Watercolour Painting

Henry Moore in Colour at the Lightbox

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Yet another excellent exhibition at Woking’s Lightbox art gallery. Small, obviously, size dictated by the venue but focused and to the point. We, in Woking, are so pleased as following the bankruptcy of the town brought about by reckless investment, the fate of the Lightbox has been in the balance. Deep cuts are having to be made, and when difficult choices and sacrifices are having to be made, then difficult sometimes to make a case for our wonderful art gallery to be saved. So far it has been managed by the new local government and we are grateful for that. The Lightbox is relatively new, in a town with virtually nothing by the way of heritage or culture, so the rise in prominence of our gallery has been a matter of civic pride. We hope it will continue

Henry Moore is well known, and if like me you tend to remember his wonderful sculptures, then it is useful to be reminded that he painted as well, and some while ago too. When reminded, of course I remember his drawings and paintings of people taking shelter during air raids in London, in the underground railway stations. This exhibition highlights some of these works, known as the Shelter drawings commissioned by the War Artists Advisory Committee during the last war. These Shelter drawings were responsible for achieving widespread recognition for the artist following their display in the National Gallery. When you look at some of these drawings you start to see forming some of his later sculptures and I will show one if I can as an example

Certainly the first one I think I have seen as one of his sculptures!

Many years ago, there was a major exhibition of his sculptures in Kew Gardens, and I painted one of them that was placed in front of the Palm House. By way of light relief, I will end with it here

A figure stretching after a night on a cold platform? Might be

Recent Commission

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This is the type of commission that I enjoy doing. One of my favourite subjects, painting horses, and in this case, a charming composition, of a horse being brought in to the stables, possibly for saddling up, by her young owner.

One of the most difficult things to get right was the colour of the horse. A brown horse doesn’t sound very complicated but there are many shades of brown, and I needed to get close to the original reference photograph. This horse looked like a bay to me, with black mane and tail, and with black legs. I did the horse over several days, building up the colour and letting it dry overnight. Until the colour was dry, you just could not tell what it would look like. Eventually I was satisfied with the result

Most other things were relatively straightforward. I blurred out the background to increase the feeling of distance. Also in the photograph the background was in direct competition with the main subject.

The composition now worked well and told a story. I was a rider myself once long ago, and this picture reminded me of those days. My son and I would go north for a week to Northumberland, where there are some very open spaces. We would ride from place to place, and overnight the horses with local farms. They would stay out overnight, and in the morning we would have to go and find them, and bridle them up. Horses are cunning and when they saw you coming would make for the higher ground. You really worked hard to catch them. Once you got the bridle on, you could bring them down to be saddled for the day’s ride. This picture reminded me. Incidentally all this happened nearly forty years ago. My son is 53 now and me, well, I don’t ride anymore.

Arundel Castle in Sussex

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A view of a mistry Arundel castle across the River Arun

Probably one of the best-known castles along the south coast, Arundel castle is ancient but largely restored in the c19.

Arundel is the seat of the Norfolks, who would have moved here from Framlingham during the c16. A family with close association with the monarchy, their fortunes rose and fell throughout history.

In 1485, at the battle of Bosworth, they were on the losing side, and lost the Norfolk title. They reverted to the earldom of Surrey.

In 1513, they regained their title of Dukes of Norfolk, after defeating a Scottish Army at Flodden Field in Northumberland. The Scots had invaded England after Henry VIII had invaded France. Catherine of Aragon had despatched the Earl of Surrey northwards to meet the Scottish Threat. After an ingenious manoeuvre whereby the English worked their way round the Scottish position during the night, they approached the Scottish Army from the north, whilst the Scots were entrenched facing south

The result was a massive slaughter of the Scottish nobility including the king James IV, whose body was taken to London and put on show. Scottish losses were about 30,000

The Earl of Surrey was restored to his old title of Duke of Norfolk.

The Norfolks were and still are the leading Catholic family in the land. Their fortunes changed with the religious struggles in the 16c

Today they are often in charge of large events like coronations, and doubtless will be this year too

More Horses in the Wetlands

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I have trieed a different image and with it a different style

I was intrigued by this image, having decided in my mind to give horses a rest for a while. I was struck by the simplicity of the subject, and wanted to capture that. Detail has been kept to a minimum. Despite the activity, the horses seem calm. The water is churned up, yet the painting gives a feeling of peace

I think this is a painting that you can look at for quite a long time.

Others may disagree which is fair comment

Sunset Horses in the Wetlands

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Horses galloping through water in the sunset

I never tire of looking back to our visit to the Camargue, where tributaries of the Rhone flow into the Mediterranean sea. This wetland area is famous for its wildlife, flamingos which breed here in possibly their only breeding ground in Europe, bulls which are bred for fighting, and, of course, the famous white horses which run wild throughout the area. They are magnificent to watch

I have painted them before. Always a delight. I hope you enjoy looking at this painting. As far as I remember I have only used two watercolours, Cobalt Blue and Vermillion which work well together as a sunset effect.

Southsea Pier Sunrise in Watercolour

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Sunrise over South Parade Pier in Southsea

A favourite place from my childhood. We were taken there and allowed to play on the gaming machines, which were not very sophisticated in those days. I remember putting in one old penny which was the pre-decimal currency, so value today, one half of a new penny. The aim was to flick a ball bearing round at speed and see where it landed, hopefully in a slot which gave you a payback. As I say, extremely unsophisticated

This painting relates to the reference photograph which I posted last time, which I was kindly allowed to use by Vicky Stovell of Smiley Sunshine Photography.

I used few colours. Cadmium Orange, Ultramarine Violet, Dark Mauve and Cobalt Blue. I combined the blue and the violet for the sky as well as the wet sand at the bottom of the picture. The uprights for the pier were in deep, deep shadow so i used the dark mauve, instead of black which I avoid where possible.

In order to get the bright sun image, I held a tissue in place with one finger, and then applied the first wash. There are probably better ways of getting that result, but that was the best I could think pf at the time

This painting will be going in my September exhibition at Denbies Wine Estate, so hopefully will freshen up the collection

I have another Istanbul painting in preparation so will post that at a later date

Marzamemi in Sicily- a different view

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Fishing Boats in Marzameni Sicily

I have painted a view of Marzameni before some years ago. It is a delightful fishing village, where we stopped just for a coffee break, and then wandered down to the water’s edge. Many of the boats were obviously old and maintained by their owners, Some of them were hand painted, just bright Mediterranean colours, vivid reds and blues, together with dazzling whites.

The sea was the brightest blue, and as always I hope I do the colours justice. I used Pthalo Blue modified with Cobalt Blue for the sky and the sea, which seemed to work. The same colour strengthened seemed to work for the boats as well, although I did get an opportunity to use Windsor Blue for a really deep blue stripe on one of the boats

As we watched ,the boat with the umbrella hove into view and rowed slowly by, eventually finding a place to tie up. This boat was smarter but the colours were more muted

I enjoy painting Sicily. Always the colours are so vibrant, and the shadows so pronounced

I am exhibiting at the moment at Denbies Wine Estate near Dorking, and have sold a painting of Horses in the Wetlands, another favourite subject

An alternative view of the Grand Canal, Venice

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Grand Canal, Venice from the Rialto Bridge

I am indebted to Pixabay for the use of their photograph. I have stood on this spot a few times and looked down the canal, but this picture was taken with a distant golden evening light which is very attractive. I hope I have done justice to this view. Standing on this spot, reminds me of the many little shops, in one of which I bought a piece of Murano glass, which was over-priced , but difficult to go home without something

I love the feeling of depth. Close to us are the embarkment stations used by passengers boarding the many vaporettos which chug along the canal, going to many destinations. In the far distance you can just see the canal bending out of sight. In between are the old palaces now mostly hotels

The sky was always going to be the biggest challenge. I used some cobalt and phthalo blue mixed, layered in orange for lower sky, and back to blue for the lower picture. I had to repeat this twice to get any sort of brightness to the orange sky. Later when bone dry, I put in some red clouds wisping along the top . The orange worked well as a reflection in the water too. As always the camera has leeched out some of the colour. The painting is so much more vibrant. I wish I could stop this happening

Venice continues to be popular, and I never tire of painting her. Just by way of a change I am trying to put together a composition around a cat in Ephesus. We have been there a couple of times. Very atmospheric treading in the footsteps of St.Paul, also very hot and dusty, but amazing nonetheless. On my last visit and just in front of the Library of Celsius, a cat was sitting motionless on a pedestal. There are always plenty of feral cats living amongst ruins. This one somehow added to the spiritual quality of the scene, not Christian, but more like an object of worship in Egypt. Fanciful I know, but that is how the view struck me. I wonder if I can convey that in a painting

Venice: a different treatment of a favourite view

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Venice, Early Morning

This is what I meant by an old favourite. The lagoon viewed looking out onto the magnificent church of San Giorgio Maggiore, which I have painted several times before in different lights. I don’t seem to have kept many, so must have been some time ago that I last painted this view, before I started keeping a file of all my pictures. Anyway, this one I was pleased with. The light seemed to work. A misty still morning before the sun broke through, there is very little in the way of colour as yet

I have used mostly just two colours, Cobalt Blue and Cadmium Orange. Here and there they have mixed and produced an interesting grey/green which I rather like and use from time to time. Burnt sienna for the brick buildings in the background, but not much of it

I put this one on social media to get some comments. Someone bought it which is always the ultimate accolade

I am doing a real exhibition this coming Saturday, and it would have been nice to have taken it, but you can only sell a painting once. I am happy with that

A Favourite View of Venice

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Gondolas with San Giorgio Maggiore in the background

Probably my favourite view of Venice which I have painted several times before, but not with this lovely misty light, which I shall assume to be morning but could be evening. This photograph I owe to Pixabay and am grateful

This is my finished watercolour painting, or my version of the photograph I should say

Painting of Venice in early light

This was a challenging photograph to work from. San Giorgio Maggiore in the background, shrouded in mist. I knew it well and had painted it a few times. This is a lovely building set on an island and reminds you where you are, almost into the mouth of the Grand canal. Gondolas line up like taxis in the foreground. Drawing them is always fun. They seem to have a twist along the length or maybe that is my imagination. An interesting point about gondolas is that they have to be black according to regulations and yet because they are so highly polished, they very often don’t look black, because of the highlights and the reflections

This fills a spot in my collection. I have two exhibitions planned for December, and I never feel complete without a painting of Venice. Unfortunately having been through my own collection of photographic references more than once, I am sometimes puzzled as to what to paint for a change. This view I have painted before but in bright sunshine, so a misty start to the day is a nice change. Initial response to the painting has been encouraging, so I think it could do well, but I have said that before

We shall see. At the moment I am in different stages of two works, not something I like doing but needs must