Tag #spring

Marmots are coming out

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MarmotsMarmots painted in watercolour and pen brush in my watercolour sketchbook.

Marmots can be seen in our region in the Mercantour National Park, North of the French Riviera running along the border with Italy. Marmots typically live in burrows, and hibernate there through the winter. Burrows can be as deep as 7 meters (22 feet).

They generally begin hibernating in late September and survive entirely on their fat reserves accumulated during the Summer.

They emerge through the snow in April and early May (now), during which time there may be nothing to eat, and when they are especially vulnerable to predators..

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Narcissus from the garden.

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narcisse

These narcissus starting to appear everywhere in the garden and are the sign of early spring. I love the challenge of painting white flowers as it is always recommended to leave as much white as possible from the paper. Painting the “colour” white with watercolours means  not painting at all….

Rue Mouffetard Paris, a musical shopping experience.

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Mouffetard

Late Spring, I was in rue Mouffetard, a lovely street in the 5th Arrondissement of Paris where you find lots of shops and food stalls at all time plus free entertainment. This jazz band was amazing and performing among the shoppers and passers-by with great professionalism.

The band was standing next to a wine shop and I decided to paint just the window not to be too distracted by all the bottles appearing behind the musicians…

 

The buzz in Valbonne in the early Spring

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café des arcades

The Place Des Arcades in Valbonne Village is buzzing with people having a good time and enjoying the unbroken sunshine. This scene is from the terrace of the Café Des Arcades representing the buzz in the village in an early Spring weekend. You can almost hear the sound of people chatting and enjoying themselves. Not only a sunny spot to sit and have a meal or a drink, this place is a major meeting point for all the Valbonnais and the visiting tourists all year round.

Daffodils

Agnès McLaughlin 7 Comments

daffodils

Light and flowers are very much the theme at the moment with the beginning of spring.

I used salt to give a sparkling effect at the top right hand side just to give more shine in the picture. Daffodils are great for their graphic contour and I like the sharpness of their forms.

Spring is in the air !

Agnès McLaughlin 2 Comments

white blossom

White blossoms have always had a magical appeal, so pure and so fragile at the same time. White blossoms don’t stay long and we have to make the most of them while they last. I had fun using warm colours to give the impression of first warm sun rays and a feeling of glorious days to come.The leaves appeared as negative shapes which I transformed into plausible features in this painting.