By The Lighthouse

By The Lighthouse
Watercolour on Paper
28cm x 38cm (11" x 15")

Watchet is a little town on the North Somerset coast. This painting is based on a photo of the harbour I took on my “sketching” trip from Dunster (see the previous post Left Luggage). I wanted to draw the lighthouse, but I was too self-conscious so we went to the pub instead.

I thought I was observant to notice the reflected light on the base of the tower - until I discovered Watchet Marina use the same reflection in their logo (http://www.watchetharbour.co.uk/index.htm).

The couple are the largest figures I have included in a painting. I added them to balance the picture and to create a bit more interest. I have been hesitant to include figures and faces in paintings because if you mess them up, the mistakes tend to stand out. The solution for this style of painting is to treat them with the same amount of respect as the rest of the painting and not to get drawn into adding extra details because they are people. As long as they are about the right shape and fit in with the rest of the painting, they will be fine. Having said that, I think the figures are evidence that the exercises from the Natural Way to Draw are having an impact - I think there is gesture in their postures.

Oh yes ... the N on the weather vane should be reversed. This was one little detail I intended to include, but I had a slight lapse of concentration at the critical moment.

Moving Action

Standing Up
Moving Action Drawing - 5 May 2011

Graphite Pencil on Paper
20.5cm x 25.5cm (8" x 10")

These are Moving Action drawings from the Natural Way to Draw.

The model performs an action in which part of the body (usually one or both of the legs) remains static, for example, in:

• Standing Up – Elaine is standing up from a chair
• Turn the Radio On – She is bending forward at the waist
• Kneeling to All Fours – She is sat on her heels and moves forward on to all fours

The model repeats the movement for three minutes at different speeds.

The objective is to draw the starting position and the end position and hopefully some of the movement in between. The drawings are made in the scribbling style of the gesture drawings from earlier posts.

The results are quite effective and repeating 8 poses for 3 minutes each provided Elaine with an aerobic workout. I think she is relieved it is another 5 weeks until the next set of Moving Action poses and that set is made up of 5 poses not 8.

Turn the Radio On
Moving Action Drawing - 5 May 2011

Graphite Pencil on Paper
18cm x 25.5cm (7" x 10")



Kneeling to All Fours
Moving Action Drawing - 5 May 2011

Graphite Pencil on Paper
33cm x 23cm (13" x 9")



Through a Window (Through a Window)

Through a Window (Through a Window)
Watercolour on Paper
24cm x 34cm (9.5" x 13.5")

This is a view looking through two windows of an old building in Gunthorpe. If you cannot work out what you are looking at, you are in good company. I had to show Elaine the photograph I used as a source before she understood the painting.

I took the photo after we had been to the Black Horse at Caythorpe (A perfect English country pub). So maybe I was working on a higher intellectual plane.

I know it’s a strange choice of subjects, but I’ve got it out of my system.

I painted the picture at one of Tony Slater’s (http://www.tonyslater.co.uk/) painting days with the Shelford group. The subject of this workshop was Doors and Windows. He provided his customary excellent advice and good humour. This time he even lent me his brushes, which was beyond the call of duty.

One of the things that I enjoy about painting with the group is that I feel pressurised to get some paint on the paper before everyone else is on to their second painting. It forces me to make spontaneous decisions about a painting instead of having another cup of tea and thinking about it.

I really rushed into this painting and I learnt a lot from my mistakes. If I ever feel the need to paint another view through two windows, I will use a completely different approach.

The Bell Tower

The Bell Tower
Watercolour on Paper
24cm x 34cm (9.5" x 13.5")

Painting views of Venice may not be very original, but there is so much to see there and to paint. Its just a shame about all the tourists.

This is a view of the Campanile di San Marco from the Canale della Guidecca.  I like the mixture of different buildings and trees. Elaine and I stayed in the Molino Stucky Hilton on the island of Guidecca. The views from the boat on the way across to the main island are breathtaking. The hotel is in an old flour factory. If you look across at Guidecca from the main island, it is the large building at the right hand end.

This painting was harder to complete than I anticipated. I keep expecting painting to get easier, but it doesn’t happen. I think my expectations are always a little in advance of my ability so the effort required increases rather than decreases.

More Gesture Drawings

Twisting
Gesture Drawing - 16 April 2011
Graphite Pencil on Paper (Constrast Digitally Enhanced)
29cm x 35.5cm (11.5" x 14")

I am a few days behind schedule with the exercises from the Natural Way to Draw because I’ve been working in Switzerland for the last few weeks and visiting friends at the weekend (David and Jane last weekend and Paul and Wendy this weekend).

My overall progress may have suffered slightly, but David, Jane and Paul kindly posed for some gesture drawings, which has been helpful.

Gesture drawings are 1 minute scribbles which attempt to capture the essence of a pose rather than a likeness of the subject. I am drawing 65 of these a week and Elaine is posing for 50 of them. It was interesting to draw some different people and Elaine was grateful to get some time off for good behaviour.

The four drawings on this post are all at least partially successful in capturing the essence of the pose.

In Twisting, David is lying on his back with his arms outstretched. He is twisting his bent legs to his right. The picture captures the twist. This is a complex pose because the body is contorted and the view is foreshortened. I’ve noticed that sometimes in gesture drawings when I don’t think about perspective, it takes care of itself.

Balancing
Gesture Drawing - 16 April 2011
Graphite Pencil on Paper (Constrast Digitally Enhanced)
28cm x 35.5cm (11" x 14")

In Balancing, David is stretching his quad while balancing on one leg. It looks like David is trying to balance. His body is leaning slightly forward and to the side. It does not look like a static pose.

Forward Defensive
Gesture Drawing - 23 April 2011
Graphite Pencil on Paper (Constrast Digitally Enhanced)
25.5cm x 30cm (10" x 12")

In Forward Defensive, Paul is demonstrating a cricket shot using a croquet mallet instead of a bat. It is a dynamic pose. (I think it was a forward defensive but it’s a long time since I’ve played cricket.)

Watering the Plants
Gesture Drawing - 23 April 2011
Graphite Pencil on Paper (Constrast Digitally Enhanced)
25.5cm x 35.5cm (10" x 14")

In Watering the Plants, Paul had assumed quite a rigid pose with his watering can. Wendy told him that it looked unnatural so he lowered his arm and relaxed his body. The image captures this - it shows his left shoulder hanging loosely. It also accurately represents his voluminous shorts.

Weight Drawing

Little Miss Messy

Weight Drawing - 3 April 2011

Lithograph Crayon on Paper
25.5cm x 46cm (10" x 18")

Let’s get this straight. Elaine modelled for this, but it doesn’t look like her.
This is another exercise from the Natural Way to Draw in which it is not important to produce an accurate likeness.

The instructions for this exercise are to add crayon to the picture as though you were a sculptor adding clay to a three dimensional model. There is no attempt to describe the surface of the subject. It is all about creating a representation of the weight of the subject. You scribble and scribble and scribble and scribble and then you scribble some more. You have to scribble for 25 minutes and this is bound to exaggerate the shape of the subject.

I am looking forward to the next exercise. It is called Modelled Drawing and it is an extension of this exercise. The results should look a bit more like the subject.

I'm very grateful to Elaine for all the posing she is doing. This is going to be a long two and a half years for her.

Sarah Jane



Sarah Jane
Watercolour on Paper
35.5cm x 26.5cm (14" x 10.5")


I saw this little boat at Wells-Next-The-Sea.

I painted it a workshop hosted by Tony Slater (http://www.tonyslater.co.uk/).

This is the second of Tony’s painting days that I have attended. The subject for the day was painting with a limited pallet. Once again, Tony offered a lot of useful advice and suggested the technique I used to paint the surface of the water.

Apart from the red stripe, the rest of the painting is different mixtures of two colours. This tight colour harmony and the horizontal lines on the water help to give the painting a feeling of stillness and calm.

This isn’t an ideal boat to paint. There is no visible internal ribbing or seats. This sort of detail makes it easier for the viewer to interpret and believe in the image. All I could see in the bottom of this boat was random clutter that would have been difficult to draw and wouldn’t have added to the picture.

The paintings of boats at the bottom of this blog are some of my first paintings – back from 2008. I dug them out to illustrate the point about internal details making the boats more believable. I was also hoping they would demonstrate my progress over the last 3 years.  The trouble is I was pleased with them at the time and I still like them.


Little Boats
Watercolour on Watercolour Postcards