I’ve been thinking of trying acrylics or oils for a while and wanted to see if I had learnt from working with my watercolours.

I found an image of Limone, Lake Garda, from last year and liked the light on the water and buildings. I made a pencil drawing first to get accustomed to the tonal range and details in the picture.

With the simple sketch worked up I found some acrylics passed on to me by a friend who did not want them anymore. I bought some cheap acrylic brushes so that I didn’t ruin my watercolour ones. Working with acrylics is the opposite to watercolours, so I started with the darks and worked towards the lights.

I was pleased with aspects of the painting and could achieve far deeper colours than with watercolours, where they tend to go muddy if worked too much. I like the way highlights can be added to good effect with acrylics. But blending was much trickier and getting the sky to work was so much harder compared to watercolour. Having finished the acrylic painting I then worked on a watercolour version.

The sky and mountain areas were painted in minutes, with translucent light and blended colours easily achieved. The treeline presented more of a challenge as I can change and adapt with Acrylics but watercolours are much less forgiving. I had to get it right first time. The depth of the water and buildings are less with the watercolour but I feel I can get more accuracy with them. (notice for some strange reason I’ve added another building to the watercolour version)

Verdict. I think the simple pencil sketch has charm.The acrylic is fine for a first attempt but needs more thought and the watercolour is fresh. Feedback welcome.

Goring Sketching Trip

I joined a sketching trip to Goring on Sea last week and produced this on the beach, under a very hot sun. I’m pleased with the outcome as painting people is very tricky. See if you can see the baby paddling in the sea with here mother.