Watercolour Painting of Henrietta Street, Whitby, North Yorkshire.

Well, here I am again, after a long absence, determined to stick some sort of a blog on my blog...

I've just started on a piece - here's the source photo I'm using. I took the photo myself, last October - a figure or two in the image would have been handy for me to use later as a guide, in case I decide to place some figures of my own in the piece - dropping believable figures into a piece like this, with it's somewhat complex perspective may not be easy, particularly if they are partially beyond the 'horizon' created by the road in the foreground...
But it was fairly early when I snapped this shot, and there weren't many people about, and anyway, some people really don't take kindly to seeing someone standing around with a camera apparently waiting for them to step into view before pressing the shutter... 

              

And here's the drawing, a small piece, about 7" x 10", on Saunders Waterford Paper, 300 gsm CP.  It's nothing too elaborate - I just like to get things generally sorted so that I can see if I like how it's looking. If a fairly accurate drawing of an actual scene isn't working out compositionally, then I have two choices - I can take issue with myself for wasting time already spent on the venture, and tear it up.... or.... I can change elements within the piece so that it does present what I feel to be a pleasing composition. We have to be ruthless in this. For myself, I have no concern about changing whatever it needs - adding, deleting, moving whatever, without conscience - I am trying to produce a painting, not a catalogue of 'stuff', for that there's cameras. If need be go ahead and move, add, or delete mountains, or the sun, houses, chimneys, camels, trees, windows, grandma, flowers, etc., Just don't try to change the way light works..... 

Anyway, I must press on.... this drawing is, I feel, okay....ish. It's generally believable, I still have the option to change some elements during it's execution, if needed...

My next big move is to decide whether, or not, to use pen and ink in this piece. To that end, I shall make a cuppa.....

I shall be back... presently...



                          

King Street, Robin Hood's Bay, North Yorkshire, 110313 .

Watercolour and pen and ink, 7" x 10" on Bockingford 425gsm paper.

South Lane, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire: 102713

Watercolour 6" x 8" on Arches Hot Press, 300gsm..

I was first introduced to this fantastic view of South Lane whilst trolling through Flicker some 3 or 4 years ago - I came across some really good photos at that time, and learned that the shot was actually taken from Victoria Park, quite some ways away...
My next trip to the UK found me in the said Park armed with my camera, and ready to get some good images for my source library.
Alas, not being too familiar with Holmfirth, other than the main drags (and various drinking establishments thereabouts), I found myself surprisingly far from my intended subject and lacking both a tripod (again) and a telephoto lens of sufficient magnification to get myself a really good shot...
Anyway, I did my best - that was on April 7th of last year... and here's the first painting...

Staithes Beck 102213

Staithes Beck 102213, a photo by Vyvyan Green on Flickr.


Watercolour 7" x 10" on Arches hot press 300gsm...

I think this needs... something... perhaps people, perhaps boats, perhaps cropping on the left to present a square format..... 

The light in my apartment is abysmal, from a painting point of view... I'm not making excuses for my work, - I just like to complain about something every now and then...

Watercolour 4" x 6" on Arches Hot press paper 300gsm.

4" x 6"... a rather small piece which I did one evening last week. I was half way through doing the drawing before I realised how small the image was... so I thought upon starting again, and decided I simply couldn't be bothered, and so I plodded on. 

I can be disgustingly lazy at times...

West Burton, North Yorkshire - 151013

Watercolour 7" x 10", on Bockingford paper, 425gsm.

Summer's almost done - I had an enjoyable time at Art in the Park here in Stratford, and that's done too, at least until next year... 

So it's time to get back into some painting again, not had much time in the last few months ....

This is today's piece... a view I've painted before ...I had intended to use pen and ink on this one, but decided against it once I saw how it was developing, ...  I will do that painting another time..

And... I might stick a figure or two in there somewhere when I eventually come to tweak it... not too easy to decide where to put them without them becoming the centre of attention... I shall ponder on it, but not today...

Beside the seaside.

Well, I guess that's it....

I had considered putting in a figure or two on the hill, I decided against it, they may have become the focus of the piece, not what I wanted...