After the Rain Finished

After the Rain
Watercolour on Paper
24cm x 34cm (9.5" x 13.5")

This is the picture I started at the last meeting of the Shelford Group of Artists, but ran out of time before painting the figures and the reflections (see After the Rain).

My aspiration for the figures was to integrate them with the rest of the picture – I didn’t want them to look as though they were stuck on as an after thought.

The steps I took to achieve this were to:

• Draw the figures with a reason to be in the picture. I gave them something to do and made their stances all different.
• Paint the figures in the same style as the rest of the painting. I didn’t give them special treatment because they are people.

I tried to lose some of the edges between the figures and the rest of the picture, but the best way to achieve this is to paint them while the other parts of the painting are still wet. This allows the paints to merge and the edges really are lost. It’s quite tricky to do well, but it is on my list of things to practice.

The shop in the foreground is GH Porter – a traditional food shop and landmark on the edge of Newark’s market square. It is a difficult shop to categorise – it specialises in coffee, tea and smoked bacon. They roast the coffee and smoke the bacon on the premises. It is a throwback to another age.