Ye Old Dog & Partridge

Ye Old Dog & Partridge
Watercolour on Paper
38cm x 28cm (15" x 11")

Elaine and I have a soft spot for Ye Old Dog & Partridge at Tutbury. Most of the wedding party stayed at this historic inn on the nights before and after our wedding. The half-timbered building dates from the 16th and 17th centuries (thank you http://www.tutburyhistory.co.uk/).

I painted this yesterday at one of Tony Slater's painting days for the Shelford Group of Artists. The theme for the day was Ink and Wash.

Tony was keen we start with a loose drawing in ink without going into too much detail and without doing any preliminary drawing in pencil. This is exactly the opposite of how I normally work so it was a good exercise for me.

I’ve mentioned before that I always seem to rush when I am painting in company (see Through a Window Through a Window) and this happened again.

I did a light sketch positioning the major shapes and then attacked it with the paint. My initial strokes were a bit ill considered and sloppy so I decided to embrace this and paint the whole thing with quite a large brush (a number 12).

When I was close to finishing the picture, I realised it lacked interest. I added the flowers and at Tony’s suggestion altered the door so it was open, but the painting really could do with someone walking up the path to the pub.

I’ve vowed to spend more time planning my paintings. I am going to draw thumbnail sketches to explore the subject before I start a picture. This will give me a stronger sense of what the finished piece will look like and help me to spot and correct design flaws earlier in the process.