Whitby Harbour Bridge - Early Morning (48 x 40in)

The first thing I thought when I saw this was how it conveyed an atmosphere, so, Alan, that has been very successfully achieved. Your choice of palette has everything to do with this of course - a very nice painting , with eye drawn to the shimmering light.

Very atmospheric, Alan, love the limited palette.

Knowing the area very well I think you have done real justice to the scene Alan , love the colours and the whole mood of the painting, I canoed this stretch and out the harbour mouth on an outdoor qualification course I was on, I wish it would have been as peaceful as this at that time. Smashing work Alan.

That's one elluva piece Alan. Everything is very good indeed.

Very atmospheric Alan. I have a number of photos taken during the day at Whitby and I am still deciding how to paint them. This early morning light is great. I agree with Jenny that the limited palette works well.

My Goodness Alan, this is outstanding! What a beautiful piece of work, crammed with atmosphere and the palette is spot on! I should imagine that the size of canvas you've painted it on has terrific impact when viewed in the flesh.

Very lovely

It's all beeb said. In reall life this will look amazing. Full of impact. Great painting! A demonstration in fact!!

It is a big canvas Alan and a big beautiful painting on it! Fantastic muted colours, a bit mysterious and fascinating. Truly lovely!

A triumph - and an indication of your mastery of a range of styles while retaining your individual stamp. Incidentally, I've just painted three acrylics all of which would fit into this one with room to spare; you encourage me to have a go at a really big painting, but my version of really big would still be around half of this size - it takes a highly skilled artist to paint to this scale while still retaining pictorial unity, particularly perhaps in a figurative painting. I'm glad you've not taken the advice so recently offered on the forum to move into abstraction: that's not because I have anything against abstraction, or because I doubt for a second that you could do it, but because even the most obsessively detailed figurative painting, which of course this is not, is also abstract in that it's composed of brush-marks which represent reality but are not; we all make abstract shapes in painting, the division between abstract and figurative is largely imaginary in my opinion and nowhere near as important as some believe. I don't know if you'll agree with that of course, but I think painting like this transcends these attempts at categorizing things and renders them boringly irrelevant. And as you say, you really didn't need boats in this - it's perhaps the most atmospheric painting, accurate in mood and light, that we've seen here for a long time.

Beautiful painting and very great atmosphere, Alan.

Super work once again Alan, the mainly blue palette gives a soulful feel to the scene.

Love the blues Alan, great image.

Oooooooohhhhh!!! Nice one, Alan!!!

Just seen the SIZE of this, Alan!!!!! Wow!! Amazing work!

Nice atmospheric painting. This view looks very familiar - have I seen if before?

Thank you all again for your welcome comments, yes Jennifer, It is a large canvas, I do paint on larger ones than this occasionally, it's challenging but worthwhile. Thanks Malcolm, you may well have seen this view before, it's probably the most photographed angle of the bridge, there are hundreds of this shot available. I made the decision to include the early morning mist to avoid having to paint, or indicate at least the hundred's of buildings, it would have taken some or most of the drama away. Whitby 2 is underway, same size, same medium, hopefully the same impact.

I know the location of this view is from the grassy knoll above the Khyber pass , what I was referring to was the several watercolour paintings done by Yorkshire artist Robert Brindley-, http://www.robertbrindley.com/prints.htm

I don't know Malcolm, I'm not familiar with him, but I expect many artists flock to paint from this particular vantage point as I have done on many occasions, during my frequent visits to Whitby. For this work Google came to the rescue as well as a series of my own sketches, the same applies to the second one of a series of six that I am currently working on in conjunction with a gallery local to the area, all the same size, so they will make quite an impact when exhibited together.

That's pure class Alan and the limited palette has worked superbly , so many fabulous touches in this ; I love the man peering over the rail in the foreground and the two white birds against the dark bridge .... Excellent

Thank you Dermot, appreciated by one with much talent.

Absolutely superlative, Alan! Stunning in breadth and depth, beautifully composed, full of atmosphere.

Oh yes! This is a cracker, Alan!!!! Jolly good luck to you, but remember that the winner is chosen by the public !!!!!!!!!! It seems that the more friends you have to vote for you online, gets you the title of Winner! However, I enjoy taking part in it and am delighted if I get Shortlisted!!!!!! Great painting, Alan, and Good Luck to you with it. xx 👍