Why I don't buy postcards - 10 minute watercolour paintings
Every summer I go away on a three or four week road trip with my wife and quite often don't paint anything. I also send postcards of our travels to a few friends and especially our granddaughters. A shirt while ago I got on the idea of taking a travel pack of watercolours and brushes and done heavily grade postcards designed for watercolours. Now, when I travel I try to create a very quick fast and loose interpretation of what I've seen. These are not meant to be perfect masterpieces and I'm certainly not painting these to sell. They are however, unique and thoughtful gift cards and a lovely momento of our travels. There is just one rule…the painting must be completed in less than 10 minutes. Below are a selection of my postcards from this summer's roadtrip to Italy and Switzerland. Further down, I explain how I approach them. Do leave a comment and let me know what you think.
The Grand Canal in Venice from Academia Bridge.
Castle at Sirmione, Lake Garda.
River in Peschiera Del Garda.
Shoreline view from Sermione.
Cathedral and square in Strasbourg.
So, how di I approach these postcard paintings? Quite simply, I don't think about it too much. If they are landscapes I will paint straight to the paper and develop the scene as I see fit. If it's a scene with buildings, and I'm not trying to be abstract, then I will pencil in some reference lines so that I know where the vanishing points will be. I find if I don't do this then my perspective with buildings can go awry!
As for the colours, well given u have a very limited range of colours that I can see, I don't worry too much and use whatever I think will work. Sometimes this is okay, other times not. Look at the shoreline scene of Lake Garda: this should really have more contrast and depth. That said, the essence of the image is there and the aim was to finish this in 10 minutes.
Why 10 minutes? Because I'm a perfectionist and would happily spend ages tweaking it and changibg it. The idea here is to create something almost spontaneous. Of course, like anything, the more I do, the better I will become. Certainly, these shouldn't be seen as an indication of my serious work that I sell!
