St Agnes Lighthouse

St Agnes Lighthouse
Mixed Media on Paper
28cm x 18cm (11" x 7") 

The lighthouse on St Agnes in the Isles of Scilly no longer contains a light, but is still the most prominent landmark on the island. St Agnes is a wonderful place to spend an evening. Elaine and I have twice celebrated my birthday in Hight Tide Seafood Restaurant. The food, wine and views are excellent, but it has to compete against the Turks Head - which is a great pub. What a choice - you just have to spend two evenings on the island.

I started the picture using oil pastel to add some colour and to resist the watercolour - as suggested by Chris Forsey in his DVDs. The scribble in the centre of the picture is a bit unnecessary, but the blue flowers in the left foreground have worked well.

The painting also makes use of a technique I am learning from regular sketching in watercolour – don’t fiddle or correct. It’s a difficult lesson to learn, but I'm finally beginning to realise that you rarely improve a watercolour painting by trying to correct things. You are best to leave your original marks because they at least look spontaneous and heartfelt.