This is the drawing so far and even this took some working out. There was an awful lot of masking out to do. The tower itself has had to be protected as the night sky will be darker than the colour chosen for the tower itself.
Likewise the gables on the rooves over the shops on the right hand side have had to be protected. I don’t usually like a lot of sharp edges in a painting, preferring to let colours blend, but in this case it has been unavoidable. Plastic or metal edges really have to be shrp otherwise just look wrong imho.
I am apprehensive about starting the painting on this one, especially the sky. If that doesn’t work, and I have to start again, then I will have wasted a lot of time. Let’s not go there. I have retrieved worse situations
This must be one of the trickiest commissions that I have ever accepted, and one which questions my wisdom. Firstly working out a colour for night black, and it won’t be black ,has not been easy. Black in large quantities I find tends to flatten the painting, unless it is a raven glossy black which works for many things but not sky imho. Then what colour to use for the illuminated tower itself, and there we have a certain choice of watercolours that have a luminous quality, but which one to use against which night sky that is the question.
This is the client’s photograph btw and is a very good one in terms of composition. So many aren’t and refreshingly I have little or nothing to change other than possibly including the moon, which i have agreed with the client. Perspective is intriguing which I like. All those lines going towards the vanishing point will be fun to work with
I have done various trials and have shared these with the client. For the night sky I looked first at a midnight blue colour, definitely steering away from black per se. To mix a midnight blue I am using indigo with a touch of Payne’s Grey, which is a blue black colour, and is useful. A lot of artists avoid Payne’s Grey but I find it useful at times. in fact that was the other contender for the night sky, as it is not quite black, as I say more of a blue black colour. So that was my submission for the sky. Now for the illuminated tower. The colour needs to be luminous which is not that easy with watercolour. I chose in the end pthalo blue and as an alternative, permanent rose both of which would work. I also glazed pthalo blue over rose just to see what would happen and again the result was workable
The client came back quite quickly. She preferred the indigo version of midnight blue and also the pthalo blue for the tower. I was relieved about that, as both were my preferred option, and in neither case did I lead her in anyway
So I know which direction I am going in, and will proceed with the painting. I will come back about that although probably not too soon
This is a painting that I made many years ago. We were on our way to Santiago de Compostela, and we broke our journey at this village. Unfortunately i couldn’t remember the name. It was about mid day and it was very hot. The street was deserted. Everyone was taking refuge from the sun. I took a reference photo and painted it later
I showed it once or twice, and eventually put it into store where it stayed out of mind. Just recently it sold on line out of the blue. The buyer was a lady who bought it for her father who comes from Galicia, so in effect it is going home, which is nice.
Looking at old paintings is rather like looking at old photographs, a pleasant reminder of a trip that one made some time ago. We flew into Madrid and travelled north by coach, stopping first in Rioja. When we got into Galicia, I was impressed by the green countryside which looked similar to the UK. Nice to see an old friend off to its new home
Despite abysmal performance from my gallery this year, my belief in myself is maintained by a steady flow or is it trickle of commissions from various sources. The last one was for a parish church which brought happy memories for that particular client. This one, which I am going to show an image of shortly, is of a wedding venue, which the client is going to present to the happy couple. It should make a nice memento. The client has seen it btw and is very happy.
This took quite a bit of arranging. I had to move the bridal pair who were over by the hedge and very small in the reference photograph, enlarge them to a workable size, paint them that size and then shrink them to the position they are now, which was what the client asked for. That was the hardest part
In comparison, enlarging the pond as requested was easy. Quite a lot of wild flowers was time consuming but straightforward in itself
As this painting drew to a close, I was approached with a request for another wedding venue, this time a church, always a favourite. Waiting for a reference photograph before I can move on. Whilst waiting I have started on something for myself, an c18 brick gazebo, an elegant building in the not so elegant town of Havant, my home town, so I am allowed to criticise. This is a building I knew from boyhood, not that you could see much of it, behind a high garden wall
Today the building has been exposed to view, and is regularly maintained. I believe it can be opened to the public on appointment, but quite a distance for me these days.
I will publish the painting when I am happy with it.
Back in the summer, we toured the Baltic. At one time we did eight shore excursions in eight days. Even by cruise ship, we found this tiring because of our age, especially my wife who has walking difficulties, so we might not attempt this sort of holiday again. Copenhagen was just one of the stops we made in Denmark
Touring the canal system was fun. i like painting boats and this was just one scene that I snapped for reference. Quite a lot of light and dark in this shot. The sun was very bright especially on the buildings in the background. Deep shadows were cast by the trees, which accentuated the boats. The figures on the canal side were reduced to silhouettes. It took me several glazes to get the water to be an acceptable colour, whilst at the same time still looking transparent. This was more of an exercise about light against dark, than anything else
I have been commissioned to paint this church, the village church of Pyrford in Surrey. Ancient yet still in use as a parish church, it is set in a tranquil spot, and is quite charming. The lady who commissioned it no longer lives in the area. Her parents are buried here, so a meaningful place. I always feel very priviliged being asked to paint places that are so important in people’s lives. I am working on it at the moment and will post the result
This is how the painting turned out. I have put sunshine into the painting as the photograph was taken on a very dull day, so the colours are brighter. The lady who commissioned this painting was very pleased, which is always a relief
I have another commission now, quite different to the last, This one is a wedding venue, which I get asked to do from time to time. This one involves marqees and the newly wed couple strolling in the grounds around a lake, so quite a lot of different things to worry about, Still it’s good to have these commissions coming through as sales from my gallery are poor at the moment. Times are hard everywhere still and doubtless will be for some time
Superb, as always exhibition at the Lightbox in Woking of the work of Andy Warhol. Never large exhibitions because of restraint on space but always skilfully put together..
This opening shot shows a snub nosed .22 revolver similar to the one used by Valerie Solanas when she tried to kill Warhol. The bullet went through his throat, lung, kidney and spleen. He was clinically dead when admitted to hospital but was revived by open heart massage. Later Solanas gave herself up to the police
A haunting self portrait of Warhol stares out at us., This references the 1968 shooting which left him physically and emotionally scarred. He wrote ” I wasn’t afraid of death before but having died once, i shouldn’t feel fear. But I am afraid. I don’t understand why”
Warhol’s Strangulation series, painted in 1978, showing his preoccupation with death following his very near brush with dying following his shooting by Solanas. The shooting left him physically and emotionally scarred. Here, the paint under the black silk scren has been slashed diagonally across Warhol’s face uderlining the violence of the image,
The painting is reflective of the times it was made , In New York , the murder rate had tripled since Warhol had moved there in 1949. But there is also something darkly comic about Strangulation with Warhol’s exaggerated upturned eyes, open mouth and the hands of the assailant cutting off at the wrist.
I am reading a fascinating book at the moment, written by Nicola Moorby which is helping my research into the talk I am preparing on Turner in Surrey, and so am straying into the life of Constable as well. There are striking similarities although they have different characters. What they share in my opinion, is the distinction of starting off the Modern Art Movement.
I will start with an image of the Haywain, probably the best known of Constable’s work, and as an image is better known than any portrait of the artist himself. the scene is Flatford Mill, where you can go today and paint the same view yourself if you want to. Willy Lotte’s cottage on the left is still there, sadly the haywain itself is not. In my youth, I always thought the cart was being driven across a ford, but later realised in fact that it was the practice to drive carts into shallow water after the wooden wheels had got too dry. the wood would shrink and come away from the iron rim. Every so often the wheels would have to be soaked to expand the wheel back tight onto its rim
He was a master of skies. He studied clouds and became something of a meteorologist. East Anglia where he came from was flat, so almost all his paintings were skyscapes.
But we are talking about Turner and Constable together. Did they ever meet? I know of one recorded meeting, and there may have been many more. In June 1813, Constable sat next to him at an Academy dinner, and wrote to his wife Maria ” I was a good deal entertained by Turner….. he is uncouth, but has a wonderful range of mind”. Uncouth, yes I can imagine Constable saying that. An acerbic character, he was not generous to his fellow artists, quite the reverse. On hanging days, he would walk round criticising other artists work, which wasn’t appreciated. Artists naturally were sensitive and nervous on these occasions as much was riding on the outcome. Constable would sneer at London based artists or “the Londoners” as he called them, especially when they attempted rural scenes. He thought they should stick to what they knew. I don’t think he included Turner in these remarks, nor should he as Turner was well established whilst Constable was just starting to become known. Rather he stood in some awe of Turner, as well he might.
Did they cross swords? There was one recorded incident that I can think of. Constable was taking his turn on the Selection Committee, who decided on where paintings were hung at the Academy Exhibitions. This was an unenviable job calling for great diplomacy and tact, not Constable’s greatest talents. He made an unbelievably bad judgement by moving one of Turner’s paintings and replacing it with one of his own at an event in 1831. Turner was down upon him like a sledgehammer. It was no use Constable pleading that the move was to their mutual advantage. Turner kept at it all evening to the amusement of all, who conidered that Constable had brought his fate upn himself
Coming back to the Haywain, this was first shown in Paris which is not generally known, where it caused a sensation. That is one of the great ironies concerning these two great painters. Constable never left these shores. He didn,t want to, through xenophobia or sheer bloody mindedness, and yet he became big in France without making any effort. A French dealer called Arrowsmith, French despite his name , came to one of the Royal Academy exhibitions and discovered Constable and went into raptures. He organised an exhibition in Paris of Constable’s work which Constable did not attend. Great interest was shown but Constable did not follow this up. he was not one for net working. One cannot imagine Turner squandering an opportunity like this
People wanted to meet Constable, including the great Delacroix, who even came to London, but there is no evidence of a meeting taking place. His paintings were to be shown at the Acadamie des Beaux-Arts known as the Salon, the nearest equivelant to the Royal Academy. It was a great success and Constable sold more paintings in a short space of time than he had sold to British buyers in years. Despite all this, Constable refused to travel stating that ” he would sooner be a poor man at home than a rich man in France” be careful what you wish for. The moment passed and Constable failed to capitalise.
Turner on the other hand, despite all his travels throughout Europe from Copenhagen down to Italy, only sold pictures at home, He held two exhibitions in Europe, one in Germany and one in Italy and both were failures. Perhaps the Italians were too used to the deep landscapes of Poussin and others, and found nothing remarkable in Turner’s work
I come back to a subject I never tire of painting. The historic church in the parish of Pirbright in Surrey
Dedicated to St Michael and all Angels, the church has saxon foundations and was a site of worship before then. The current church building dates from the c18. The churchyard is notable for its wildlife and also contains the grave of Sir Henry Morton Stanley, the explorer, he who found Livingstone, and said the immortal words “Doctor Livingstone I presume”. He is also well known for the discovery of the sources of the Nile and the Congo rivers The headstone is a huge piece of granite with his African name, Bula Matari 1841-1904 The funeral service was in Westminster Abbey but the interment was here at Pirbright, near his country home at Furze Hill.
This is my photograph of Stanley’s grave with its monolithic headstone
I have painted this church on a couple of occasions over the years. One painting I did in the snow which was well received. I was especially thrilled at the end of last year, for that particular painting to be printed as a greeting card by the church and sent to everyone in the parish, setting out the times of services over the Christmas period. I will see if I still have an image
This was the painting done in the snow. I’m not sure that I don’t prefer it to the one that I have just done. Looser somehow. Also there is something about snow with sunshine that softens the light beautifully. The trees on the left have been removed since I did this painting
Although I don’t actually live in Pirbright, I do get involved through the Pirbright Art Club which i have belonged to for many years. Pirbright like so many villages, has an annual fair and the art club would take a stall. The theme for some years was scarecrows, and ingenious examples were made, very often characters from literature. Do you remember the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales? After the service the Dean of Westminster cartwheeled down the centre aisle, presumably overjoyed. An amazing scarecrow was made and was on display in the church. I painted it. I’ll see if I can find it
I was proud of this painting. I exhibited it locally expecting it to be snapped up. It wasn’t! In the end, I sold it online to a buyer in the north east of England. How strange was that. Afterwards the buyer wrote to me and told me he looks at it every morning and it cheers him up for the day, so it was worth doing just for that.
I’ve been off the air for a while. I had to get a new PC as part of an upgrade, and of course, nothing was where I remembered it. I couldn’t find my way back into my blog, or not at least to the page where I coud write something, and I can’t pretend the seemingly helpful robot was any use to me. Anyhow after a tortuous journey I can now post again
As I have been away for a while I thought I would just do a compendium of more recent paintings, just to catch up, and start with one called Gondolas. Always a favourite subject, and this view with San Giorgio Maggiore in the background I have painted and sold several times. This shot is completely different to any that I have done before
I have also been painting some views of my local village, something I have neglected in the past. This shot I put on the village website and received over 150 hits. I am pleased to say that a gentleman in Canada ,who used to live locally, bought it, Always that extra buzz when a painting makes a long journey
This view just shows some of our shops, so being a village we only have indepemdent shops which is a nice relief to seeing brands all the time. In the background by the trees is the bridge over the canal, which was cut in the late c18. In fact the village grew up around the canal. The name St John’s came from the church which was built here as a Chapel of ease for the villagers
The hub of the village is the coffee shop which was started only about ten years ago and provided a much needed meeting place and alternative to the nearest pub.
I have been getting commissions which is always nice. A more recent one shows a country house hotel called Gravetye Manor, which I have painted before. This is a different view in evening light commissioned by a guest who had a meaningful stay there
This is a mistake but I will leave it there. An old shot of Venice. I will now try and find the shot of Gravetye Manor
Succesful this time. An evening shot with the last of the sun catching the roof tops, so it worked well
There are others but I will leave it there. I am not long back from a trip up the Baltic as far as and including Helsinki so quite a lot to digest. I am going to try and put a post together about that voyage. On the art side, we went to Skagen on the northern most tip of Jutland. Artists in the c19 were attracted there by the wonderful light and their work is just breathtaking
I am going to try and be more regular now that I have got back control, and am grateful for the help I have received
Described as Newark Abbey which is in fact Newark Priory, and even Newark Priory Church. The priory was a huge complex, and the ruined church is all that is left after the Dissolution . It looks to me that Turner sketched this from the road. The view is much the same today. The land is privately owned so close inspection is not possible. Cows are in the field much the same as Turner’s sketch. Newark Abbey is near Ripley as a point of reference. This painting is in Tate Britain
After the dissolution it was said that the priory was bombarded by cannon from nearby Pyrford Hill. After that the site must have been robbed for stone, as the ruined church is all that remains, apart from the odd outcrop
Turner would row down the river. We know that he stayed at the White Lion in Guildford, and at another in inn in Walton-on-Thames. He also thought nothing of sleeping on his boat. He was also a prodigious walker, known to cover 25 miles in a day including making sketches on the way. Sometimes he would set out with company and leave them behind if they couldn’t keep up
This is the entrance to Quarry Street in Guildford today. It is not by Turner! This is my painting made about twenty years ago. There is a link with Turner albeit a tenuous one. In order to take the reference photograph for this painting, I had to step back into the White Lion Walk in order to keep the bright sunshine out of my lens. The White Lion Walk is the shopping arcade which now stands on the site of the old White Lion Hotel. Let’s look at the next picture.
This is by Turner! It is one of his sketch books and shows the same view which I made years later, which still amuses me. I am sorry the image is so pale, but he worked in pencil. You can see the building on the left is much the same and the ancient church of St Mary stands in the background exactly as it does today On the right hand side is an inn much as today. Turner sketched this whilst staying at the White Lion in Guildford. Was he in the lounge relaxing or in his room. We know he didn’t like an audience so maybe the latter
We’ll leave it there for now and continue Turner’s drift down the Wey at some later date
offtoafineart 