coverage, or twist to use the edge of the brush for thinner lines. Filberts have a similar profile to flat brushes. However – instead of having quite sharp, defined edges at the tip – they are gently rounded. Their oval shape creates a round stroke useful for painting petals and blending. Fan Fan brushes have tips where the fibres fan out into a canopy formation. They’re great for painting special effects, (Foliage or grass) creating texture. PAINTS These come in either tubes or pans, student grade or Artist grade. Tubes are good for larger areas; pans are good for travel or smaller areas. Student grades are cheaper, have a smaller range of colours and contain cheaper pigments or artificial pigments rather than the cadmiums and cobalt, found in artist grade. There is a huge difference in price, but I find the Windsor and Newton Cotman range has good colour vibrancy and a good range of colours. The word HUE after a colour means it’s a cheaper pigment used to create the same colour. Artist grade is more expensive, has a wider choice of colours and uses real pigments, they come in “series”, ranging from 1 to 4 or 5, 1 being the cheapest, 4 or 5 the dearest purely because of the pigments and minerals used, e.g. Cadmium and Cobalt. These paints tend to go further, are more vibrant, and are smoother in texture. Opacity Each colour has a level of transparency, affecting how it will look with other colours, for example yellow is very transparent, layered over or under red will make that colour more Orange. Some tubes in both watercolour and acrylic paint will have symbols on the tubes to depict the transparency. An empty square or circle = transparent A Half-filled circle or square = semi-transparent A solid circle or square = opaque. Permanence rating and Lightfastness Referring to the amount of fade over time in museum conditions. AA = extremely permanent A = permanent B = moderately durable Lightfastness is usually I or II (I is the lowest) and refers again to the amount of fade over 100years in museum conditions, both numbers are considered good for Artists.

My Art Journey begins

London Road School of Art and Design, Northwich, Cheshire My art journey begins as a teenager ready to leave school after my O’ levels in 1978, I was interviewed by our school careers advisor. He asked “What was my typing and shorthand like?.” Pretty rubbish, “So what did I think about hairdressing?” Was this it… secretary or hairdresser…was this all a Grammar school Careers Advisor could recommend? “What was I good at? What did I love doing?” Well that was easy, Art… loved it! I had been creating art and craft all my life, thanks to good old “Blue Peter” and “Vision On”. Valerie Singleton and Tony Hart had a lot to answer for regarding my love of art. “Well… go to art school then! Here’s some numbers to ring and the names of people to speak to. Bye. Next!” So I went home, not offended by the lack of enthusiasm of my careers advisor, but with ideas of going to art college. On the final School Parents evening Mum asked my art teacher if she thought I’d get in to Art College, she replied “Oh yes the standard’s not that high!”well obviously my standard got me though the interview, So London Road School of Art and design, Northwich, Cheshire… here I come!I attended a 1 year Ground Course, where we covered everything, art, design, 3D design, woodwork, metalwork, photography, ceramics, printing, and life drawing. I took my A level art a year early and passed.This lead to a second year at London Road on the on the Foundation Course, covering everything again in more depth and with art history added. It was a great 2 years. I learnt so much, more than I ever imagined I could do. I loved it. The lecturers were amazing, approachable and enthusiastic. This course prepared me for Polytechnic. Coventry Lanchester Polytechnic Art and Design building Priory Hall student accommodation, Coventry Lanchester Polytechnic Coventry Cathedral UK I decided to study Graphic Design, against my tutors advice, he wanted me to go for 3D design, but I was accepted to my first choice Coventry Lanchester Polytechnic. I was born in Coventry so felt I was going to a place that meant something to me, and the course looked promising. I was living on the top floor of the Priory Hall G block, one of three accommodation blocks. I had great views over Coventry and the swimming baths behind. we were right opposite the Coventry Cathedral ruins, Bombed during WW2, and the new Cathedral. The next 3 years went in a flash. I made life long friends and learnt skills that I would use throughout my artistic career. I think perhaps a fine art degree would have been more suited to me, as I found graphics very rigidly structured and to me, claustrophobic. I didn’t always create typical “Graphic Design” projects and was not encouraged to colour out side of the lines as I thought outside of the box, as it were. I found a few of the tutors unhelpful in comparison to my foundation course, they were hard to please and to find having set the brief, then disappeared. By the end of my 3 years I felt rather lost and disillusioned. One thing it did do was teach me a myriad of drawing, illustration and technical skills. The course covered computer design but using punch cards. It was 1980, no computer involvement in the design process in those days. I didn’t do very well at that part of the course. There was no quick way to print either.. we had to hand set our typefaces for printing, we had Typeface books with different size type face so we could trace words on to layouts. We learnt about using ems and ens, point sizes and spacing, plus hundreds of typefaces to think about. It wasn’t easy, but I remember a sense of achievement when you saw the printed page., until you noticed a letter the wrong way around….I passed my 3 year course with a BA(hons) Unfortunately in 1983 jobs were scarce. In 1985 I swapped career paths and started a State Registered Nurse training. I dabbled with various art and crafts throughout the next few years, and emigrated to Australia as a Registered Nurse, with a good hobby. Unfortunately my health meant I had to stop work, and art became my lifeline and my saviour. I think my style now is best described as illustrative, and the skills I use today were definitely founded in those 5 years study at art college. I now teach art to a small group of ladies, and do my commissions and workshops, If I had my time again I would have gone on to do my teaching degree, straight after my art degree, and looked to teach art at polytechnic or university. I have the best hobby I could ever wish for. I found that animals were my best work, and I love peoples response to commissions I do for them. My style has adapted over the years, it means I never get bored. I always have something I can do to fill my time, that is fun and rewarding.

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