Christopher G Marson

Enjoying Casein

By christophermarson April 27, 2015 Paintings No Comments
Casien, 8" x 10", hot press paper

Shattuck Avenue Berkely California

christophermarson, painting, outside hotel Shattuck plaza

Street painting, on location in Berkeley California

About a year ago I started working with opaque watercolour and then with gouache , I like the ability to combine the lightness of watercolour with the solidity of the gouache all in one painting, it works well for scenes with sky and water, which I do a lot of.

I was reading James Gurney’s blog, he has useful information on gouache and saw his articles on Casein and thought i would try them on my recent trip to California.

I ordered  a starter set of Shiva Casein from Dickblick and had them waiting  with my daughter when I got there.

I tried them out in the Sierra Nevada foothills where we went to see the giant sequoia groves. I really enjoyed the way they handle so much so  that I went back to Dickblick as soon as we returned to Berkeley and bought a suitcase full of paint. I have been trying them out on various surfaces ever since, so far I am having the most success with hot press watercolour paper mounted on foam board.

 

Plein Air Pop Up Show

By christophermarson February 4, 2015 Uncategorized No Comments

Masterworks approached the Plein Air group a few weeks ago and asked if we could put on a show in their Rick Faries gallery.

We responded with enthusiasm and my entries are here.

 

 

Here is the invite for the show, listing the range of painters, should be a great show, a lot of very interesting work.

PleinAir_card_web

Back to watercolour

By christophermarson January 21, 2015 Uncategorized No Comments

Back to Plein Air and watercolour, a few recent images.

Christmas is over and its time to get back to work, the studio is quiet and I have no excuse for not getting busy.

I have been doing a lot of digital portrait work as well. Some of them are in my digital section

 

Digital artwork

By christophermarson November 2, 2014 Digital, Paintings No Comments

I have started a page for my digital work, i have been using a computer and a graphics tablet since it first became possible to do so many many years ago, ( I taught Photoshop at one time, think my first version didn’t even have a number is was so new) and I still enjoy working in front of a gently glowing screen and usually play around with these images in the evening.

 

Peets clients

Peets clients

Vampire Lucrezia

Vampire Lucrezia

One flight one drawing

One flight one drawing

Small gouache paintings

By christophermarson October 29, 2014 Gouache, Paintings, Watercolour No Comments

I have been painting with gouache and getting quite excited about its possibilities, I was working on a commissioned watercolour when the client decided that they would prefer an opaque version, I suggested and did an opaque watercolour, which they loved, and the next time i was overseas in an art supply store I bought a few tubes of gouache to play with. I now have a full supply of my usual watercolour pallette. Their is not a lot of information around on how to use the  medium but very useful manual has been “Gouache for illustration” by Ron Howard and i have been playing around with it ever since. These are all on 8″x 6″ multimedia board, some with acrylic gesso on the board and some with the boards plain surface. I haven’t yet decided which I prefer. My larger  gouache pieces tend to be more watercolour like.

Travel sketches from California

By christophermarson October 29, 2014 Paintings, Watercolour No Comments

Watercolours and drawings done while travelling, mostly in restaurants or from restaurants, using my trusty travelling watercolour box and Holbein sketchbook.

A busy few months

By christophermarson October 29, 2014 Uncategorized No Comments

It has been a busy summer and fall. A trip to California to visit with my daughter led to a few plein air paintings in the Berkeley area and in San Francisco. I did a lot of sketches on my new Galaxy Note, a permanent replacement for my iPad now. The pressure sensitive stylus makes all the difference for me. I also replaced my iPhone with a Samsung note 3, I use it as a sketchbook that can live in my pocket. The sketchbook you have on you is the one you use.

Two hurricanes and a few weeks without power have made the last month interesting.

I have been working with gouache on small panels for the last little while. I like it.

 

 

 

May

By christophermarson June 7, 2014 Paintings No Comments
South wind

South wind

Horseshoe Bay clouds

Horseshoe Bay clouds

Winter wave

Winter wave

 

I spent some time working in acrylic for a change after six months of watercolour, using Golden Open Acrylics on waterolour paper, the paint stays open just long enough to work and a touch of hairdryer drys it instantly when I want to work over a passage.