After Hiroshi Yoshida

I think I have finally finished my first half sheet watercolour. At times it seemed I was trying to cover something the size of a football field. I mentioned this to a local artist friend, saying I have no idea how I would ever handle a full sheet. She said 'Use bigger brushes!'

If anyone would care to suggest improvements they will be gratefully considered. Links to the original Hiroshi Yoshida Japanese print and progress shots of this painting are in my earlier post Mirror, Mirror.

Mirror, Mirror

Since I seem to be taking so long to complete the watercolour I am doing after Hiroshi Yoshida's beautiful print - At the Mirror 1928 - I thought I would post a warts and all work in progress, sharing the errors and corrections along the way. This is my first half sheet of Fabrino HP 300lb paper. It is so beautiful and so forgiving.

I have only seen a reproduction of the print on the internet and am besotted with it. It's interesting that I happened upon this wonderful Japanese artist after exploring Vincent Van Gogh's work through the Fine Line Artists February Artist Project. Van Gogh was inspired by Japanese art. I'm reading a lot about all types of print making at present and am in awe of the process Hiroshi Yoshida went through to produce his prints. I hope my humble watercolour does not offend.

Playing with Pastels

Have you seen the beautiful print by Hiroshi Yoshida - At the Mirror 1927. I'm interested to see if I can translate the subject to watercolour. There is a half sheet of Fabriano 300lb paper waiting, I've done the drawing but I'm procrastinating. There is something sacred about such a beautiful piece of paper. It's my first and it deserves the best. As it is, it is full of potential. I like that. I can think about how beautiful the painting could be.

So since I have a new box of pastel pencils I'm really just playing around at the moment. Perhaps I could call this a study after Hiroshi Yoshida. I also wanted to see if I could learn from Dagas' pastels, after the photo-realistic pastel still life I've just finished.