Cuddle Portrait

I just found this photo on my phone of a watercolour I did in the summer that I had forgotten about. Drawn and painted from an old photo - I am cuddling my son and wearing an angora cardy that was so soft. I think I am expecting my daughter too so there are three of us in the picture, I wonder where the cardy went, in one of my too enthousiastic clear outs probably?

Its a combination of watercolour pencils, used with watercolour on pre-stretched paper. The hairstyle was so eighties, but fun to draw in watercolour crayons then paint over in watercolour. I didn't enjoy painting the window as I did it last, probably looked better white. I don't like the pink at all. I really should have done a landscape with a path as symbolic of how they grow up and move away; suppose it would make it a bit sad though. Maybe I'll repeat as an oil and paint the landscape too.

Gaston Balande

 I was in France last month and saw a news item on Gaston Balande, a French painter from the time of Impressionism, Post Impressionism and Fauvism. He painted over 4000 works, many are scenes from the Saintonge. Its worth googling his name to see all the different styles he painted in. His work made me feel happy and this was very welcome at that time. Anyway, I just had to copy a few to see if I could get the feel and colour of them, although I didn't always keep faithfully to the original. I was working on my knee in front of a wood fire, trying to keep warm, (awful weather in France about same time Sandy was bashing New York) so oils were out of the question as I get in such a mess, I used gouache instead. I hope you enjoy them. 

Heres a link to his work ...

http://www.gaston-balande.com/diaporama-gaston-balande.html