Watercolour Painting

Watts Gallery Exhibition: The Pattle Sisters

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Probably the best known of the Pattle sisters, Julia Margaret Cameron

This is the current exhibition at the Watts Gallery at Compton near Guildford. This is the gallery of the paintings of George Frederick Watts, the famous Victorian painter. He lived nearby at his house called Limnerslease, with his wife Mary. He was a prolific portrait painter. He was also well known for allegorical subjects. His painting called Hope was featured on postage stamps and was also known as Barack Obama’s favourite painting. Likewise he often painted pictures with a social message

His wife Mary, also a painter, gave up painting to support her husband. She founded a pottery workshop in nearby Compton to give employment to local craftsmen. She is also known for building the nearby chapel with designs by her husband, generally regarded as an Art Nouveau masterpiece

This is the painting of the Watts Chapel that I did once, built in brick and shaped like a Greek cross. The interior is beautifully designed in Arts and Crafts style. The bricks were made locally in Mary Watts works

The Pattle sisters were born in India, and became central figures British art and literary society. Born in Calcutta now Kolkata to James Peter Pattle, a civil servant, and Adeline Maria De l’Etang ,they received education in Paris and India.

Known for their beauty, intelligence and independent spirits they navigated complex social landscapes, bridging cultures and influencing Victorian high society and intellectual movements

George Frederick Watts was one of the prominent figures that they were connected with. There were seven sisters in all, and probaly the best known is Julia Margaret Cameron, the famous photographer, who lived on the Isle of wight for many years. Given a camera by her daughter, she became well known for her photographs of famous people, and also for the ability to capture subjects in a very soft light.

Maria Jackson (nee Pattle) was the mother of Julia Stephen who was mother to Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell, thus linking them to the Bloomsbury group

Pattledom was a term coined by Thackeray describing the sister’s powerful social network and bohemian lifestyle, blending Indian heritage with French education and English society

This exhibition is on until May, and well worth a visit if you are within striking distance of Compton

Btw. if you want to see more of my own paintings, they are listed also on my own website davidharmerwatercolour.co.uk. This website is a showcase rather than a shop, but enquiries are nevertheless welcome

The Havant Gazebo Painting

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This was a nostalgic trip for me. I used to live literally round the corner from this lovely building, although at that time you could only see the top half as it was surrounded by a high wall. Pieces of glass were set into the top of the wall, to stop people climbing over. Even in those benighted times, this was illegal and constituted a man trap. Goodness knows when these shards were mounted into the wall, well into previous centuries certainly

Since then, walls were taken down and this delightful gazebo was exposed for all to see. It is from the c18 and was built as all gazebos were, to enable the leisured classes to enjoy the view from over the wall, and no doubt in those days for quite a distance. It would have looked out over the Fair Field, a large green space which would have hosted an annual fair. This is long gone, and today is commemorated by a road called Fairfield Road. The row of houses in this road was built in the reign of Queen Victoria, quite late in her reign as I remember, from building material taken from the demolition of the old manor house opposite.

Coming back to the gazebo, this was in a large garden at the back of a beautiful Georgian house called Magnolia House, occupied by two generations of dentists, now gone. Still a dentists surgery but the original old Havant family is no longer there. The house is one of the very few Georgian buildings to have survived a great fire in the c18. It is slightly uphill from the rest of the town which may have saved it from the flames.

I did this little watercolour quite quickly just to preserve a childhood memory. Havant is not a town which escaped development and there are very few gems like this remaining

I don’t live in Havant now, haven’t done for many years. My father lived in the family home in nearby Manor Close, named after the manor house which disappeared. I used to go down regularly so was able to look at the gazebo in all its glory, although could never go in as that is by appointment only, and time did not allow. The only problem with going back to scenes of one’s childhood, is that you start to hear voices of people you knew at the time, so stop and move on

Spinnaker Tower at Night finished painting

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This is the finished painting literall hot of the easel. This was a commissioned painting which the client has previewed, and is delighted with. That is always a relief. I was happy with it, but art is subjective, so one is never sure. i don’t remember tackling a night time scene before one that is highly illuminated. It is quite tricky as so many light sources to take into account. Interesting nonethe less.

I used indigo for the night sky and introduced cloud and the moon to make it more interesting. An occasional dab of black where I wanted the sky to be really dark. Quite a lot of masking out on this one. The tower itself for one which was a big job, plus the gables over the restaurants. Also I had to do a lot of lifting of colour for example to produce the tall poles which are shown in deep shadow on the photograph. They worked well. I was pleased from some of the comments afterwards that the mood created was what I was trying to get. Some drama and some romanticism, bearing in mind that this was someone’s special place

As always I was privileged to be entrusted with something that is special to someone, and as always so pleased that it turned out well.

Spinnaker Tower painting drawing stage

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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

Spinnaker Tower Portsmouth at Night

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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

Village in Galicia–an old friend

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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

Wedding Venue- Latest Commission

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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.

Copenhagen Canal and other paintings

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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

Gondolas, and other recent paintings

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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

Turner in Surrey: the River Wey

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Turner, Joseph Mallord William; Newark Abbey on the Wey; Tate; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/newark-abbey-on-the-wey-202538

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