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
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
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
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.
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
I come back to a subject I never tire of painting. The historic church in the parish of Pirbright in Surrey
Dedicated to St Michael and all Angels, the church has saxon foundations and was a site of worship before then. The current church building dates from the c18. The churchyard is notable for its wildlife and also contains the grave of Sir Henry Morton Stanley, the explorer, he who found Livingstone, and said the immortal words “Doctor Livingstone I presume”. He is also well known for the discovery of the sources of the Nile and the Congo rivers The headstone is a huge piece of granite with his African name, Bula Matari 1841-1904 The funeral service was in Westminster Abbey but the interment was here at Pirbright, near his country home at Furze Hill.
This is my photograph of Stanley’s grave with its monolithic headstone
I have painted this church on a couple of occasions over the years. One painting I did in the snow which was well received. I was especially thrilled at the end of last year, for that particular painting to be printed as a greeting card by the church and sent to everyone in the parish, setting out the times of services over the Christmas period. I will see if I still have an image
This was the painting done in the snow. I’m not sure that I don’t prefer it to the one that I have just done. Looser somehow. Also there is something about snow with sunshine that softens the light beautifully. The trees on the left have been removed since I did this painting
Although I don’t actually live in Pirbright, I do get involved through the Pirbright Art Club which i have belonged to for many years. Pirbright like so many villages, has an annual fair and the art club would take a stall. The theme for some years was scarecrows, and ingenious examples were made, very often characters from literature. Do you remember the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales? After the service the Dean of Westminster cartwheeled down the centre aisle, presumably overjoyed. An amazing scarecrow was made and was on display in the church. I painted it. I’ll see if I can find it
I was proud of this painting. I exhibited it locally expecting it to be snapped up. It wasn’t! In the end, I sold it online to a buyer in the north east of England. How strange was that. Afterwards the buyer wrote to me and told me he looks at it every morning and it cheers him up for the day, so it was worth doing just for that.
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
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
I have talked about this sculpture before. Leaf Spirit by the sculptor Simon Gudgeon, which is in Kew gardens. This isn’t the only example of this sculpture but the only one that I have seen. I did a blog about this some years back. It is in my opinion, an amazing piece of work, and I did wonder at the time whether I could attempt a painting of it, and in watercolour too, which will be a handicap in this instance.
This isn’t about the result, but more about the exercise and what I will learn from it. i suspect that it will be a steep learning curve, to coin a well worn phrase
I have found this to be a very hard year for selling paintings. I am not alone in this. There is a dearth of disposable income around the world. Competition for sales is fierce at the moment. Fortunately this is not my day job but for some artists life is tough. My mentor at our local art club has given me very good advice. Step out of your comfort zone, and paint things which challenge you. Don’t necessarily paint subjects that you expect to sell. So I have made a start on Leaf Spirit. I have done the drawing which has been surprisingly tricky. No matter how often I checked my measurements, the expression on my face is not quite the same as the one in the photograph. Mine looks more feminine for some reason, but it could change again with colour added.
I will go on with this at another date. I have some other projects queuing up and they too hopefully will take me in new directions. This could be the start of something totally different, a change of style even. For now, we will see where it takes us. Good I am starting to get inspired again
Magnificent exhibition at Tate Britain entitled Now You See Us is on until early next month. I wish I had gone sooner as this is an exhibition that needs more than one visit. It covers the work of women artists from 1520 – 1920, during ages obviously when women were subservient to men in most walks of life. Their work very often epitomises their struggle for recognition.
One of the earlier examples, a self portrait by Artemesia Gentileschi, an Italian artist working in London during the reign of Charles I, In London she worked for Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria, and two works in this exhibition are from the Royal Collection. The other one is Susannah and the Elders, a popular Old Testament sory who was observed bathing by two of the elders, and sexually assaulted. The usual story, the elders tried to make out she was a whore but later her innocence was proved.
There were an amazing number of artists represented working through the ages. Very few did I recognise. Gwen John was one, and her self portrait was used in the exhibition publicity. In fact the work of hers shown was in my view some of the least inspiring.
During the 18c the work of the Royal Academy centred round oil paintings. Other media was looked down upon. Joshua Reynolds was especially sniffy about watercolour, pastel, embroidery and any sort of craft as being work that women did at home for their own amusement.
Gradually, and as we move into the c19 women are starting to meet men on equal ground. Two paintings which greatly impressed me were:
Colt Hunting in the New Forest by Lucy-Kemp Welch
The Roll Call by Elizabeth Butler, a painting of Guards Regiment in the Crimea. This painting was summoned to the palace for a special viewing by Queen Victoria. It sold for the staggering sum of £1200
Both of these were sensations in the art world at the time. Both were hung “on the line”, which means they were hung at eye-level, a great tribute by the hanging committee of the Royal Academy
Colt Hunting in the New Forest which is an enormous painting
The Roll Call by Elizabeth Butler
My photographs are not very good alas, done quickly avoiding other viewers.
Finally. a painting by Anna Airy, commissioned by the Imperial War Museum, Shop for Machining 15″ Shells, shows women doing factory work in 1918. This was the old Singer sewing machine Company factory on Clydebank. Important work and an important painting
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