Old Blackgang Road

Whatever you are doing it is working, Robert! A great piece of work and I am sure when you stand back from it and re-view it in a week or so you will see how successful it is.

Yes Robert, I can see evidence of much scratching with a scalpel. Interesting composition and you've pulled it together well.

Works for me Robert, I suppose the process does not matter if the result is successful and it is!

It's all up hill from here! This is serious work and a lot of work gone into this, well done.

I thinks it's simply a lovely painting Robert

Really successful great colours!

Play about some more Robert, it's turned to be a success.

This is a beauty Robert I'm suitably impressed well done indeed

Whatever you did with it, I love it.

Great textures as always Robert. That looks steep, out of puff just looking!

I like so much about this piece, Robert - the myriad of colours dancing in the upper branches of the tree, the delicate violet tones in the foreground and, of course, the window of light that draws the viewer in. Excellent.

Your treatment gives me a tremendous sense of energy, it breathes life into the subject

I like your colours and spiky trees. It's great.

Well, gulp, thank you all - I agree you can rescue a watercolour in various ways (by washing out: which some papers manage more successfully than others, for example). The important thing is design - as Alan Owen has said elsewhere. In this one, the design was frankly pretty feeble so I had recourse to painting techniques - spattering, scratching out, and the use of Naples Yellow mixed with whatever colour would give me an opaque, from Light Red to Perylene Green. This approach can work, but if you&#39;re using transparent colour it really is probably better to establish your design early on and persist with it; rather than change your mind and improvise, because your original conception was too vague and based on (eg) a foggy photo or inadequate sketch. <br /><br />

Well, I&#39;d have thought this was acrylic and not watercolour for some reason. There is a huge energy about it. Not just the tilted horizon, but in the undergrowth. Am I daft to see an antagonism between the &quot;older&quot; things on the left and the newer growth on the right? Some of them look as though they want to bite each other!<br />Watercolour it may be, but in no way a reflection of watercolour &quot;orthodoxy&quot;. Far better then that, for me.

I somehow missed this when you posted it on the gallery but after ploughing through your blog entry had to go and check it out. I agree with everything that has been said, I wouldn&#39;t have realised it was watercolour, it has such depth and detail that, to me, could only be achieved by acrylic or oil. You&#39;ve proved me wrong though by achieving it!

Really lively and atmospheric, Robert. Excellent piece.

No, commenting twice on the same thing isn&#39;t a sign of encroaching dementia! Rather, a glitch in the site. My first comment seemingly failed to appear, so I tried again. The second apparently failed as well. However, popping back to check I see that the first one is indeed there, albeit stopping halfway through the first line, and the second one is there in full. Curious! On reflection, the truncated version says it all, and better!

Hallo Bill - the site has its oddities. Thanks for the comment which, by the way, spurred me into writing a blog post on the uses of watercolour. You raised the antagonism question - yes, there is this hint of struggle between various elements in my stuff, when it works: it doesn&#39;t always: new growth contends with and overcomes old, weather erodes stone and soil - it&#39;s a constant battle, with everything trying to survive and to grow (including us).

I think it&#39;s fair to say that this is a cracking painting. Robert, it ticks all my boxes. Fantastic!

Stunning composition - what a change from the standard horizontal horizon we see so often. I think it all reads very well; the two large passages - top left and bottom right - balance the comp perfectly whilst the pale yellow/green meadow grasses produce great background light which is picked up in the foreground trees and branches.<br /><br />I moved on from 140lb to 300lb Arches Rough many moons ago. For me, it is the only paper now and the hills and valleys of the rough paper enable me to produce far more light in my paintings. I have &#39;converted&#39; many of my students over the years and have seen a lot of their work go up in leaps and bounds. Have you ever tried it - it might be just what you are looking for. Please let me know! Tony Taylor<br /><br />

Hallo Tony - thanks for the comment. Yes, I&#39;ve used Arches paper and can only agree with your assessment of it: it&#39;s just about the best there is, and that&#39;s reflected in the price. I have promised myself a batch of it when I run out of my present paper stock - saving the pennies in the meantime.

Robert love the harmonious colour scheme and texture, the tree is brilliant thanks for your comments re my drawing .you don't need lessons on drawing best wishes David Harrison