Mythly

Month: February 2026

  • Need to see the winter sun, so I painted some !!

     You may have noticed , that I have been trying my hand at a few landscapes recently. This piece was influenced by a watercolour I saw online, I loved the way the sun shone through the trees and wanted to try it for myself.

    So I sketched out a landscape, with mountains and trees, and masked off a small circle for the sun.

    Then I flooded the sky with yellow ochre.

    Making the tones much stronger around the sun, even adding some orangy brown tones.

    I then followed that though into the distant mountains., then dropped in some purple tones using cadmium red and cobalt blue

    Then I let everything dry.

    Now I am beginning to add tree silhouettes , around the sun, I have rubbed off the masking fluid at this stage. I am using greys made with cobalt blue and burnt umber, and some raw sienna.

    Smudge out the rays of the sun using a damp piece of kitchen roll

    Now we are moving forward, adding hills and mountains that are nearer to us so the colours will be brighter.

    I add more colours and tones and add more trees. The colours are warmer where they are kissed by the sun.

    I have also added a sprinkling of ordinary table salt to add texture.

     

    Keep your palette clean, and keep refreshing your water so the tones don’t get too muddy.

    Now it is all dry I want to go back into it and work some more.

    Adding darks, adding detail. More colour here and there , I even scratched out some tree trunks using a palette knife.

    I added some more colour around the sun and defined the trees a bit more too, and my winter, imaginary landscape is done.

     

  • A colourful painting for a grey day

    Phew, I can’t quite believe that we’ve made it to the end of January, but here we are at the beginning of February. And I thought I might start the month with some bright colours.

    Outside , here in Devon it hasn’t stopped raining for days and days, but despite the dreary weather the snowdrops are taking the stage…

    And some cyclamen are doing their thing

      I even saw some primroses yesterday, real sign that Spring is on its way. Here in Devon we are famous for our  hedgerows and at this time of year, they begin to fill up with wild flowers. If you look back through some of my blogs, you’ll be able to see some about painting flowers. And I will no doubt do some more this year. But today? I fancied painting a rooster.

    As usual, I begin by Finding a good photo of a rooster. I sometimes use. A site called Pixabay. I found a nice a nice bright colourful rooster and used him as my model.

    I begin by sketching out the shape.

    Then I went in and painted the fine detail on his face, his eyes, his beak, and all those colourful red cones.

     

    I use the brightest red I have, and I under paint in Indian yellow. I also painted his lovely feet.

    These parts have all the detail in them but they are very small in comparison to the rest of the painting. I like to sort of concentrate on these little patches.

    Before I go mad later!!

     

    Wow, now I went in for the body.  I painted the belly. Is that the right word? In a sort of shadowy colour. And then I went full bright on his feathers. The lightest light is the white of the paper coming through. Then I painted in Indian yellow, then Cadmium orange. Then Scarlet. You can really let your imagination go my wild.

    As it dried, I darkened up some areas. I also highlighted some of the feathers. I like to see what happens after I’ve painted it and then go back in with dark and  light. See what I think adds to the painting.

    Now the really fun part to do the tail feathers. I’m using. Blues, Indigos, Purples. To really make a statement.

     I want to finish the painting with a flourish , to let the colours bleed into the paper. I want to add splashes and sprays, a bit of white acrylic. I think you can go as far as you like with something like this because it’s all colourful and joyful. When I’m happy and  I like the result, I can stop.

    But you can go as far as you like.

    Have fun with colour. Have fun with water. Have fun with your paintbrush. Have fun at seeing how far you want to take your painting. Just enjoy your painting !.

  • Cards from new-to-us artist, Art by Doz

    Introducing four fabulous cards from new-to-us artist ‘Art by Doz’: one for Valentine’s Day, one for anniversaries, and two guaranteed to raise a smile 🙂 

    We’ve sold quite a few of these already; I guess people are looking for something bright and cheerful to counteract the rubbish weather. (The clouds appear to be at ground level here this morning!)

    Order now

    Two colourful owls sit on a crooked branch together. One leans toward the other, eyes in the direction of the second owl. The second owl looks towards the first, wing outstretched to cuddle the first owl. Below them hangs a wooden sign with 'Happy Anniversary' written on it. Behind them stands a green conifer forest, with a deep pink sky and white sun above.

    Two women wearing long, pointed hats stand at a kitchen table studying the contents of a steaming cup, one pointing towards the contents. As the steam rises upwards it forms the shape of a leaping cat. A teapot, slice of cake, and black cat sit on the table in front of them. A woman wearing a patchwork dress and pointed black hat stands in front of a wood-clad house. Cats of many colours sit and lounge all around her, as well as in trees and on the roof. Another lady flies by on a broomstick with a black cat sitting on it. Snow lies on the ground and on the fence beyond.

    A woman sits cross-legged on the floor in a mediation pose. She has long green hair and is wearing a crop, decorative crop top and pink leggings. She's surrounded by a green/blue starry background, and text which reads, at the top 'Inhale the good shit', and at the bottom, 'Exhale the bullshit'.