Fire sky...

Alan's been in a great mood today because he was wearing a t-shirt that LeeAnne bought him.  David's been in a great mood today because he was playing golf and had a good round.  I've been in a good mood today because a pad of watercolour paper arrived that I had been informed would not be here till the end of the month, and some new watercolour brushes that have been hotly anticipated.

Although keen to try out the new watercolour paper, I already had a painting plan worked out and I stuck to it.  

I am painting a golfing Chookie Birdie for Alan to give to D on Father's Day  so I can only work on it when he's not around.  Him playing golf was very convenient and I made a start (in extras)  By the end of play I had managed to get the washes on for the sky and the grass as well as some grass detail along the horizon.  He's golfing again tomorrow so hopefully I'll get it close to finished, if not completely done.  That said I'm having a Gin Zoom with Ele, Natalie and Gail so I might have to finish it another day.

Whilst waiting for the masking fluid and the paint washes to dry on D's painting, I couldn't resist having a quick play with my new brushes; a set of 4 Japanese calligraphy brushes.  I also wanted to try painting on a sheet of thick card instead of watercolour paper, just to see how it reacts to the water.  The loose purple flower heads are the result.  

I was pleasantly surprised at how the card reacted to the water and paint and now have plans to try some abstract landscape painting on a larger sheet of card.  This will involve a lot of water and paint and will be very messy, so need to plan that carefully and make sure I have plenty towels to hand.

The new brushes are fun but once again I am reminded that buying cheap is a false economy as one of the brushes has already come apart.  I can still use it though, will just need to tape the handle together.  I'm not too bothered as I really just bought these to see if I liked working with that style of brush, and I do.  Now I know that, I don't mind investing in a better quality one.  It also helped me decide which size I prefer.  And the cheap ones won't go to waste as they are perfectly useable and I won't be precious with them, meaning I'll be relaxed using them, thereby hopefully creating work I am happy with.

In other news, yesterday I saw a delicious avocado and radish salsa on blip pal Woodpecker's journal and she very kindly gave me a note of the recipe.  We had it tonight with a delicious cheese and bacon tart and it was amazing!  Thank you Woodpeckers.  I will definitely make it again :-))