Sperb Fairy-wren

Superb Fairy-wren, handmade watercolour on Fabriano paper, 18 x 37 cm, © Matteo Grilli

This image is available as a greeting card, the original artwork is sold.

Summer holiday sketch: view of Monte Conero from Porto Recanati

During my recent holiday in Italy I enjoyed sketching on the beach of my hometown Porto Recanati, this is a view of Mt Conero as seen from the northern beach of the town.

The page previous to the sketch contains some colour tests and a bird list from a day spent bird watching in the countryside.

Glimpse of Sea-life

Glimpse of Sea-life, handmade watercolours on Fabriano watercolour paper, 26 x 35 cm, 

© Matteo Grilli.

For this still-life of Australian shells and beach findings I drew inspiration form an old sketchbook dating back to my time in the Galway Bay, Ireland, see the top right-hand-side corner of the photo above.

It is amazing to find such a variety of creatures in just a handful of items. Using a nature guide book I could identify the remains of the following creatures:

Spengler's Triton
Hercules Club
Pipi
Tellens
Mactras (Truncate; Reddish and Dissimilar)
Cockles
Scallops
Reef Crab's chelae
Bell Acorn Barnacle
Brain Coral

This artwork is available as a greeting card. For this artwork I have used a selection of four of my own handmade watercolour paints. Talking about handmade paints, I just published a page on my blog which explains with photos the fascinating process of watercolour making, take a look HERE, I hope you will like it.

Thank you for reading.

All the best,

Matteo

Saltwater Crocodile

Saltwater Crocodile - Crocodylus porosus, handmade ink, handmade watercolour, white gouache on toned paper, 23 x 37 cm, © Matteo Grilli 2015

For this watercolour of a Saltwater Crocodile I used a different technique which was great fun. I laid a light wash of Burnt Umber to give an off-white tone to the paper, then I sketched a light pencil drawing of the Crocodile. Then, I decided to draw a more detailed sketch using Chinese black ink obtained from a traditional ink stick ground with some water on an ink stone (see materials on the top right hand corner of the image), the ink was then loaded on to the dipping pen's nib with a brush.

After I finished with the ink drawing, I started applying washes and glazes of watercolour.

At last I used some white gouache to highlight the colour of the teeth.

Pacific Black Duck, Avian Faces Series and Handmade Watercolour Paints.

Pacific Black Duck Anas superciliosa, watercolour on paper, 27.5 x 35 cm,  © Matteo Grilli 2015

Here is the full series of original bird portraits from the Avian Faces Series 2012, three birds, the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, the Boobook Owl and the Bush-stone Curlew for a total of twelve small watercolour portraits, all artworks are now available.

And this is my handmade full watercolour range, this is a beautiful, versatile and minimal watercolour palette with five earth colours out of eight.

Australian Wood Duck

Australian Wood Duck Chenonetta jubata, watercolour on paper, 28 x 30.5 cm,  © Matteo Grilli 2015

This Australian Wood Duck was painted using only three paints and all of them are 100% handmade by myself. A selection of my favourite handmade watercolour paints are now for sale on my online shop, in case you feel you want to give watercolours a go, they are made only with 100% Artists' quality materials. Following this link you can read how I made my own watercolours.

Purple Swamphen

Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio, watercolour and gouache on toned board, 29 x 25 cm,  © Matteo Grilli 2015

The following original watercolours have been recently added to my online gallery:

Study of an Eastern Sedgefrog

Eastern Sedgefrog Litoria fallax, watercolour and gouache on toned board, 18 x 26 cm,  © Matteo Grilli 2015

I was visiting the Rainforest Botanic Gardens in Lismore and came across lots of these beautiful little creatures hiding among the water vegetation. Apparently Eastern Sedgefrogs hide in banana trees and become lost in fruit shops and supermarkets once the bananas are shipped across Australia.

Eastern Grey Kangaroos at Grampians National Park

Eastern Grey Kangaroos at Grampians National Park.
Watercolour pencils on paper, 40 x 30 cm,  © Matteo Grilli 2015 

 For this artwork I made the exception of using watercolour pencils, a medium I haven't been using often recently. I enjoyed very much to see how the colours change with the lightest touch of a moist brush, it almost felt like a new work was magically developing quickly right under my hands.

I saw a large mob of Eastern grey Kangaroos while visiting the Grampians National Park in western Victoria, here they are represented in the beautiful valley around Hall's Gap which is surrounded by very wild, rugged and beautiful mountains as well as heaps of wildlife including Kangaroos, Emus, Ekidnas and many species of birds including the Powerful Owl.

This original artwork is now for sale on my online shop which will be having a break from October 4th until November 1st, I will be enjoying new adventures with a long-awaited visitor from overseas... so, in case someone wants to avoid the November Christmas rush for art presents, I would suggest to order your gifts in September.

 Bush Heritage Australia is launching a campaign to raise funds to purchase and protect land to studying and conserving the endangered and recently re-discovered Night Parrot, thought to be extinct until two years ago. To find out more, please follow this link and if you wish, make a donation to support the project.

All the best,

Matteo

Lace Monitor

Lace Monitor, watercolour on paper, 30 x 30 cm,  © Matteo Grilli 2015

I was visiting North Stradbroke Island and enjoying the beautiful shore of the Brown Lake when I heard something scratching on a tree, this 2m-long Lace Monitor was climbing a gum tree not far from the lake shore. Now, this Lace Monitor watercolour has been published as a greeting card by Nuovo Group.

The Coastal Artisans gallery in Peregian Beach is now stocking my Giclee prints as well as some original framed works, if you find yourself around the Sunshine Coast area, the Coastal Artisans gallery, the Baked Poetry Cafe and the beautiful beach are certainly worth a visit.