Clocking Her

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14 x 10 in  -  36 x 25 cm     Watercolor     I keep being nudged (gently nudged) by my critics to include more of a story in my paintings. While this one has a story, I'm not sure if, with the aid of the title, it will be understood by non-brit viewers.

I made an effort to do this in a watery Charles Reid style. It started well with the figure on the left. It got worse as I moved to the right and the green well it probably would have been better without the green.

The reference was taken while out from stroll on the Henley part of the Thames footpath in June 2004.

Approaching through the Grass 2

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14 x 10 in  -  36 x 25 cm     Watercolor    

This is a second try at this reference. This time I have cropped down to only the center group. This quarter sheet is about the size I should have painted them on the previous half sheet.

The good thing about this is that I know what I was trying to do. The bad thing is that I did not quite get there.

The ref cropped just as I worked from it.

Approaching through the Grass

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14 x 21 in  -  35 x 53 cm     Watercolor     In theory this was supposed to be a two hour challenge but to be honest I ignored the time and probably went well over three hours. My personal challenge was just to paint this large. I am trying to get myself to paint larger.

This is the ref photo cropped from the original. You can see in my painting that I failed to follow the reference that well. The horses and riders in the reference are much larger a proportion of the image. The ref shapes of better. I wimped out and shrunk them down as I drew it. I guess this is one of the issues I must face when trying to paint larger.

Calling a Taxi

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14 x 10 in  -  36 x 25 cm     Watercolor

The strong wash of Permanent Alizarin Crimson mostly did what I wanted, under it and allowed to dry first is strong wash of raw sienna (which is a dullish yellow). Does it all work as a painting? I am not sure. The background room is possibly not dark enough.

I took the reference at a friends wedding in the hotel. The model was just a guest at the hotel. I did ask her permission. But I always think, if you want to get reference photos you have keep clicking away.

Looking at the Sea

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10 x 14 in  -  25 x 36 cm     Watercolor     This was a quick paint. Look at reference photo and paint with little thought. This is on a sheet of hot pressed paper that was stretched a while ago and I thought it was about time it got used up.

Another attempt at Charles Reid style, no lifting the pencil, drawing. I am not as disciplined as I should be but I hardly ever resort to rubbing out and that is most of the battle. The deck chairs were painted with bold, mainly, single strokes. If you mess about HP paper will show those over-strokes oh so clearly .

This was the ref taken on the beach of the village of Beer, Devon in September 2006.

Woman at Parc Guell

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10 x 14 in  -  25 x 36 cm     Watercolor     This is just a bit of fun. No thought as to composition, on which I have recently done a lot of reading. Just copy the reference, with half and idea as to matching the tones (light and dark) of the reference.

I took this ref as my starting point for a quick draw and paint. Ref taken in 2004.

Light on Gondola 2

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10 x 14 in  -  25 x 36 cm     Watercolor    

This is my second attempt at this painting. The idea is to improve the composition. Compare this version with the earlier one. I have added back the boat on the right of the painting and removed the one on the left. Does this help place the gondolier in space or does it hinder the composition?

I have tried to get more of the light strip of light that runs down the center to show. The three level grey scale shows that it is almost showing.

Same ref, of course, as for the first version.

Light on Gondola 1

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14 x 10 in  -  36 x 25 cm     Watercolor    

I have been trying to pay more attention to composition. Once you are sitting in front of a particular scene (or even photograph) the main issue of composition is control of the light and dark values. When sight first arose the brain only saw in shades of gray and only much later, with our fruit eating primates ancestors, did color our vision arise. For this reason the brain relates principally to shades of light and dark the 'tonal map' of an image.

Before painting this tryout work I had a go at a quick 7 x 5 in (18 x 13 cm) large tonal thumbnail. The theory is that if you can get the thumbnail looking interesting then the painting has a good chance of also being interesting.

This is the reference image I worked from. Taken in Venice (of course) in 2006.

Henley Riverboat

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14 x 10 in  -  36 x 25 cm     Watercolor    

This one has not been as successful as the last few. It is very interesting to ask why? A number of possible reasons jump up. Firstly; this is another "no blue" painting. As is the dog I painted a couple of days ago. But I don't think that is the problem or even any problem at all.

Secondly; Taking on a basically, white boat against a white sky and a white band of the river.

Thirdly; And I think this is where is most sags, is that there in no unity of style. Saturday's dog holds together well because of the dry brush technique. Whereas this painting is not held together. A master would have painted (if they were trying to do what I was trying to do) the riverboat with more flowing strokes or used dry brush throughout.

What would have made doing that much easier would have been to paint it as a half sheet and not the quarter sheet that I picked. Going big makes it easier to paint, with a flow.

I took the ref yesterday afternoon at Henley. You might notice that it is quick composite photo. Clearly I should have thought more about the composition as I snapped away.

Mat the Dog

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10 x 14 in  -  25 x 36 cm     Watercolor     Again this came out well. It was another two hour challenge. I used just about all of the time. As I find doing the drawing for a painting can often be a bit of a chore, when I can, I like to draw them in the evening while sitting watching rubbish TV. That way I do not have to look at the screen to follow the often feeble plot. The drawing took me 40 mins last night and the painting just over the hour today.

This is a two color painting. Perylene Maroon and Perylene Green both from Winsor & Newton. As you can see they mix to form a strong dark so you have the choice of a red tinted darks and green tinted darks.

Here is the ref I worked from. It is unchanged and just as supplied for the challenge. So nice to get a strong tight crop. The crop is just perfect to paint from.

At the Garden

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14 x 10 in  -  36 x 25 cm     Watercolor    

I took the reference photo a couple of years ago in the RHS gardens at Wisley.

I am pleased with this one because it has come out how I imagined it would. Or rather how I intended it would.

My aim was to bring out the highlight effect on the woman's head and arms (easy to do in this case because it is there in the ref) and to exaggerate the highlight on the black sunshade.

I think it has worked. What do you think?

John Yardley copy - Roman Cafe

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10 x 14 in  -  25 x 36 cm     Watercolor     I painted this John Yardley copy well before I started this blog. It looks OK but when seen against John's original it does pale a lot.

When I showed this to John he just smiled a big smile and said "I think I recognise that".

This is John's original

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Rising Tide

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14 x 21 in  -  35 x 53 cm     Watercolor     This can be described as being some what in a,'John Yardley' style.

This is the ref I took last May while spending a week painting with John Yardley.

I selected this style for a couple of reasons. Firstly; I will be back painting with John again this year and I think the best way to benefit from sessions with him is to try to see the world as his painter's eye sees it. Secondly; I think that John Yardley's approach suits this scene well.

I am pleased with how this has come out. I think this is the my first truly presentable "half sheet" I normally only paint on "quarter sheets".

As a lot of people who come to this blog do so because they google for "John Yardley" here is the painting that John did of the same scene but from a different angle. The group of us stood and watched John paint this.

Hopper copy - Cold Storage Plant

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14 x 20 in  -  35 x 51 cm     Watercolor     I see copying the work of a master as a good way to learn. You get to see an study a good strong composition. You get to ask all sorts of questions, such as, what colors did the artist use? In which order were they placed on the paper?

Hopper's original is half as big again as my copy. It has a height of 22 inches compared to my 14. I am pleased with the end result. Hopper is one of the easiest of the masters to copy, that is, as long as you avoid the very few of his watercolors that contain figures. This must be one of the easiest as it has few curves and very little of the building detail that he does so well.

Hopper's original.

Vancouver from Afar

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10 x 14 in  -  25 x 36 cm     Watercolor     Sometimes things really do not come off that well and this is one of the those times. My attempt at the shadow has not caught what is interesting in the ref.

This is the ref. It is very highly cropped from the supplied original.

The ref is interesting, I think, because of its softness. In the painting I chose to leave out that softness. I suppose did this because 'I know' buildings are sharp. Not the best of decisions. It is always better to think before you paint, not after.