NewYear 2019

Its good to put Christmas behind and to think ahead to the New Year.  I began 2019 with two paintings of buildings – the Pilot Inn at Eastbourne and the Quaker Meeting House at Bridport.  For both these images I used Google Streetview as the source for reference photographs and as I did this I realised that I could do a street scene of virtually anywhere in the world thanks for Streetview.  For someone who’s travel options are rather limited due to disability in the family this is a great option.

Anyway, here is the Pilot Inn – always a nice pub to call in on and located just a few minutes from the cliff tops and the sea.

I have been involved with Quakers for many years now and although I have had a long break from actually attending a meeting, I have been to my local Quaker Meeting a couple of times in the last few weeks.   Quakers have been meeting together since the 17th century, when George Fox, their founder toured the country gaining converts.  It has changed greatly since his day and is now part of the established religious scene in Britain – although a very small part with most meetings being fewer than 20 members.

Here is the Quaker Meeting House in Bridport, Dorset.

Quaker Meeting Houses are usually quite ancient buildings and painting the Bridport one has made me think that perhaps I’ll do a few more.

Recent work

One of my favourite television programmes is Michael Portillo's Great Continental Railway Journeys, in which each week he travels through a European country by train, stopping off at various places to see what the place is like and to meet various interesting people.  This week the journey was through the little-known country of Georgia but last week we were in the Ukraine, a fascinating place with several different culture exhibited as you travel north to south.

I find that my watching the programme on catch-up on the computer, I can pause when I see a paintable scene and capture the image with Windows Snipping tool. I then print off the "photo" and do a sketch of it - here is St Sophia's Orthodox cathedral in Kiev.

I don't paint many still-lifes but was inspired by looking at our "Pebble" tea-pot to set one up on the dining table and have a go.  With the addition of a Denbigh cup and saucer and a box of jasmine tea I think it came out well enough - its a very small painting - sketchbook size..

Finally, here are a couple more doorways, both based on photos I found on Instagram (with the photographer's permission!).

Pen and ink

Its been fun revisiting memories of France and it wonderful architecture.  The chateau at Amboise is second to none, aided perhaps with its prominent position above the majestic River Loire.  I really enjoyed drawing it and remembering a lovely afternoon with Margaret, wandering around the streets of this ancient town.

A couple of days later I decided to give a similar treatment to the castle at Chinon, a few miles up the Loire, which also enjoys a commanding position above the river.  This time I added some watercolour - not sure it was a good thing, but there it is.

That year we were staying in a pretty village called Montrichard which was also full of beautiful perspectives with a small castle of its own.

I probably overdid the hatching marks on this one but its too late to do anything about it now.  Lesson learned for the future!

Seaford Head

Its always nice to get out and about with sketchbook and pen. I went up to Seaford Head with Margaret last week, on a beautiful sunny day, and sat at a picnic table drawing the view up the Cuckmere Valley.

The wide-angle camera lens doesn't do justice to the rolling hills however and has the effect of flattening everything out.

I much preferred drawing it and focusing on the distant hills, while also getting in a more panoramic view in my Moleskine watercolour sketchbook.

A couple of days later I found myself with an hour to spare in nearby Brighton (while Margaret took t the grandchildren to the cinema) and so sat in the Old Steine gardens and drew a couple of buildings.  No time to colour them in, so I did the watercolour painting when I got home.

I made the lampost far too big and shoujld have done better with the foreground generally, but time was short and this was the best I could do. Here is a photograph of where I was painting from

If I'd had longer I would have added the fountain in but it was really quite tricky with fish curled around the base.  A job for another day perhaps.

Back to the Loire Valley

I wanted to try again to capture the stone colour of the Loire Valley chateaux.  I have used Buff Titanium before but somehow it seems a little lifeless, partly perhaps because it is quite an opaque colour.  I read somewhere that raw sienna plus a touch of cadmium red might do the job so I tried this and the results were quite good.  In this painting below of Chateau de Loches, I also used some Alazrin Crimson to make the shadow greys a little more interesting.

Chateau de Loches

Something different

I've been thinking for some time that I ought to try something different than buildings and landscapes so I've painted a couple of cars.

The first one is a Rover 90, a classic car from the 1950s.  I actually owned one of these when it was quite old.  Unfortunately it needed quite a lot of work doing to it and the cost was too high for me to afford at that time, so I sold it.  It was a very comfortable and luxurious car with wood dashboard and leather upholstery.   I saw a similar one (but a later model) the other day at a motor museum and have included the photo below my painting.

My second car is another car from the 1950s, a Fiat Topolino, a predecessor of the famous Fiat 500 which are still made to this day.

I took a photograph of one (below my painting) in Boulogne but when I went on the Internet to research the car I found that it was made in a variety of colours so I chose the black and red colour scheme instead of plain black.

I've enjoyed painting cars for a change and may do some more.

A week in the Isle of Wight

We've just returned from a week in Cowes in the Isle of Wight - a centre for yachting and other boating.  If we'd stayed another day we'd have been able to watch the Round the Island Race, an annual event in which about 1700 boats sail round the whole island. The fastest yachts complete the course in about four and a half hours, but for others it takes the best part of a day.

Anyway, I did some sketches from the balcony of our apartment and here they are

Visit to Normandy - Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei, also the Loire Valley

Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei is a beautiful village in the Normandy area of "Alpes Mancelle".  Many artists have painted there and to this day painters can be seen in and around the village capturing the picturesque houses and surrounding countryside.  Here is my rendition of the Auberge des Soeurs Moisy.

Auberge des Soeurs Noisy

And here is another one which I have just painted - the town in Loche in the Loire Valley

Victorian villas in Brighton

This is our daughter's house in Brighton.

Victorian house Brighton

This house is very near our daughter's house.  Everytime I pass it I am impressed with the turrets and other parts of the structure and also the beautiful way it has been maintained and painted.

Victorian Villa, Brighton