Sussex

Bosham Harbour and Church- an old favourite

/ davidrpharmer / 2 Comments

A pale evening glow in one of my favourite places, Bosham harbour, with the Saxon church in the background. The church is featured on the Bayeux tapestry. Harold Godwinson prayed here before setting sail on his ill-fated voyage to Normandy. The church is shown as a large arch, most likely the huge chancel arch still there today. Nave and tower would not have existed then

Reputedly too, the legend of King Cnut attempting to turn back the waves is also supposed to have taken place here. But that is only a story

I painted this view of Bosham as I needed another local painting for an exhibition in Chichester, which is very much a new area for me. I was invited by a local gallery to take part, and I took my paintings down this Monday. The exhibition lasts for three weeks so it will be interesting to see what happens

Chichester is the county town of West Sussex. Very old, its foundation was Roman, and which has a direct link to London by Stane Street which is typically a straight line, although known today as the A24 if I remember correctly. The town centre is beautiful, with its 13c cathedral and 14c market cross.

The painting hopefully shows the harbour with an evening glow. I used quinacredone gold which usually works well

Anyway it is on show with others, and we hope for great things

Gravetye Manor Hotel: the finished picture

/ davidrpharmer / 10 Comments

Gravetye Manor Hotel

This is the finished picture of the hotel

The lights and darks helped this painting enormously, which was why I was so grateful for the sun shining just long enough for me to get a shot telling me where they were

The chimneys were hexagonal so each side had a different tonal value. They were fiddly and not sure now whether they were completely accurate, but from the point of view of giving an illusion of their shape, they seemed to work

I used raw sienna mixed with Naples yellow for the sunlit building and also for the path, which is my favourite mix for giving the appearance of sun on stone. The path was a gift for the composition, that bright open gateway surrounded by dark shadow.

Another problem was the plethora of green in the foreground. I used three different mixes which seemed to work, as well as some different plant shapes. The violet flower clump broke some of it up, and that good old favourite, red spots dotted here and there helped to take the eye

I have started to use the odd bit of pastel to get myself out of trouble where I might need a bright light colour over a dark background. I find that is a useful device and a nice change from gouache which isn’t always successful anyway

Will I have to call myself a mixed media artist? I don’t think so