Leeds Castle by Andy Butler

Excellently done - congratulations.

Thanks for your kind encouragement Robert. Sadly I don't think this is a strong representation of the subject. Or maybe it is and the subject is weak. I'm not sure. All I can say for sure is that it only took me 28 hours to complete. This compares to the previous painting, of Rye which I am proud of and took 57 hours and the one before that, Folkestone required 90 hours. I'm not quite sure why it took 90 hours but that's what my records show. What I'm getting at is that I didn't put as much into this one and inevitably I suppose I didn't get as much out of it. For about the past year I've been trying to speed up my painting process. I thought I should be achieving the same result with fewer hours and that I wasn't working as economically or speedily as I should. I had one eye on the clock whilst trying to stay focussed on maintaining quality. When I finally put my brush down at the end of this picture I realised I couldn't put something into the painting just to extend the time, as I would probably end up damaging the painting, so I would be painting for the sake of painting. Surely that's not what this is all about? I've only ever painted because I 've enjoyed the experience, the journey if you like. What does it say if I can't enjoy a more simple subject? Am I condemned to paint complex subjects?

I absolutely love this painting. I don't agree that it isn't a strong representation of the subject and tyou can't judge the quality of a painting by how long it took you. This painting is spot on in that your get such a great feeling of the creaminess of the stone work, the ancient serenity of the building and the wonderful golden light playing on the whole scene. I like that there are areas of intense detail and then quieter areas of sweeping calm washes. Perhaps try painting some more simple subjects - paint for as long as it takes and then stand back and enjoy it! Love your more complex works, but I'm betting the simple ones work equally as well.

Marvellous piece!

The picture has such a clean uncluttered look. I read what you say, but love it.

I've read your comments above Andy, and all I can say is - Are you kidding?? I would be so happy to produce a work like this. It is, as said before, uncluttered, clean and vibrant. I love it. All too often we as watercolourists are told to "loosen up", and all the books and dvds show us some bloke or woman producing something in half an hour with a few brushstroke. Does that mean we should follow like sheep? Well personnaly I prefer a painting with more detail - and you have just the right amount. It's a loveley work, well dodne.

Thea's right. You can't judge the quality of a painting by how long it took to paint ! Think you should stop watching the clock ! It's a wonderful painting and you're being too hard on yourself.

I agree 100% with the above comments esp. with Thea and Tony: this is again a wonderful painting, stunning!

Carry on enjoying the experience of painting if this is the end result. Hope there's many more, your paintings are superb!

Andy, paint what you like and how you want to paint it - Leeds Castle is not a dramatic building and does not lie in a dramatic setting. But it is an extremely beautiful building and you've caught it as such, in all the calm and serenity of a warm day. They're right, you know - time really is irrelevant in painting; sometimes, you just get there in a few hours - I tend to take my time over paintings, partly for purely physical reasons: and I suspect you have the same problem as I do - if a painting has just fallen off the brush, it's satisfying at the time but can tend to leave you feeling slightly cheated on reflection.... eg, I was enjoying that, why did it have to stop? Move on to the next one!

I agree with all of the above what more can I say.