Tough Task

This month's challenge from my friend Peter (www.watercolourfanatic.blogspot.com) is a complicated image presenting a number of problems for the watercolour painter. However, it was just what I needed having been absorbed in preparation for the recent Art Fair. The opportunity to sit and think through what would be required to attempt this as well as as dust off the brushes.

The first thing to notice is the fact that the picture is shot against the light, rendering many of the important areas, like the face, in shadow. Secondly, the picture has great depth from front to back. Thirdly, there isn't a huge range of colours in the image.

Obviously, the key to a successful piece would be to ensure that the value range reflected the light conditions and give the impression of sunlight and shadow. Here the problem was getting sufficient depth of tone in the shadows and I found it very difficult to produce this in one pass.

Recession in pictures is always important and working from front to back with increasing amounts of pigment is a partial key to achieving this. With this picture there is a further complication in that the dried grass strip reads darker in tone that the paved area which can make for confusing aerial perspective issues.

Altering mixtures of pigment in fairly subtle ways was my solution to the colour issue, although I couldn't resist reducing the colour scheme of the seated character with his back to us in red and white stripes.

After all that I decided to do a little savage pruning of the vegetation and street furniture.

I'll leave my viewers to judge how far I've gone along the road of addressing the issues identified in my initial thoughts.

Photograph - Charles Reid at the easel

Charles Reid at the easel - Watercolour 16" x 12" on Rough paper

First Public Outing

I've been talking for some weeks about the fact that I had decided to exhibit at a local Art Fair and have related tales of the tasks involved. Well Sunday was the appointed day and I duly arrived with a car packed to the gunwales with paintings and various bits of impedimenta to support and display the work. An hour to set up prior to the arrival of the public and dismal weather conditions outside guaranteed to put off any but the real afficianados.

View down the hall prior to opening

The Carney Collection

What an interesting day. Numerous conversations with other artists and passers by were a fund of information about the prospects and the likes and dislikes of the public. There did seem to a general consensus that one off events are not the best way to attract sales, people seem to enjoy a number of browsing opportunities prior to making decisions about picture purchase.

Trying to second guess the taste of visitors was responsible for me loading the front of my display with watercolours, largely flowers and a couple of local scenes. However, I was to proved wrong on this occasion as there was more interest in the oils than there was in the watercolours.

Well there was a steady stream of people braving the elements and showing a real enthusiasm for the efforts of the exhibiting artists, but there was little evidence of purchases being made. In fact at the end of the day most were reporting 'no sales made'. So for me it was an even greater surprise to find that I had bucked this trend by selling four of my oil paintings. The paintings leaving me are the ones pictured below.

It will take a few days to process all of the feedback and reasoning why these rather than other pictures were the ones to move people sufficiently that they put up their hard earned cash to acquire them. A big thanks to them for the way they have appreciated my work and more than covered the not insignificant outlay in preparing for the show.

Wingate Quarry - 12" x 10" Oil on canvas board

Chemical Beach, Seaham - 12" x 10" Oil on canvas board

Gun Hill - 20" x 16" Oil on canvas board

Canyon Light - 16" x 12" Oil on stretched linen

All Framed and Ready to Go

Just finished the framing and other bits and pieces in preparation for Sunday's Art Fair. A selection of nine water colours and eleven oils are ready to be loaded into the car. Still struggling with ideas for how they might be displayed, the important thing is that they are ready. I'm taking along a comment book in the hope that viewers will leave feedback about what they see. If nothing else it could be a valuable learning exercise for me.

I'll post something about the show at the start of next week.

Watercolours

Oils

Tenerife Sketches

Home from a wonderful break, sun, mountains, family and good food and wine. What more could one ask for? Well, a bit of painting, in fact. Travel restrictions and baggage charges make it difficult to pack for a family holiday and painting break. This is definitely the time to ensure that a small watercolour box, well stocked and a couple of travel brushes get sneaked in to the case. Along with a couple of pencils and a sketch book it's possible to have a few rewarding hours making images and collecting small snippets of material to inform future work. There is also something relaxing about knowing that the contents of the sketchbook are not going to be the subject of critical viewing by others, they are a wonderful private record of impressions and places, that is unless you open them to the blogging community when you get home. The other thing is that there is no pressure to 'complete' a picture. Fragments and unfinished pieces are just as valuable as source material as a fully realised smaller picture.

The return home was the usual joy of chatting to the kids and the grandkids as well as being able to witness one of the most fulfilling 90 minutes of football.

Church Square, Los Gigantes - Watercolour sketch

Los Gigantes Cliffs from Apartment Window - Watercolour sketch

Church, Santiago del Tiede - Watercolour sketch

Take every Opportunity

We're enjoying the sun and the leisurely pace, not really conducive to concentrated activity, but the paint box goes everywhere. And so the opportunity arose, a long lunch where time had no meaning but the itch to paint was still lurking. So, reluctant model in place, the pencil then the paint went into operation. Apologies to Sheila. I will get round to painting the cacti and Los Gigantes at a later date.

Sheila - Watercolour sketch

Sheila - Detail

October Project

Portmeirion - Photograph

Some weeks ago Sheila and I spent a few days in Wales, the weather was dreadful but we did venture out and visit some of the interesting nooks and crannies, one of which is the Italianate village at Portmeirion, something of a shrine for fans of the sixties TV series, The Prisoner. My guitar case still bears a sticker reading ' I am not a number, I am a free man'. Those were the days. Oh, do I hear the title to a song?

A big lesson learned in this, the latest instalment in the series of projects that Peter Ward and myself share. The lesson being to plan carefully before committing to paper.

I harboured the thought that I might try to loosen up a little further and planned to leave a lot more untouched paper, but in the dash to complete it in between framing and varnishing for the Fair on November 21st I found my self falling between a number of stools.

You can find Peter's version on his blog www.watercolourfanatic.blogspot.com

Portmeirion - Watercolour on Rough paper 16" x 12"

I'm not sure that there will any activity on the blog in the next couple of weeks as we fly out in search of some sun tomorrow and internet access might not be convenient.

More Still Life

Not having done it before, I'm finding the preparation necessary to present a range of paintings at the local Art Fair very time consuming. This, along with getting organised for the family wedding that takes place next week and the holiday that follows, is making it difficult to keep up with the workmen doing the repairs and painting before the winter sets in. Never mind, I don't want to sound as if I have much to complain about, the only real problem is lack of painting time, in particular opportunities for plein air work. Fortunately there are lots of things around the house that make interesting subjects for painting.

It seems that I've spent a lot of recent painting time looking at flowers, it's easy to understand how so many people specialise in botanical painting, they make fascinating subjects. One of the things that interests me about painting flowers is the tension between maintaining a loose impressionistic approach and the urge to try and capture in detail the beauty of the blooms.

On this occasion I had left my box and brushes on the kitchen table so decided to give them a cameo role alongside the flowers.

Still Life October 20th - watercolour on Not paper 16" x 12"