Pagoda

Dragon on the Roof : The Painting

/ davidrpharmer / 4 Comments
Dragon on the Roof, as the restored Pagoda at Kew Gardens

This is my painted submission from the photograph in the last post

Colour matching was a problem. I don’t think that I had ever tried to render gold paint in watercolour before, so I have had to experiment a bit. I haven’t hit the colour square on, but putting the photograph aside, and just looking at the painting, I do feel that my gold does look like gold paint that has been lacquered. Or so I tell myself.

I used a base coat of raw sienna and Naples Yellow. When that was hard, I started to put in shadows with raw sienna. For darker shadows I started to use some more raw sienna but mixing in quinacradone deep gold. For very deep shadows I was using the deep gold straight out of the tube.

The green was more straightforward, a sap green base coat and let that go hard. I mixed some sap green with french Ultramarine to produce that glossy deep green, and started to work in the shadows. For the deep shadows I used more blue. Some artists I know are horrified about putting on several coats of watercolour paint. I don’t agree. I find the finish goes more and more velvety when you do that, and in this case started to look like gloss paint.

Vermilion for the tongue and tail

I have framed this for the exhibition. I cannot imagine this subject being commercial, but with all these dragons we are meeting the requirements of the organisers, and that is good.

The date is the 15th, so we shall see

Dragon on the Roof

/ davidrpharmer / 2 Comments
Restored Dragons on the Pagoda in Kew Gardens

Our local art club has a presence at the annual fair in Pirbright, which has decided on dragons as its theme for the day. I don’t know why but……Artists have been asked to submit paintings of dragons, so I have had to put Barcelona on hold, whilst I think of something. Totally without inspiration, I remembered going to Kew Gardens about a fortnight ago, and saw the wonderful restoration of the Pagoda

The Pagoda was designed by Sir William Chambers in 1762. The dragons made of wood were part of the original but taken down after twenty years for renovation, but never put back. For years the pagoda was a dreadful shade of red, but now, thanks to a wonderful restoration, the pagoda has been returned to its original colour, and dragons have been superbly made and are back where the original designer had wanted them

The pagoda had been designed as a gift for Princess Augusta, who founded the Royal Botanical Gardens. I’ve not been to the top. I gather that views over London are spectacular. Perhaps one day.

Anyway, i am going to paint, as my submission, one of these rooftop dragons, and see where it gets me. I don’t have long. Paintings must be installed framed early morning on the 15th. We shall see