Reflections

The Toll House At Gunthorpe
Watercolour on Paper
18cm x 23cm (7" x 9")

Yesterday I attended my first meeting of the Shelford Group of Artists in 2015. Tony Slater's theme for the day was Reflections.

The picture is a view across the Trent on a bright but cold February afternoon. I've painted a similar scene before (see Shelford Group of Artists Easter Exhibition 2012). The buildings and some of the boats are the same, but the viewpoint is different.

It is interesting to study a painting from before I started The Natural Way to Draw. I'm glad there is an obvious increase in proficiency, but the more important differences are in how I draw, paint and see.

Into the Light

Into The Light
Watercolour on Paper
28cm x 14cm (11" x 5.5")

Yesterday was the Shelford Group of Artists’ painting day for May. Tony Slater's theme was Into the Light.

Painting “Into the Light” involves placing the subject directly in front of a strong light source, usually the early morning or late evening sun. The subject is silhouetted against the light which may seem to create a halo around it. Long shadows stretch towards the viewer. The results are often atmospheric and evocative of time and place.

Before the workshop, Tony suggested we look at the paintings of David Curtis who is a master of the this sort of lighting.

James Gurney also acknowledges David as an expert in the technique (see http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/book-review-painting-on-location.html) and supplies the posh term for the lighting effect - Contre-jour lighting. This is one of the topics that James discusses in his excellent book "Color and Light".

The only good source photograph I had was a scene of a graveyard on a sunny evening. When I started the picture, I realised I wasn't in the mood for such a complex subject. Instead I experimented with a view of some clouds with the sun behind them from a summer evening in Dartmouth.

I painted the same scene five times using different techniques: sometimes using gouache to create sunlight on the water, sometimes relying on just dry brush work and sometimes using wax as a resist. This is my favourite of the five - it was also the simplest and fastest to paint. I didn't create a finished painting, but I had fun, plenty of painting practice and learnt from my experiments.

Shelford Group of Artists’ Easter Exhibition 2014

This Little Piggy
Watercolour on Paper
34cm x 24cm (13.5" x 9.5")

It’s Easter and time for the Shelford Group of Artists’ annual exhibition. This year I am exhibiting the 7 pictures on this post.

The exhibition is in Shelford Village Hall (NG12 1EN) and is open between 10am and 4 pm on Easter Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

If you get the chance, please drop in.

Between Tresco and Bryher
Watercolour on Paper
28cm x 38cm (11" x 15")

Sorry About the Chips
Watercolour on Paper
24cm x 34cm (9.5" x 13.5")

Smeaton’s Pier, St Ives
Watermedia and Oil Pastel on Paper
24cm x 34cm (9.5" x 13.5")

Misty Morning - Hugh Town
(Based on a photograph by Tony Slater)
Watercolour on Paper
38cm x 28cm (15" x 11")

Early Autumn on the Kennet and Avon
Watercolour and Acrylic Ink on Paper
27cm x 18cm (10.5" x 7")

Brixham Fishing Boats
Watercolour on Paper
34cm x 24cm (13.5" x 9.5")

Capturing the Atmosphere of a Misty Morning

Misty Morning - Hugh Town
(Based on a photograph by Tony Slater)
Watercolour on Paper
38cm x 28cm (15" x 11")

Yesterday was the Shelford Group of Artists’ Painting day for March. Tony Slater's theme was Capturing the Atmosphere of a Misty Morning. I didn't have a suitable reference photograph, so I borrowed one of his.

Tony’s advice was to paint the background wet-into-wet, so there are no hard edges, very little detail and the middle distance seems to appear out of the misty background. He also suggested using a limited palate, which is an excellent way to capture the muted tones of a misty day.

I had one of those days where nothing seems to go right - the remnants of a cold had mutated into an attack of clumsiness. I spent the whole day putting my fingers in wet paint and even managed to walk into Tony’s easel.

The painting was a struggle right from the start. It had a wash in the sink and nearly ended up in the bin, but Tony regularly tells people not to give up on a painting until it is finished and he is usually right.

After the Rain

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

Happy New Year

Yesterday was the Shelford Group of Artists’ first painting day of 2014.

Tony Slater's theme for the day was "After the Rain". His intention was for us to paint street scenes including reflections in wet roads and pavements.

There is still a lot to do before I paint the reflections, but I’m glad I ran out of time because there is something not right with the foreground figure – he has the shambling gait of a zombie. I will sort this out before I paint him. The solution may be as simple as sloping his shoulders slightly down to the right, but I will probably redraw him.

I took the figures from a number of different photographs. Tony was pleased I drew their heads close to the same horizontal line – the horizon. It is a classic mistake to make distant figures smaller by moving their heads down the page instead of moving their feet up the page.

In linear perspective, the horizon line is the eyelevel of the viewer / artist. Parallel lines appear to converge to a vanishing point on the horizon. Anything the same height above the ground as the viewer’s eyes will appear to be on the horizon line no matter how near or far it is from the viewer.

Horizon Line = Eyelevel

The letters on the signs set the tone for the whole painting. I want the writing to be legible because the shop is a landmark in Newark (the English one), but I am no sign writer. I was deliberately carefree (careless?) when I painted the text and need to carry this through into the rest of the picture.

Industrial Scene

Buildwas Power Station
Watercolour on Paper
23cm x 23cm (9" x 9")

Yesterday was the November meeting of the Shelford Group of Artists.

Tony Slater's theme for the day was Industrial Scenes.

I didn’t have any suitable reference material, so last Sunday, Dad and I took a drive through the Ironbridge Gorge looking for an interesting subject. It is a picturesque valley, which seems strangely at odds with its position at the heart of the industrial revolution.

It’s fascinating how the ruins of the old furnaces and factories are either museums or are being reclaimed by the landscape.

I settled on a view of the Bulidwas power station at the far end of the gorge.

Sketching in the Grounds of Flintham Hall



Lion - Flintham Hall
10 August 2013
Watercolour and ink
Moleskine A4 watercolour album


Yesterday was the August meeting of the Shelford Group of Artists. Sir Robert Hildyard kindly gave us permission to spend the day sketching and painting in the extensive grounds and gardens of Flintham Hall.

We spread out to the four corners of the estate and Tony Slater must have walked miles as he circulated around the group to offer advice. The day gave me an opportunity to work on my mental block about drawing and painting outside.

My only problem with working “en plein air” is I don’t like people being able to look at quick sketches and work in progress, but this manifests as uncharacteristic dithering – I pack too much stuff and then can’t decide what to use and what to paint.

Yesterday, I had a plan. Pack very lightly and draw the first thing that interested me.

On my last sketching trip, I took three sketchbooks, two watercolour blocks and a piece of watercolour paper stuck to a board. Yesterday, I took one sketchbook.

I decided in advance that I wanted to draw something in which accurate proportions would be important, so as soon as I saw the lion, I put down my stuff and got on with it.


Statue - Flintham Hall
10 August 2013
Watercolour and ink
Moleskine A4 watercolour album


I don’t know why the thought of unsolicited criticism bothers me. I know it is more of a phobia than a sensible concern and I am gradually getting over it. I’m sure that if I fill up a few sketchbooks this will speed up the cure.

Summer Landscape

Its No Joke
Watercolour on Paper
34cm x 14cm (13.5" x 5.5")

Yesterday was the Shelford Group of Artists’ Painting Day for June. Tony Slater’s theme was Summer Landscapes. The organisation of the day was different to usual. In the morning, we went out sketching and in the afternoon, we painted a picture from our sketches.

This was a perfect opportunity for me because I want to sketch while Elaine and I are on holiday, but I haven’t had much experience. The day gave me a chance to decide what kit I am going to take and to think about an approach for drawing landscapes.

It was also a useful experience of what it is like to draw outdoors. I have a dread of attracting a crowd of critical onlookers. Yesterday has helped me to realise this is an unlikely scenario. I saw four people all morning and the only interaction we had was to exchange hellos as they jogged or cycled past.

Its No Joke - Sketch
Watercolour on Paper
28cm x 19cm (11" x 7.5")

This is the first sketch I drew while I was thinking about a composition. It includes the helpful reminder that the expanse of green in front of me is grass – who could have guessed? Once the sketch was finished, I did some gesture and contour studies of the landscape. Next time I intend to focus on gesture drawing before deciding on a composition.

I was due to finish the Natural Way to Draw yesterday, but I am a few days behind schedule. The current plan is to finish on Wednesday and to celebrate with an ice wine cocktail.

Fishing Boats

Brixham Fishing Boats
Watercolour on Paper
34cm x 24cm (13.5" x 9.5")

This group of fishing boats is alongside the New Pier in Brixham Harbour. I started the painting during the April meeting of the Shelford Group of Artists (see Water and Reflections) and I finished it yesterday.

The picture became a test bed on which to experiment with some of the techniques from  John Lovett’s Textures, Techniques and Special Effects for Watercolor. The book has a chapter about Boats and Water. I like a term John uses to describe his style – “controlled untidiness”. It is exactly what I am trying to achieve.

The first post on this blog included a painting of some trawlers in Brixham Harbour (see The Natural Way to Draw). The trawlers were moored the other side of the pier.

These pictures provide bookends to this part of the blog that documents my progress through the Natural Way to Draw.This evening I am going to start the last schedule. My original plan (from January 2011) was to finish next Saturday, but I’ve a busy week ahead. My current plan is to finish two days late on Monday 3rd of June.

Water and Reflections

Water and Reflections (Work In Progress)
Watercolour on Paper
34cm x 24cm (13.5" x 9.5")

Yesterday was the April painting day of the Shelford Group of Artists. The subject for the day was Water and Reflections. Tony Slater painted a demonstration of some boats viewed across an estuary. He applied a purple glaze to his almost finished painting. This added atmosphere and transformed the image into an evening scene.

I started this picture of fishing boats in Brixham harbour. I created the reflections by dragging the colours of the boats down the page with a damp flat brush. It is a complicated scene and there is a lot left to do. The next step is to add some dark shadows and reflections between the boats and then to take stock and decide where to add details - I also need to sort out the perspective at the back of the light blue boat.

I am building up a backlog of half completed paintings. I still haven’t finished the still life with hyacinths that I started at the previous painting day (see Not Still Life and Shelford Group of Artists Easter Exhibition 2013).

Shelford Group of Artists Easter Exhibition 2013



On The Mud (Wells-next-the-Sea)
Watercolour on Paper
27cm x 30cm (6.5" x 12")

This is one of the pictures I am exhibiting in the Shelford Group of Artists Easter Exhibition.

I posted a version of the picture last April (see On the Mud). Since then it has had a radical haircut - Across the Trent suffered a similar fate before the 2012 exhibition (see Shelford Group of Artists Easter Exhibition 2012).

Choosing exhibits from the previous year's paintings is an enjoyable experience. It is a chance to reflect on each of the pictures. It is satisfying to find paintings that can be improved by re-cropping or by adding some finishing touches.

  

The other pictures I am exhibiting are:

• Storm Clouds Over the Maldives (see Limited Palette)
• Lost Sheep (see Sheep)
• Snow On Old Hill (see Winter Landscapes)
• Waiting For the Rain - Summer 2012
• Hurst Point Lighthouse (see Capturing the Light and Negative Painting)
• Peggy's Neighbours

Three of the pictures were painted in group meetings and four were painted at home.

The exhibition is in Shelford Village Hall (NG12 1EN) and is open between 10am and 4 pm on Easter Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

If you get the chance, please pop in. I will be there between 10am and noon on Sunday.

Hyacinths (Work In Progress)
Watercolour on Paper
25cm x 34cm (10" x 13")

I've made some progress on the still life with hyacinth's (see Not Still Life)

The picture is at a make or break point. There are some important reflections and shadows to add to the bottle and then I have to decide how to finish it.

Not Still Life

Coconut Palm
Watercolour and Ink on Paper
14cm x 28cm (5.5" x 11")

Maggie Latham's tutorials on Ink and Wash were the inspiration for this picture.

I’ve not had the time to follow all the exercises, but they are interesting reading and I am experimenting with some of Maggie’s suggestions.

The picture is completely different to my previous ink and wash drawings (see  Ye Old Dog & Partridge and Holiday Sketch).

For this study, I drew the palm with an old sharpened twig and applied the watercolour washes with a dainty decorating brush that Elaine gave me for Christmas.

My Tools

I had not intended to post the drawing. My plan was to present a picture from yesterday’s gathering of the Shelford Group of Artists, but I didn’t finish anything. The subject for the day was Still Life and I spent most of the day drawing.

Hyacinths (Work In Progress)
Watercolour on Paper
25cm x 34cm (10" x 13")

Who would have guessed that bottles and flowers could be so complicated? Why didn’t they tell me?

Limited Palette

Storm Clouds Over the Maldives
Watercolour on Paper
34cm x 24cm (13.5" x 9.5")

Yesterday was my first painting day with the Shelford Group of Artists of 2013.

Tony Slater's topic for the day was painting with a limited palette. This was the same topic as one of the first Shelford painting days I attended - back in April 2011 (see Sarah Jane).

I took the opportunity to knuckle down and paint a subject I’ve been messing around with for the best part of a year.

In March of last year, Elaine and I had an incredible holiday in the Maldives (see Holiday Sketch). While we were there, I took a photo of a spectacular storm approaching the islands.

Since we got home, I've tried to paint more than 20 versions of the sky, but I’ve never got it right. Most of my attempts suffered from being too moody and threatening. Yesterday, I realised that I’d been painting British storm clouds. The atmosphere I wanted to recreate was “yes, there’s a storm coming, but we're sitting on the beach drinking cocktails.”

Tony suggested we select two or three harmonious colours. Initially, I picked a warm colour (Burnt Sienna) and a cool colour (Winsor Blue (Green Shade)). I couldn’t mix a good colour for the cloud shadows from them, so I added Permanent Rose which also helped to spice up some of the details on the platform.

Winter Landscapes

Snow On Old Hill
Watercolour on Paper
28cm x 18cm (11" x 7")


This is a view from the top of the hill that is the backdrop for Farm Boy Racer. It is further along the same track.

I painted this yesterday at the December meeting of the Shelford Group of Artists. The December get together is a good one to attend because everyone brings food to share. Elaine made some Raspberry Blondies (like brownies, but with white chocolate) for me to take, which went down very well.


Norwegian Island
Watercolour on Paper
28cm x 16cm (11" x 6.25")

 
The theme for the day was Winter Landscapes. Tony Slater provided his usual mix of wit and wisdom. He suggested chopping the bottom off Norwegian Island to move the horizon further away from the centre line.

The big news for the week is I’ve bought a work of art to celebrate my birthday. Its taken 6 months to find the right piece, but the wait was worthwhile. Thank you to everyone in my family who contributed – I appreciate your generosity.

Bright light to Samson by Stewart Edmondson
73cm x 73cm (29.75" 29.75")

This is Bright light to Samson by Stewart Edmondson, we bought it from the D'Art Gallery in Dartmouth.

Samson is a small, uninhabited island off the Scilly Isles. Elaine and I were thinking of visiting the Scillies next summer. Now we have even more of a reason.

Ready For Christmas

Ready For Christmas
Watercolour on Paper
8cm x 11.5cm (3.25" x 4.5")


I know it’s a bit early for Christmas, but yesterday was the November Painting Day of the Shelford Group of Artists and Tony Slater’s topic for the day was Small Pictures for Christmas Cards/Presents.

Tony painted a sprig of holly in an attractive loose style and then offered the group advice on their paintings.

My subject for the day was this well-fed robin. One of my goals was to give an indication of feathers, without getting drawn into painting details with a fine brush. Before I started painting, I made some marks with a clear wax crayon in the direction of the feathers. The paint cannot stick to the wax and I hoped the textured wash would read as feathers. I made some more prominent wax marks on the background to represent plant stems, but perhaps they look more like falling snow.

After the paint was dry, my final touch was to add some Winsor and Newton Iridescent Medium to the snow and white plumage. Its effect is a more subtle version of the beloved classroom glue and glitter technique. Unfortunately, the effect is so subtle it doesn’t show up in the photo.

I will wish you a Happy Christmas, but lets leave it for a month.

Capturing Light and Negative Painting

Hurst Point Lighthouse
Watercolour on Paper
35.5cm x 15cm (14" x 6")

Hurst Point Lighthouse and Hurst Castle are at the end of 1.5 mile shingle spit, which stretches from Milford on Sea out into the Solent.

They are less than a mile from the Isle of Wight, which provides the backdrop for this picture.

The little blue boat is the ferry between the Hurst Castle and Keyhaven. It has just set off on its way back to the mainland.

Earlier in the summer, Elaine and I visited the castle. We walked out along the spit and returned on the ferry. We used the ferry to add variety to our journey, not because we are idle or were in a hurry to get to the pub for lunch.

I painted the picture at Tony Slater's September workshop for the Shelford Group of Artists. The theme for the day was Capturing Light and Negative Painting. Tony demonstrated how he uses negative painting to create highlights by painting around an object instead of painting the object itself.

There are some elements of negative painting in the picture on this post:

• I didn’t paint the sails of the boats in the background (you might need to zoom in to see them). I painted the Isle of Wight and the sea around them.
• The roof of the ferry is just a gap in the grass with a shadow underneath it
• The right hand edge of the lighthouse is created by the sky and the Isle of Wight.
• The triangular roof is created by the stuff around it.

Tony started his painting by covering the paper with a pale preliminary wash so that some of the highlights have subtle tints rather than being the stark white of the paper. I used the same technique. The highlights in this painting aren’t white. They are pale pinks and blues, but they look white because of the more intense colours around them.

I didn’t manage the same productivity (4 paintings) as at the Fast and Loose  workshop, but I tried to keep the same spirit of spontaneity in the painting.

Fast and Loose

Fifty Years Married
Watercolour on Paper
18cm x 28cm (7" x 11")

Yesterday was the first time I’ve painted with the Shelford Group of Artists since May.

Tony Slater's theme for the day was Fast and Loose. He challenged us to complete each painting in 30 minutes.

This was a tricky assignment for me because I do not paint quickly. I like to spend time drinking tea and thinking - mainly about what to do next, but sometimes just idle daydreaming.

I usually struggle to complete one painting in a day, but I rose to the challenge and finished four. The pictures on this post are my favourites.

What Trees Are These?
Watercolour on Paper
18cm x 23cm (7" x 9")

The couple at the top of the post were on the beach close to the Palace Pier in Brighton. I wish I could claim the title was mine, but this was David Bastable's suggestion.

The trees are near Coleton Fishacre on the Devon coast. They might be Scots Pine, but maybe not. I will inspect them more thoroughly when we next vist Dartmouth.

Be Brave With Colour

English Bull Terrier
Watercolour on Paper
21.5cm x 26cm (8.5" x 10.25")

The subject for the May meeting of the Shelford Group of Artists was Be Brave with Colour. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t the exercise Tony Slater had planned. He started by laying a tarpaulin over the floor. We mixed up a load of paints, wet our paper and then tipped the contents of our palettes over the paper.

After the paint had settled and dried, we tried to identify imagery in the mixtures of colours. We spent the rest of the sessions bring these subjects to life.

I couldn’t see anything in my wash apart from a variety of animal faces - everything from a little bunny to a hippopotamus. Tony was keen on the hippopotamus, but I decided on the English Bull Terrier. The deciding factor was that I have a blurry photo of one on my laptop and I didn’t fancy painting a hippopotamus (or any animal) without some kind of reference material.

I developed the picture with the techniques I used when painting  Moo! and Jack. I was a little rusty and could benefit from watching Jean Haines' Amazing Ways with Watercolour DVD again.

It’s not a masterpiece, but that wasn’t the point of the exercise. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon and it’s inspired me to paint some more animals - I'm particularly inspired to model the physique of the dog.

Farm Boy Racer

Farm Boy Racer
Watercolour on Paper
38cm x 28cm (15" x 11")

A local farm owner or tractor enthusiast owns a couple of lovely old tractors. I’ve never seen them out in the fields, but Elaine and I have run into them speeding along the local tracks.

I painted this at the first meeting of the Shelford Group of Artists since the Easter exhibition. The theme for the day was “Drawing with the Brush and Big Brush Techniques”. Tony Slater was keen we painted with our biggest brushes and without any preliminary pencil drawing.

I started by trying to draw the tractor in as few strokes as possible and then decided to make a gesture drawing to convey the tractor's lumbering speed and the sunlight reflecting on its grill.

It not easy to make a painting look quick and spontaneous – this was my fifth attempt. It took a couple of tries to get the basic drawing right and then a few more to sort out the details (or lack of them).

Shelford Group of Artists Easter Exhibition 2012

Across the Trent
Watercolour on Paper
34cm x 21.5cm (13.5" x 8.5")

The Shelford Group of Artists hold their annual exhibition over the Easter weekend.

I will be displaying pictures for the first time in this year’s exhibition.

Across the Trent is one of the pictures I am exhibiting. I painted this late in 2010, but was never happy with it - until I realised I could cut off all the bits I didn’t like.

I cropped the picture, added a few finishing touches and the result is at the top of this post.

The other six pictures have already appeared on this blog:

• Fishtown
• On the East and West Line
• Moo!
• The Bell Tower
• Left Luggage
• Venetian Window (on The Natural Way to Draw)

The exhibition is in Shelford Village Hall (NG12 1EN) and is open between 10am and 4 pm on Easter Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

If you get the chance, please pop in. I will be there between 10am and 2pm on the Saturday.