Magical! The way the way the pen molds the splodges into a lovely memory. The way the modern family molds antiquities into the modern life. The way an accordion warms the hearts of viewers around the globe. All of it. Magical! Thank you!
Now there’s a phrase I never expected to hear….. “my dad playing his accordion in the bread oven”. Of course it makes perfect sense in your video, but out of context that would sound hilarious
Your dad is a super star! Stone work, carpentry, and accordions in bread ovens!!!! I wish to apprentice. - to you as well since my "splurge & scribble" comes out looking like it escaped from the recycling bin. Thank you for yet another wonderful video.
What an absolute treasure to enjoy such a historic and beautiful place that has your dads touch all over it! He is extremely talented…we need to repoint some areas on our fence and it’s hard to get it to look original…Hats off to him and his friend!! As always it’s so enlightening to watch you create also. The “scribble” pulls it all together. Enjoy your time in France and all the memories you are making with your family. Now, imo, that’s the true treasure… Nancy Rolfe
Hi Nancy, thank you! They painstakingly raked out all the old pointing, and my Dad made a big piping bag out of old plastic sacks, and piped the new pointing in, then shaped it. They did this over the whole inside and outside of the building (and the bread oven) - took forever!
It's sort of magical watching the splodge layers of watercolor turn into a picture when the ink is added in. I guess it's adding defined shape to the color, it just looks so beautiful. Thank you for your art Helen!
I totally love it. Love your Splodge & scribble, Im going to try this myself. Im starting into watercolour Im loving it, really enjoyed your style thank you. 😊
Thanks ever so much! If you can not be scared of just getting paint down in paper, it's a great thing - so many of us put it off because we're worried about a poor outcome, and I just find this method takes some of the stress away!
So wonderful to watch! I generally try to sketch first, but yesterday I splodged first, then was horrified and walked away. You have given me the confidence to take another look and ink it. Thank you so much!
Oh my word this was fascinating to watch it come to life. It turned out beautifully. As much as I loved your painting the section with your Dad stole my heart, what a treasure to have seen both of your efforts.
Love the tour, what a lovely spot to spend the summer!! Love seeing your dad and his accordion too 😊. I love this type of watercolour approach. When I first started, I tried too hard to make everything look real/perfect/accurate, but I’ve grown to love loose style paintings because they’re so much more relaxing to do and you can do something in a session. I also really love the look of a loose painting.
Thanks! It's definitely helping me progress in the direction I'd like, but I'm still not producing the kind of painting I have in mind yet! At least now, like you say, you can produce something in one go, and feel a bit of fulfillment.
Three or four layer process. It rises from the ashes so to speak! The beginning tour is great, dad’s work, dad and the accordion, gives the French flavor to the whole thing. How fortunate you are to have such a place!
We are incredibly lucky, yes! 20 years of hard work paying off! I'm still quite new to trying to loosen up with paitingy, and am quite enjoying this way of doing things at the moment. It doesn't turn out how I'd like most the time, but at least I'm getting paint on paper more often now!
That was wonderful to watch! I love how little is needed to capture something. What heavenly surroundings! Have a lovely lovely time. I look forward to more splodging! M xx
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ve been trying to figure out how to layer my watercolor to give more depth and definition. This was perfect to demonstrate the whole process. So grateful to you.
What a creative family, how lovely to be amongst that. The sketch came alive when you added the darker tones. It must be great to know you have six weeks of sketching in that part of the world, even though Cornwall is just as beautiful.
From start to finish this was so fun to watch! Love the story of your dad and friend and all their work… plus the accordion playing! I’ve never tried painting like this but now I want to. Thank you for showing us how you do it! Perfect music too.. Boise Idaho USA. new sub here👩🎨🐴👩🌾
Thanks ever so much! They've worked so hard over the years on this place, that I LOVE seeing them just enjoying it now! I hope you give it a go - I'm still pretty new to it, but it's taken loads of my stress away from just getting paint on paper!
Thanks for sharing paintings and scenes from your holiday, look forward to seeing more! Lovely picture, also appreciated seeing what colours you used. :)
What a very enjoyable experience of discovering the house and garden and the place you work and this style. It was the next best thing to being on a painting holiday! Many thanks.
Helen, your process is brilliant! It might be just the approach I’m looking for. I have little confidence in my drawing skill - so the “sketch first” technique has always been a serious roadblock for me - however I DO see colors and variation in hue. Your “color first” technique seems like the answer to my dilemma. Thank you very much! Lovely painting too.😊
Absolutely beautiful! I really love to watch you paint. It is so calming, and your voice exudes kindness. Thank you for sharing your art and adventures with us.
What a lovely place! It must be an excellent source of calm and inspiration. I love that you captured your dad on his accordion ✨👏 Thank you for sharing your technique - I can learn a lot from your thoughtful approach. 💙
I really recommend it! Although I'm not in love with all of the resulting paintings, I still think it's such a fun method, and has brought much more enjoyment into art for me!
No wonder this is your home of homes! It's gorgeous😍😍😍 But it also takes a lot of work to maintain it now. I'd say this is earthly version of heaven.🥰 Speaking of heaven ... I was watching your video from cca. 3 months ago, in which you asked us regarding cotton watercolor paper. I highly recomend you trying Aquarelle Cold Pressed by HahneMuhle (it's a German brand). I feel that you will love it. It's not smooth, but it also isn't rough ... I'd say "very gently rough".😁 I thought that since you're now in France it might be easy ro find an art store where they keep this brand (when/if you decide go to a bigger town or city), so that you can see it first by yourself. When I discovered it a year ago and started to paint on it I was feeling as if I almost came to ... yes, watercolourist's heaven.😊 And of course, your painting is wonderful! Enjoy with your family in this beautiful part of France! Sending you much love from Slovenia ❤🌻💞😢
It's definitely a very peaceful place to be, but a lot of work has been done over the years! Thanks so much for the recommendation - I will definitely look out for it! Someone told me today of a big art shop, so I can try there. Thank you ❤️
@@helencryer Yes, I know that a lot of work has already been done, of course. I really hope you'll be able to find this paper. I'm sending you tons of love ❤️
I’d be making bread! I’m good at bread. So beautiful. A stone house ☺️ you are so fortunate. Horses come by. Have you painted them yet. I just found you channel. I’m subscribed! Oh my, I’d be painting the house.
My Dad's been making bread here today! Smells soooo good! Sounds like you'd be busy here too! I have never painted a horse, no. I probably need to try and get a good picture of one.
Such a charming video of the area! I haven’t tried this watercolour technique. I will try it, as I paint “tight” and am trying to loosen up. Thank you!
Thanks! I'm still quite new with it myself, and am not always in love with my outcomes, but I find it very useful to be forced to be loose, and not cover every bit of white paper. I think it will at least give me a feel for the direction I want to head in.
😂 Exactly! You needed to tell my husband that!! Happily it's now mine too - one of their friends wanted to leave the venture, so my brother and I bought in!
Love this technique, l don't have your drawing skills but l can see how l could adapt and improve my abilities using this process. Thank you so much for making the video. ❤
This was such a wonderful tour and demonstration - I enjoyed it thoroughly! Glad I found your channel and I’m looking forward to seeing more of your work! 😊
Thank you. Nice to see someone not using Chinese or Russian paints. I recently discovered Rósa Gallery watercolours from Ukraine and Roman Szmal. Love both paints. Great pigments and super avoidable.
I had been using White Nights paints, from St. Petersburg, which I liked. Certainly the manufacturer has nothing to do with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but I just couldn't bear the thought of buying anything from Russia after that. I was able to create a very similar palette from Roman Szmal, which uses honey, like White Nights. I donated my White Nights paints to a local junior college water color class.
They are both gorgeous paints, and such reasonable prices. To be honest when I started buying paints, I didn't think too much about origins, so it's more luck than judgement!
Thanks! I think I saw an earlier comment of yours about using Hematite Genuine and Sodalite - I think they'd be brilliant to try out while I'm here - happen to have both with me!
I do hope that you do!! I'm very much still trying to overcome my fear of watercolour and trying to paint loosely, and this way has been great fun, regardless of outcome!
I did my first painting in this style a few days ago and I agree that it is a bit scary when you have just got loose splodges of colour :-) It is magical when you add some lines and it all works out.
Ha - yes! I still think this every single time!! Mind you, I don't love all my results at all, but the technique as a whole is helping me enjoy art a whole lot more!
Hi! This is my method as well. I call it the lazy sketchers method. I first apply the colour, then I make the drawing and then I add the details. It is very convenient method because you don't have to worry if the ink or pen that you use is waterproof or not.
I'm loving your process but would like to see the original photo/scene, perhaps in a corner, as you work, to get an idea of what colours you're putting where. Thank you for the inspiration, from Melbourne, Australia!
Thanks ever so much! I'm just on a journey to try and get braver at doing art, and not avoid it because of perfectionist worries. It doesn't always go very well, but it's fun!
I really think it's a useful way to loosen up! I don't always like the outcomes, but overall it makes me less scared to start something, which is one of my goals this year.
