AMANDA BRETT WATERCOLOUR ARTIST
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Creative Development

​from March 25, 2022

I want to create beautiful, luminous, poetic and lyrical watercolour paintings​


2-3 hours everyday                             PLAY!!

PROCESS NOT PRODUCT!!
​
  
just do it!
What do I want to achieve?

more abstract
looser
funky / cool / modern
less obvious, sophisticated
Dirty Nasty Loose rough
Abstract underpainting - soft edges
more wet-in-wet
design focus

hard to choose subject, indecisive, over critical, bored - JUST DO IT!

Rather than planning everything out I want a more adhoc, intuitive design process from my imagination.​


​
SUBJECT

​Still Life
foliage - shadow pattern
flowers?
steampunk tuis





SMALL SQUARE
25 x 25cm

​
FAVOURITE ARTISTS & Why
​

​Mary Quant - shapes, simple and sohpisticated
Shirley Trevena - deceptively loosy-goosy and simple, great design
Elke Memmler - great palette(dominant, non-dominant & accent), simple. wet-in-wet, textures, negative painting
Karen knutson - contour drawing portraits
Betsy Dillard Stroud - pouring
Amanda Spencer - design whiz, very graphic and feminine
Carol Marine - brush strokes, values, palette
Moira Huntly - still-life stencils, palette.
Elaine Gribble - calligraphy with gold paint, loosy-goosy, rich colour
Rachel Walker - design, air-brushing, clever
Henryk Szydlowski - totally abstract - cool, pattern
Tony Allain - colour and composition, loose brush marks - very cool!!
TOOLS:

flat brushes, rounds for small detail
bamboo pen
calligraphy dip pen
ruling pen
natural sea sponge
linocut stamps
​

Colour - sharp strong - transparent
White - ink, gouache, acrylic gesso
Gold - ink, acrylic

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TRADEMARKS

Simplified shapes
Negative painting
Spatter
  • cleanish water - Airbrush effect (spritzer)
  • paint (complementary colour, white gouache, analagous colour)
  • water spritz - almost pointillism - into damp
  • see wellington turquoise painting
Stencil lifting and stencils for spatter
Calligraphy marks
Contour drawing
Linocut stamps
Stripes, spots, zebra, zig zags
blotches and blooms
Collage?
pattern superimposed through and onto other shapes (singer)
​Scribble (with fingernail, wash pencil)
​inktense
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250322 WIP
photo is a bit dull.
desperate for something to paint so grabbed stripey pot with red green and yellow leaves.
unfinished so no comment.
my thinking is:
do it and ideas will come!!

what do I like?
stripes and negative painted stems. lemon and fig. 
​Next step?
more turquoise in background, build up layers.
more negative painted stems.
​negative paint some leaf stems into background.
Future steps?
gold edging on foreground leaves

260322 wip
i like the stamping more now that I've done it to the pear as well.

FAVOURITE PASSAGES FROM MY OWN WORK
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Amanda Brett - Watercolour Artist

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​
Copyright © 2022 All images and text on Amanda's blog and website are the legal property of Amanda Brett and may not be reproduced without express permission from Amanda Brett or her authorised agent. Thank you for respecting her art and the livelihood of all artists.
Quality Guarantee: All my watercolours are painted with only modern professional grade watercolour paints on Museum exhibition grade watercolour papers, they are extremely lightfast and will become a family heirloom and passed down to subsequent generations. ALL art of ANY medium should be hung away from direct sunlight. If​properly cared for, watercolour paintings will last as long, if not longer, than oil paintings. I only paint on 100% cotton rag paper, mostly Arches and Fabriano, and frame to conservation standard with acid free materials.
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS & CLASSES

Watercolour Painting Holiday Workshop
Lucca Italy May 2024, read more and book online

Watercolour Magic with Amanda on Youtube

Video Lessons
​
Watercolour Weekly Classes
Auckland New Zealand

Beginners One Day Watercolour Workshops 
Auckland New Zealand
​
​​View all workshops and classes
  • Watercolour News
  • SHOP New Original Paintings
    • SHOP Heart Air Balloons
    • Shop Fine Art Prints
  • Tuition
    • Watercolour Magic on Youtube
    • FAQs
    • Video Lessons
    • PaintBox Tips featured posts
    • Feedback & Photos
    • For Beginners
    • Plein Air Supplies
    • NEW!! Weekly Watercolour Classes
  • Home
    • Contact
    • About Me >
      • More About Me & Watercolour
      • What I See
      • Studio
      • Italy 2023
  • Join My Insider's List