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"The time has come", the Walrus said.....
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Message
Posted
Time to stick my neck out and post some stuff.
I've been reading the forum for some time and have made a few posts (possibly ruffling a few feathers at times!), but have yet to offer any of my work. I paint for my own amusement, rather than for public display, which is why it’s taken me a while to step forward. I would not describe myself as a 'painter' and I'm not one who can work from imagination. I have to see it. That tends to make me a bit ‘literal’. I’d love to loosen up.
With no previous experience, my wife and I attended a couple of watercolour courses, both run by the same tutor (William Whitsett). I later did a third course led by another artist (Paul Millichip) and another for coloured pencils (Richard Box): all over three decades ago!
My preference was for line and wash; sketches done ‘en plein air’ in a sketchbook using a waterproof marker pen or pencil and a small W&N field box (which recently bit the dust – brittle plastic).
I stopped painting about a decade ago and returned to it only last year (2020) as a way of dealing with the relentless tedium of ‘Covid Lockdown’. Under the circumstances (the need to shield), there was little opportunity for field work, so I had to turn to photographs. I don’t find them an ideal source as one is subject to the limitations of photography (a small print with limited contrast ratio, lack of detail and a flat, 2D image). Following magazine tutorials, whilst instructive, also proved frustrating as I tried too hard to replicate the original. I don't think it helps to try copying someone else's work. I am also out of practice!
Anyway, here goes! First are two recent works, both from my photos, then some older ones in holiday sketchbooks.
Carew Castle, Pembrokeshire.
The photo was rather flat, so I had to guess shape and depth.
Blue Vase in a window, St Michael's Mount.
Photograph taken in a cafe or shop by the harbour looking towards the mainland. I was stuck by the strength of the blue glass against the white window frame and walls. I found it quite a challenge to render the different levels of white, against the brighter cloudy sky.
The next two were done quickly in situ several years ago.
Harbourside at Fornells, Menorca.
It may not be a 'work of art' but I remember the pleasure of doing it with the warm sun on my back: more so than if I'd just taken a snapshot.
A quickie of my daughter (L) and holiday friend Sam on the beach in Corfu.
(can’t remember when, but she’s grown up now!)
PS: as I compose this post, my pictures appear too large for the space. I have reduced the file size. I hope the forum mechanics correct it!!!
EDIT: Yes, it did correct the overhang.
Carew Castle, Pembrokeshire.
The photo was rather flat, so I had to guess shape and depth.
Blue Vase in a window, St Michael's Mount.
Photograph taken in a cafe or shop by the harbour looking towards the mainland. I was stuck by the strength of the blue glass against the white window frame and walls. I found it quite a challenge to render the different levels of white, against the brighter cloudy sky.
The next two were done quickly in situ several years ago.
Harbourside at Fornells, Menorca.
It may not be a 'work of art' but I remember the pleasure of doing it with the warm sun on my back: more so than if I'd just taken a snapshot.
A quickie of my daughter (L) and holiday friend Sam on the beach in Corfu.
(can’t remember when, but she’s grown up now!)
PS: as I compose this post, my pictures appear too large for the space. I have reduced the file size. I hope the forum mechanics correct it!!!
EDIT: Yes, it did correct the overhang.
Edited
by Colin Berwick
Posted
Totally agree with Marjorie Colin these paintings are great so don’t feel shy abut sharing them. I too only paint and draw for my own pleasure but my family ask me for my paintings and I have done a lot of dog portraits for family and friends which I stress over but forgotten when I see the sheer joy when they see the painting for the first time!
Each of your paintings deserve to be on the gallery!
Posted
Colin, the POL site is for everyone - so you wouldn't have been letting the side down even if your work was much weaker than it is: it's the thing I like about POL - I've never felt we were in competition with each other, or under any pressure just to show our 'best' stuff - it's much more interesting to see the variety, in a space where we're not all trying to outdo each other. So don't be put off because you think that some here are better than you - if I did that, I'd never post anything..... though I'm told self-deprecation is a bad sales technique: so let us conclude we're ALL brilliant, even if one or two might just be that shade more brilliant than the rest of us - on a good day; with a fair wind; not necessarily all the time.
Posted
Thank you fans! I appreciate your comments and encouragement. I will investigate The Gallery. In the meantime, here are more sketches from a few years ago.
First from the same trip to Menora. Both double page spreads in an A5 book (hence the line down the centre).
A Village in the Hills, Menorca
I hired a small moped and went exploring. This view appeared in one of my wing mirrors, so I pulled over and made this (not entirely) accurate sketch.
I can't remember the name of the place.
Binibecca 'Old Town'
It's actually a modern holiday development on the south coast of Menorca, but designed in the style of an old fishing village.
Waiting for a meal to be served in a taverna in Corfu, I made this sketch of an Hibiscus flower. 'Winsor Red', if I remember correctly.
And now for something completely different. A rapid pencil sketch.
Near 'Jacob's Ladder', Sidmouth, Devon
A Village in the Hills, Menorca
I hired a small moped and went exploring. This view appeared in one of my wing mirrors, so I pulled over and made this (not entirely) accurate sketch.
I can't remember the name of the place.
Binibecca 'Old Town'
It's actually a modern holiday development on the south coast of Menorca, but designed in the style of an old fishing village.
Waiting for a meal to be served in a taverna in Corfu, I made this sketch of an Hibiscus flower. 'Winsor Red', if I remember correctly.
And now for something completely different. A rapid pencil sketch.
Near 'Jacob's Ladder', Sidmouth, Devon