More experimenting

I've been experimenting with different techniques and materials (brushes in Corel Painter). I felt I needed to simplify my style or at least have a "secondary" style that feels natural to me but doesn't include painting enormous amounts of detail. One reason for this was that I discussed a painting with one of my friends and it made me think. A good painting should be like a good story - it should include as much detail as is required to tell the story but not an ounce more or the story will be lost in the detail; so from now on every detail has to earn its keep.

Below are two of the paintings I did recently that were intended to loosen up my style. I've also started to the first sketches for this year's Bologna children's illustrators competition entry. But more of that later.

The first one is Moon over the Sea. I wanted a very calm, very relaxing atmosphere. Something to look at that would make you feel serene. It was very hard not to add detail but I felt quite happy with it in the end because I liked how the textures and restricted colour palette worked together.


This one - Rosy Hearts - was actually done before the Moon picture and was intended for a Valentine's card design. However I liked it as it is. Again, I've restricted myself to as little detail as possible.