Demonstration for Epsom & Ewell Art Group

Last Wednesday I did a demonstration painting for Epsom & Ewell Art Group. The subject was 'Boats and Reflections' and this was the end result. This is a scene from Dartmouth and features a couple of Brixham trawlers. I ran out of time towards the end but I managed to complete most of what I wanted to get across in about an hour and a half.
Painted on a stretched half imperial sheet of 200lb Bockingford NOT paper.

One-day Workshop ~ 'Boats in Watercolour'

Had an enjoyable day at Kingskerswell Art Group on Tuesday. A one-day workshop on the tricky subject of 'Boats in Watercolour'. Everyone was enthusiastic and worked pretty hard to achieve some good, loose impressions.
Here are a few of my demo's from the day.

'Loosening Up Your Watercolour'

'Loosening Up Your Watercolour' was the theme of this demonstration painting for Kingskerswell Art Group yesterday. I decided to paint another view of the boats at Charlestown, Cornwall. Although quite a busy scene, especially in the background, I simplified as much as I could and put most of the emphasis on the boats themselves. I used my mop brushes to paint fluid, loose washes. The boat hulls and their reflections were painted wet-into-wet in one go.

'Boats and Reflections'

I was in Essex last week, to do a demonstration for Galleywood Art Club. They wanted me to paint 'Boats and Reflections' so I did this painting of a scene at Charlestown, in Cornwall. (painted on 22x15in Bockingford NOT, stretched on a board)

'Paignton Harbour'

I painted this as a demonstration for Whitchurch Art Group last Friday afternoon. They wanted a loose style watercolour painting of a harbour scene. This is Paignton harbour, showing the junior sailing club members.

'Trawlers at Brixham'

Yesterday afternoon I visited Seaton Art Society to do a demonstration. The theme was 'Creating Atmosphere' and my subject was a couple of boats in Brixham Harbour. The photograph I used as a reference was a bit bland and contained a lot of unnecessary detail. I simplified the scene considerably and, hopefully, created a more atmospheric feel with a little mystery.
Painted on Saunders Waterford 200lb NOT paper, stretched onto the board.

'Marine Scenes in Watercolour'

Got back from Boscombe yesterday, from my 'Marine Scenes in Watercolour' course at Art Holidays in Dorset. Here are a couple of the demo' paintings I did. The monotone one was an example of how to build up the painting in three washes, from light to dark.

Harbour Scene

I was at Derriford Art Society yesterday, for a demonstration followed by a workshop. The theme for the day was Seascapes/Harbour Scenes so I began the day with this demo' of a morning scene at Paignton Harbour.

'Pilgrim at Brixham'

​I'm lucky enough to live close to the sea, which means coastal scenes and boats are frequent subjects for me. I often visit Brixham, a small fishing town at the south of the bay. This is 'Pilgrim', a beautifully restored 1895 gaff-rigged sailing trawler. Built by JW and A Uphams, one of Brixham's most famous yards. At the time she was built, there were an estimated 300 similar vessels in the port. Now there are only a handful, but their red sails are a familiar sight in the bay.

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'Ferry Slipway at Dartmouth'

Another on-site demonstration painting for one of my painting holiday classes. There's so much to paint at a location like this. This spot is Bayard's Cove, where there's a ferry to/from Kingswear on the north side of the Dart. Just to my right is the Tudor artillery fort, which once defended the harbour entrance. At the foot of the hill, on the north side, there is a steam railway line, which operates between Kingswear and Paignton.

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'Pilgrim'

This is Pilgrim or, to be more precise, Pilgrim BM45. She's a fully restored 1895 Brixham built gaff-rigged sailing trawler. I'm fortunate enough to live in Torbay and this boat is frequently seen in the bay. With its distinctive red sails, it is easy to spot. What makes it an interesting subject for me, from an artistic point of view, is the shape of the hull and the lovely, fluid reflection.
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'Boat Repairs'

  Boatyards can be inspiring locations for artists. All those boats... and junk! This boat was being worked on, surrounded by crates, boxes, ropes and everything else you'd expect to see in a boatyard.

  What made me take a second look though, was the effect of strong sunlight. It can transform something you'd normally walk by, into something special.

  What you can't see is the large, white boat just to the left. This was responsible for the lovely reflected light that you can see in the shadows. It bounced light into the side of the boat and made it something worth painting.

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'Seen Better Days'

  I don't know what it is about old wrecks like this, but they make irresistible subjects for many artists and I'm no different. 

  What makes it interesting for me personally, is the light and shade effect and the way that the light is visible through the cracks in the hull.

  This rests by the Exeter Canal, just along by the Turf Locks hotel. We ended up here after a long walk from the relatively busy city, along the canal path, to the very peaceful spot here.

  I chose a very limited palette to keep the colours subtle.

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'Low Tide, Brixham'

Another painting featuring water. The tide was quite low, as can be seen from the hulls of the two foreground boats. Their reflections were mirrored on the surface but a slight breeze was enough to break up their outlines. The movement slightly elongates the dark, reflected shapes.
As always, I've simplified the shapes and the ripples. I used my largest brush to paint the hulls and their reflections in one go. I painted this directly, without any build up of washes, which means that I had to be sure that my colours were strong enough. Once dry, I added a small detail here and there.
With water, less is more.

"Low Tide"

I think it's been a while since this old boat has been out but it does make a good subject for painting. I began with an all-over wash first, to get that feeling of wet sand/mud, using a combination of warm and cool colours. You can see where the weak winter sun is catching the forward-facing planes of the boat.
The soft, wet-in-wet wash was allowed to dry before I finished the painting with harder-edged wet-on-dry brushstrokes.

"Cretan Sunset"

This small painting was done as a 30-minute demonstration during a workshop for the Dartmouth Art Society. The theme of the workshop was 'Painting from your Holiday Photos'. My aim was to show how to use photos for painting without copying them exactly.
What attracted me to this scene was the wonderful evening light, which I remembered from the time the photo was taken. The photo contained a lot of detail in the boat, along with a lot of ripples in the water. But, the light was what I wanted to concentrate on so I applied an all-over wash first, mixing warm and cool colours on the page. Once dry, I quickly added some harder-edged, wet-on-dry brush strokes to describe the hills, the boat and the darker ripples.
With watercolour ~ less is more.

"Boats at Brixham"

These two small boats were tied up at Brixham harbour. I wanted to catch the gentle movement of the water, along with the broken-up reflections of the boats. So, after sketching the outline, I diluted some colours in my palette and then wetted the entire surface of the paper. I then brushed in some alizarin crimson at the top, allowing it to flow down the paper (important to have the board at an angle). I then picked up some cobalt blue and washed this in too, letting it mix with the crimson. Further down the page I added some pthalo blue and a little raw sienna. When this was nearly dry, I picked up some quite dry colour to paint the soft ripples in the foreground. This is the most difficult part as, if you introduce really wet colour into a wash, which is almost dry, the result will be a bloom (or cauliflower, as we call them here).
The rest of the painting was completed once this initial wash was dry.