Sussex-by-the-Sea

I live on the South Coast of England and am privileged to have many fine painting locations roundabout.  I often walk on Seaford Head with its fine views over the range of cliffs called "The Seven Sisters".  I have many photographs of these views in fine weather but when it is winter it can look very different.  I've pictured it here on a bright day with a sprinkling of snow on the ground.

Seaford Head in the snow

Photo of the same view a little further down the path

I often visit the nearby town of Shoreham by Sea.  It is a great place for taking photographs with its interesting sea-front and an estuary with many old house-boats moored along the banks.  I painted this picture of the town looking across the mouth of the River Adur.

Shoreham by Sea

One of the photos I worked from

Lastly, the nearby town of Hastings has a lovely old pier which has recently been restored.  This makes for an interesting view even when the weather is mixed and rain is in the air

Hastings pier on a damp day

Photo of the pier

Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem about his beloved county of Sussex which formed the lyrics for a popular song, Sussex by the Sea.  Here is part of the Kipling poem

God gives all men all earth to love,
But since man's heart is small,
Ordains for each one spot shall prove
Beloved over all.
Each to his choice, and I rejoice
The lot has fall to me
In a fair ground[3] - Sussex by the Sea!
In a fair ground - Yea, Sussex by the Sea!

Sketching from the car

I'm trying to learn how to draw from the car, but am having great difficulty finding suitable locations. When you park the car you're looking straight up the road rather than facing a view to left of right. So, its a matter of parking somewhere where you park "chevron style" or at right angles to the kerb or even better where you're parked off road - not easy in a congested part of the world like the South East of England.

The other day I took the car down to the seafront and managed to get a space facing a rather elegant block of apartments called Corsica Hall. This building dates back to 1783 and has been a private home, a convalescent home, a college and an adult education centre. Anyway, it makes for a lovely buiding to paint and I was able to use my new "Buff Titanium" paint by Daniel Smith which is ideal for this sort of building. I am very committed to Winsor and Newton artists quality paints but sometimes a new discovery from a different manufacturer is fun to try out. I drew the building first in my Moleskine watercolour sketchbook and finished painting it at home.

Corsica Hall

I then turned the car around and faced the other way where I had an excellent view of the old Martello Tower, one of many forts built as coastal defences during the French Revolutionary Wars in the early 19th century.

Seaford Martello

I've painted this before from the other side and have included my earier picture below as illustration.

I love the Moleskine watercolour sketchbook but I do find that the paper doesn't take washes all that well.  Despite this, you can get some interesting skies so long as you're prepared to tolerate and element of serendipity in your work.

For anyone who's interested in the location of these images here is a map - if you click on it it will take you to Google Maps.

I'm loving the blogger blog. I was on Wordpress for years but have abandoned it due to the cost - and I'd lost interest in the content - hundreds of book reviews.  Nice to start again with an art blog, seeing as I paint and draw every week.