Alfriston Church by Fiona Phipps

Ooh, Fiona, this is lovely. It has harmony and simplicity and lightness of touch. Well done! Out of interest, what's the paper like to paint on, and how do you find the Old Holland paints perform compared to others?

As Caroline says! However, you are back in your comfort zone. I challenge you to another sunset!

A lovely loose watercolour Fiona. I like your use of a limited palette.

A lovely FW palette and quite a little stunner

Such a lovely English scene, appreciated by an ex-pat! I like your palette Fiona.

Lovely limited palette applied to a wonderful scene.

Lovely, Fiona!

Hi Caroline, I really like the old Holland watercolours but I can only compare them to SAA's own paints and W&N. I started off with Manganese blue and I was struck by the quality of the paint, so I have replaced all my former paints with O. Holland. They are very earthy and some colours bleed when you put another wash over them but these don't. Which is useful if you build your watercolour up in washes. The paper isn't like paper, it's more like material, it's off white so if you are after brilliant transparency it's no good, you also have to use lots of water because it has a grain to it, and takes ages to dry. Having said all that, I like it, it gives you great hit and miss effects which suits my scruffy painting style! Lol! Thank you for your comment Caroline and if you would like a couple of peices to try let me know.

Gudrun, you are not going to draw me on that one, I'm steering clear of sunsets for a while! I think you ought to have another go, you have a ligher touch. Thanks for looking in.

Thank you very much for your comment Paul, much appreciated. I try not to use any more than four or five colours.....I only get confused! I think the colours I used here where; u. marine, v. brown, r. sienna (dark), v. red and probably a bit of p. grey to mix with the v. brown for the darks. Any more than that and I start tying myself in knots!

Many thanks Michael, Avril, Pat and Ruth for taking the time to leave your encouraging comments, much appreciated.

OK Fiona. I won't press and I don't blame you. I decided to try again today. In order to not "waste" my bigger paper I used smaller paper, which is a different kind altogether. The results of my two further attempts are horrible. I'm not proud, but even I won't be displaying that mess! As you have been saying the choice of paper is very important and I think the next time I do a sunset, perhaps a slightly less ambitious one, I shall use my usual paper because I like it as it does offer more transparency than the smaller paper I used today.

I wish I could manage to stick to a limited palette in watercolour. My attempts at landscapes are pretty abysmal, just binned todays attempt of one of Castle Stalker, :( Yours on the other hand are always so spontaneous and free and in a lovely palette that unifies the whole painting. This one is no exception, beautiful.

Hi Fiona, that is so kind of you, I'd like to take you up on that offer. How do I PM you? I've looked all over the site, but I can't work out how to find specific people other than go on the Gallery.

Gudrun! Blame! Me?! Okay, you've shamed me into having another go at a sunset, in fact, 'The Sunset!' I'l try and calm it down this time, adopt your lighter touch with colour and application. Don't hold your breath that it's going to be any good!!

Val we are so spoilt for colours today aren't we, to be honest they scare the hell out of me! I don't use a limited palette for harmony, I do it because the fewer I use the less mess I hope to get in to! Lol! I've never seen any hesitation or blunders in your use of colour in any medium.... mind you, I haven't seen the ones that end up in the bin though! Thank you for your lovely comment Val.

VERY nice, Fiona, Alfriston church from the other side. Love the loose trees and foreground shadows, and the sky and the downs back in the distance.

Jenny, you're very kind, thank you.....it's not a patch on your interpretation.

Lovely to see your take on Alfriston Church. Have recently painted same view from a photo provided by Steve Hall which I will post for you to see. Interested that we both chose the same time of year. Thank you for your comments re my Wade's Bridge.

Alan, thanks for leaving your comment, I look forward to seeing your version......were you the lucky winner? Will you have a go at this months competition? I thought I might as I like doing snow scenes.

A really beautiful watercolour here Fiona! Very interesting to read all the comments and about your paper choise, never heard of off white paper before. Sounds challenging but I seriously like what you have done.

I love the almost casual way you've portrayed the trees in the foreground.

Thank you very much Satu, Frank for your encouraging comments.

Hi Fiona, Thank you very much for YOUR very generous comments, much appreciated. Some of your watercolours are great, and I really like this one. You seem to have the ability to simplify the subject matter and have a good eye for tone, which are so important in watercolour, as you know. Keep up the hard work - it is the only way to progress far with this medium.

LOVELY WORK FIONA YOUR VERY GOOD

That's a lovely paper you've used, which complements your painting style very well. I really like this rather a lot....

Hi Fiona. Thanks for your comments on my work. I have just checked out your gallery and all I can say is stunning artwork. I particularly like this painting. Such a simple scene, but it says so much. I will follow you with relish. Best wishes. Pete.

Thank you Peter, you are very kind.

Hi Fiona, lovely feel to this. Love your loose trees treatment and palette. Its very earthy and warm.

Roland thank you very much for your comment, very kind of you.

A dab hand at watercolour for sure.

So good!

Many thanks John and Timothy for taking the trouble to comment on this painting.