Author: davidrpharmer

Ponte Vecchio, Florence the finished painting

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Ponte Vecchio Sunset

I was duty bound to publish the finished painting having started, but this is not one that I take pleasure in. This is me on an off day

I am at odds with the composition to start with. The grass bank which is there in the photograph, I do wish now I had left out. I was worried about introducing another colour, and the green has not worked well at all. Some parts are not too bad. The deep red of the building on the right with the evening shadow, I quite like, but the rest is disappointing. Everything is laboured where I have tried to rectify mistakes instead of starting again

I think in time I might try this picture again in another colourway, still with long shadows but omitting the grass bank, so that I can keep to a two colour palette which should prove more palatable, no pun intended. Not sure what I will put in the place of the grass yet. Perhaps bring the building down to the water with a quayside which offers more interest. I will have to see

For now, playing around with a cat picture, which is unusual for me. I think I will only publish this one if I like it

Read a very interesting article in one of the art magazines, about knowing when to stop, or in other words , less is more. Also this artist did the drawing in ink which I haven’t done in a long while, and which I would like to try again. That could be refreshing. I am starting to repeat myself which is bad

A Street in Florence

On the subject of Florence, this is one that I did a few years ago and gave to a friend. This is more me, and another project is to do a second version for my gallery. I needed to look at this again to restore my faith

Drawing the Ponte Vecchio, Florence

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Reference photo with grid

I have used the grid method of transferring an image before, but was reminded of it when I went to the Hockney exhibition at the Lightbox in Woking recently. It is very useful especially when you want to enlarge a picture as I do with this one. This is how my drawing has turned out

Drawing of Ponte Vecchio from the photo

I have now doubled the image size so that it is about the usual size that I paint, ie 30×40 centimetres. I have traced the drawing now and am about to transfer this image to watercolour paper

The nice thing about using this method is that once the grid is in place on both images, then there is very little, if any, measuring to be done. Drawing or copying within each small square is relatively simple, and gives you a check on perspective so very useful for anything architectural

There is no restriction on size so if you wanted to paint a mural and make it ten times or twenty times the photograph, then you could. You can work the other way, of course, and reduce the size of an image too.

I shall paint this when ready and probably use a completely different colourway than shown in the photograph. Not sure what yet, possibly an evening colour, and may even do two different colour ways from the same drawing, which will save me some time

We’ll see how it turns out

David Hockney Exhibition at the Lightbox, Woking

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David Hockney’s WinterRoad near Kilham

There is a very good exhibition on at the Lightbox in Woking at the moment, entitled David Hockney:His Ways of Working. I hope that I’ve remembered that correctly as I didn’t make a note, although I did manage one or two pictures, shot from the hip, in case I was seen by a wily attendant.

As we know, Hockney throughout his career was fascinated with different media. A superb painter in the traditional sense, not that I liked all of his work, he also embraced new methods of recording art such as ipad drawing, print, fax machine, photography and collage

The exhibition at Woking is not large but it is representative, and as always skillfully displayed. I know the Lightbox is my local art gallery, and it is easy to become partisan, but the Lightbox has come on in leaps and bounds since it was founded both in quality and quantity of local exhibitions

The print shown above for example, is where Hockney utilised his own digital photography and Photoshop, drawing with a stylus on an iPad in front of a computer monitor. As Hockney himself explains “you are drawing directly onto a printing machine. One draws with the colours that a printing machine has, and the printing machine is one that anyone can have.”

Parc des Sources

This is the other painting that intrigued me. Very large for a start and changing the perspective so that the lines of trees met like a triangle. The seated figures are Peter Schlesinger, his lover at the time and Ossie Clark the fashion designer. I think they were having a boy’s weekend in Paris. The empty chair is for him, Hockney. He was standing whilst sketching.

Alongside the painting is Hockney’s drawing showing that he used the grid system for enlarging an image, which is how he produced such a large painting as the one I have shown. Many well-known artists use this system. I do too, but I am not well-known

I am currently using this system to enlarge a small photograph, to twice its size as a drawing, in preparation hopefully for something worth painting. The subject is the Ponte Vecchio in Florence. I was there a few years ago and took some reference shots, but haven’t got round to doing a painting yet.

That will probably be the subject of my next blog

Venice:Grand Canal the finished painting

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Grand Canal, Venice

This has taken a long time to complete. We were away in Romania over the New Year Break, came home and were ill, and seemed to take weeks to recover.Funeral preparations had to be attended to throughout all this for my father’s burial.

However, on a more upbeat note, working on this painting has been a great support, as painting always is. There has been so much detail to attend to, especially with the buildings on the left. The architecture is very Gothic, so intricate, and the variety of colours was exciting. Trying to colour match the photograph was amusing, especially when it came to the flags.

I may have said that I altered the composition from the original photograph. I have shifted the buildings on the left away from the buildings on the right. This has cured some of the congestion, and has also given a view to the Customs House and beyond to the open sea. We now have depth where before we didn’t

I ended up quite liking the painting, despite the jumble of different colours. Sunny and bright at this grey time of the year, which cannot be bad

What shall I look at next? Staying in Italy, but moving from Venice to Florence, I am going to have a crack at the famous Ponte Vecchio , and see what sort of fist I can make of that

An Interesting Sale

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Corfu:Shopping Lanes in Kerkyra

This painting sold on the internet out of the blue. They’re often the best ones I often think, as they give you a boost. A buyer in the United States has bought it, and it is on its way as we speak

We have had a dreadful start to the year since getting back from Romania. My father died on New Year’s Eve whilst I was away. My wife and I have both been ill ever since getting back. I am just getting over bronchitis and my wife has one heavy cold followed by another. Fearsome bugs

We have had to do funeral preparations whilst feeling like death ourselves, even though having wonderful support from family, there were some things I had to do myself

This painting had happy memories. We were in Corfu about three years ago, and enjoyed it immensely. Literally any port in a storm, we were unable to dock on the Adriatic coast and had to run from the storm. Corfu took us, and what a lovely place it is. We had a tour round the island and spent the afternoon in Kerkyra in the shopping lanes. This painting was my memento. I am so pleased that someone has chosen it and it will go somewhere it will be valued

Afterwards we sailed for Greece in the evening. It had been a lovely trip. Often thought I would like to revisit Corfu and spend more time

Anyway this short blog whilst I think of it. I am still working on the Venice picture but not as much as I would like

Transylvania: the home of Dracula

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A View of Peles Castle in Transylvania

Just by way of a break from the painting of Grand Canal, on which I haven’t worked for a while because of Christmas and the New Year Break. Happy New Year everybody by the way

We spent the New Year in Romania, in Transylvania to be precise, looking at sites associated with the Dracula legend, amongst other things. The topography looks like the sort of backdrop that you would expect, mountains, forests, snow, but I didn’t hear any wolves. I was brought up on the Hammer Films from the 1960s starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. The dialogue was very serious. Nothing was done for laughs unlike some modern adaptations. You did not mess with these guys

In the background of the photograph is Peles castle, which had nothing to do with Dracula although it looks as though it should have. It was built as a summer residence under the direction of King Carol I and his wife Queen Elizabeth, and was finished in 1914

The castle associated with the legend of Dracula, is Bran. We went there later that day. Two of our party went awol and wasted more than an hour whilst we looked for them. We were late getting to Bran, and it was getting dark. Our coach driver didn’t say “This is as far as I will take you”, but I was waiting for him to do so. It was a very steep climb up to the castle and I attach a picture to give you an idea

Bran Castle

Romanians are always mystified by the legend of Dracula, who to them is Vlad, and known as the Impaler because of the way he put his enemies to death. To them he was a hero, because he gave them years of stability and good rule. he also protected them from the Turks. As far as I can see, there is no cult of the vampire coming from Transylvania. That was fiction from the pen of Bram Stoker, although they were grateful for the flood of American tourists that came looking for Dracula

We ended our tour in Bucharest, with an excellent city tour. It is 30 years since their revolution when the two dictators Ceausescu were executed by firing squad, after the fall of the Communist regime in Europe. We saw their newly completed palace, bigger than any building I have ever seen. It was a symbol of their greed and power which they had now had taken from them. Small wonder that Romanians said “Enough is enough”

A really enjoyable trip, although tiring towards the end, and both of us have heavy colds

Grand Canal Venice Painting-Partway

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Grand Canal Part Finished

Photography poor. I have had to use my phone as after upgrading, I am having difficulties loading from my camera, as everything is different and I don’t know why. I shall fathom in the end but for the minute I don’t have time

Suffice to say, I have painted the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie and put in detail as well as the houses on the opposite side in deep gloom. In reality they are much gloomier. The sunlit rooftops look orange which works, otherwise the detail on the house fronts disappears into the shadows.

Two coats of Phthalo Blue and Cobalt Blue mix on the water gives depth although the original is not quite as deep as this photograph

Still a long way to go as I will put the gondolas in with shadow colour and probably the vaporetto too

looking forward to tackling the bright colours on the foreground buildings and the flags

Grand Canal Venice– an old favourite, a different view

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Grand Canal, Venice

This is the picture that I am going to work from. I have done this view before, but it is so magnificent that I come back to it every now and then. Incidentally, this is a different take to the one that I did last time, and also I am going to rearrange this photograph. I am going to push back the buildings on the left so that we can see the mouth of the Grand Canal and the horizon beyond. This should hopefully give us a feeling of distance as we look out to sea.

So far I have done the drawing which I will use for painting, and you will be able to see the changes for yourself, and I will show that now, although the lines are faint so may not stand out well

Grand Canal Drawing

Perhaps not too bad, and perhaps you can see where I have moved the buildings to the left. We can see the mouth of the canal, and the building I believe to be the Customs House, and then out to sea, but that won’t be apparent until after painting

For sky and water I will start with my mix of Cobalt and Phthalo Blue, which I know I have said before is a good Mediterranean colour. I will need to mask off the buildings to the left, including the balconies and awnings which stick out over the water.

They will need to be in yellow and pink, so important to paint on white paper.

The buildings on the right will need a cover of raw sienna as a base coat, before building up with other colours, and before covering with deep shadow.

Coming back to writing this blog, I have now done just that and have detailed the domes, and all I can say is so far so good.

A Completed Commission

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The Final Version

This is the last commission of the year, and it is finished, I am pleased to say. I have had to keep in touch with the client, at every stage of the painting, which I don’t usually do, as it does make a lot of work . Having said that I have enjoyed this commission more than I thought, and maybe stage by stage consultation is not a bad idea, certainly after my last bad experience

However, they were nice people to deal with, and although they made a few changes here and there, basically they were onside.The painting was collected today and I am pleased to say that they were thrilled with the result

The subject of the painting was a Victorian cottage deep in the Surrey woods. Probably it had originally been an estate worker’s cottage, built around 1840 with a later addition.

I went to look at the cottage quite early one morning. The sun had risen. At this time of year, the shadows are long. The woods behind the house were brightly lit, most of the leaves had gone, and the light filtering through the branches gave them a translucent feel. To get that effect on paper needed thinking about. I used a colour that I don’t use often, quinacradone gold. It was perfect for the job and just gave the effect of sun-bathed trees that I was looking for

Most of the house was in shadow. I removed some as I wanted the effect of bright sun hitting the brickwork here and there. The combination of light and dark should be dramatic

When I was on site, the client brought their little dog, a Labrador bitch puppy. She was a beautiful colour, gold. Would I include her in the painting. I like to please, so I said yes, but I was anxious. I have painted dogs before but never done a dog portrait, especially one so tiny. She would be the size of a fingernail

I had taken some pictures. I have to say that for a lively puppy, she was very well behaved and posed beautifully. I picked one of the photographs and did a full sized drawing, which I was pleased with. I then reduced it in size to a thumbnail and put it in the sketch, and went on from there. When the time came to paint, I used the same gold as the trees in the background, and used more of the same for shadows on the dog. It worked better then I thought possible

Mostly straightforward otherwise, except that I could not get definition to stay in the cottage features. Overnight the colour would dry and disappear, which is not that unusual in watercolour. Eventually I reddened the brick colour with vermilion, which darkened the building and somehow improved the brick texture. Again something I have learned for another time

Commissions can certainly be testing, and very occasionally go awry, like my last unhappy experience, but they can also be broadening and make you attempt something you wouldn’t normally tackle. Will I start doing animal portraits? Hmm perhaps not, but animals in landscape are a possibility

A Hidden Gem near London: The Dorich House Museum

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Dorich House, Kingston

We went here a few days ago. An amazing gallery which I didn’t know existed, which had fallen into disrepair, was rescued by Kingston University, and stands a few feet from the wall around Richmond Park. A distance known as a “deer’s leap”

The house was designed by Dora Gordine, a Latvian sculptor, and completed in 1936. She lived there with her husband the Hon.Richard Hare, a scholar of Russian literature and art.

The house is a splendid example of a studio house of the period. The ground and first floor levels were designed for the production and display of her work. A more modest top floor apartment with a roof terrace overlooking Richmond Park, served the couple’s domestic needs

Richard Hare died in 1966. Dora lived until 1991, after which time the house was acquired and renovated by Kingston University. The house now holds the world’s largest collection of Gordine’s work as well as an important collection of Russian art acquired by Hare and Gordine.

There are some wonderful architectural features in the house. My favourite is the Moon Door

Moon Door, Dorich House

The house is on Kingston Vale next to Richmond Park, and is worth a visit if you are able