A SEASIDE PAINTING INSPIRED BY BAY TORAC, ISLAND HVAR

Today I'll share a new painting inspired by bay Torac (island Hvar) with you. The medium is watercolour pencils on mixed media paper. As you might remember, I visited bay Torac (island Hvar) back in June. I had stayed in apartment 4044 for a few days until the official start of summer (that also happens to be the birthday of one family member), then I went back to Mostar. Hotels and hostels are also a good option for your Croatian vacation, but personally I prefer apartments because they offer cooking facilities. Speaking of island Hvar as a vacay option, if you still haven't booked your summer vacation in Croatia, the apartment I stayed in is free from 17th of August until the 23rd of August (you can book it right away with this agency or you can make the reservation directly). If you remember, this apartment belongs to my parents, so if you want to negotiate a better price than what the agency is offering, send me an email and I'll forward it to them;). Nothing wrong with booking an apartment with an agency when visiting the Adriatic coast, especially so on a first visit when you don't know anyone. However, my advice is that if you do know someone, you take advantage of it to get a better price (the agencies do take a percentage for their service). Either way, the Croatian coast is quite stunning really and I definitely recommend visiting it. 

I actually visited island Hvar once again this month, so I stayed on the island both in June and July. I have yet to organize the photographs I took on my last visit to island Hvar, though. I also need to find the time to write up the posts that I have planned. I do enjoy writing about Croatia, but travel posts can take time to put together. As much fun they are to write, they can be quite time-consuming.  However, I do have a fresh island Hvar painting to share with you. Earlier this June I stayed in village Gdinj with my grandmother and on my last visit I was in bay Torac only twice for a quick swim, the rest of time I was hanging around in the village itself, not its accompanying bays but I did paint a boat scene from bay Torac. In fact, as already mentioned, today I'm showing you this seascape I painted with watercolour pencils. I have gifted the original painting to my parents, but the print is available as print in my redbubble shop and as a print placed on other products (see the collage bellow for some examples). I'm not very active in the redbubble community but I do upload my art there fairy often. I haven't opened a new art shop yet because I've been quite busy with other stuff but also because I don't see a great interest in it. I'm still undecided whether to give it another go. You can also visit my last FASHION ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY post for more art inspiration. 

CROATIAN SEASIDE PAINTING- WATERCOLOURS ON PAPER 

THIS PRINT IS AVAILABLE ON 57 PRODUCTS VIA REDBUBBLE

HOW TO PAINT WITH WATERCOLOUR PENCILS? THE PAINTING PROCESS 

I've also prepared some work in process collages to walk you through the painting process. So far, working with these Steadler watercolour pencils  (not sponsored) has been smooth sailing, possibly because I already had some experience with mixed media. At the moment, I'm really having fun with these watercolour pencils. The mixed media paper I used for this painting is by Strathmore brand and it was a gift from a blogging buddy Natalia  from the in the writer's closet blog. I use this paper for all kind of art projects, from landscapes to fashion illustration and I always got great results with it. When it comes to my watercolour pencils, the two seem to get along just fine. Now, your typical mixed media paper isn't the most ideal choice for a wet watercolour painting, but since I didn't use that much water on this one, the result was pretty good and anyhow this paper seems to be able to take watercolour well enough. Most of paintings I made recently were made with this mixed media paper. Anyhow, what I did here was to draw a sketch with a pencil, first a very basic outline and then I filled the details. I took the time with the application of water, adding more and more of it slowly. The amount of water I added wasn't excessive, as this was not indented as a wet watercolour painting. When you add water to a watercolour pencil drawing, it starts to dissolve and melt in the water. It is up to you to decide how soft you want it to be. Had I wanted it to be very soft, I would have added more water, this way I have just made the lines softer. When it comes to painting the sea, I did put in some effort. Painting the waves is still a bit of a challenge for me, there is whole technique to it, one that I'm not sure I have completely mastered but at least I'm working on it. 

I'm not one hundred percent happy with this painting, some of the dimensions seem a bit off to me, but I think I did a pretty good job with the time I had at the disposal and that time was extremely limited. Despite the popular belief, people who do art (whether as an art or as a hobby) don't have more time on their hands then most, they have to prioritize just like anyone else. Sometimes it makes me cringe to know I could have done a better job if I only had more time, but I know that being limited by time can also be good for developing one's skill because it shows you where your weak spots are. My view is that when it comes to art, the more you do it, the more you have desire to do it so it makes sense to do it as much as you can, even when you're pressed for time. It is not a general rule, but sometimes it is good not to be a perfectionist. You know, just do it and that sort of attitude. Typically it does pay off to keep trying, practicing and working on our art skills. Not every painting has to be perfect. Besides, you have to keep going or you risk to loose whatever art skills you have acquired with years. In art, we often only get better with regular practice. It might not sound terribly romantic, but I found it to be true. It pays off to keep working on new stuff even if you're not happy with everything you do because sometimes that is how you get ideas and inspiration.

 This painting was actually painted with a reference. I don't have a specific photograph I used as a reference because I used a photograph somebody send to me, but I do have some photographs of Torac bay that I took myself and naturally you're welcome to have another look at the place that inspired me. You can also see more of this place by visiting my other recent island Hvar themed posts here, here, here and here.

ORIGINAL DIMENSIONS OF THIS PAINTING: 9 inches x 12 inches (22.9 x 30.5 cm), weight: 90 lb (190 g/m2)
MEDIA USED: STRATHMORE MIXED MEDIA PAPER AND STREADLER WATERCOLOUR PENCILS

Thank you for reading and visiting. Do you agree that this island paradise is a pretty good choice for a last minute summer destination? Have a lovely Sunday everyone!