RNLB James Cable

Fabulous. It may be different but it works really well.

I have spent the morning researching 'boat images' as they are the theme this week for the art group I belong to and up popped yours! I really like this Thea, lovely clear colours and beautifully painted.

Thank you very much Dawn and Christine for lovely comments. Christine, boats are one of my favourite subjects and a have painted a few now. They are such an iconic shape and have very interesting bits and pieces on them - plenty of opportunity to have fun with painting them. Less so with this one - it was fun, but I couldn't have too much fun with it as it had to look like a believable lifeboat. Good luck with your boat paintings!

A very good painting of the 'Cable' lifeboat Thea, which must have taken some time to achieve with such accurate detail. I do like the two figure especially the cheerful looking one with hand on hip! Good sky as well, just enough. Did you use a white ink pen for the lettering?

Gorgeous watercolour of this Lifeboat Thea, lovely bight vibrant use of colour and maybe stronger colour use than you would have done pre Charles Reid, super capturing of the details of the boat as well and lovely figurework with the men on it, love how you dealt with the area around the boat as well, the sky and the water with the different tones in it. a really lovely painting, your extra attention to detail with this one as you say yourself is more appropriate for the subject matter and just helps to add extra interest to the scene as well. xx

Really good reflections, making the boat sit nicely in the water. Great jaunty figures and sterling work done on all those white ropes and railings!

Thank you very much Louise, Ros and Debs for such positive feedback - means a lot to me. Louise, I used a fine brush and white gouache for the white lines (don't tell the pure watercolourists as they might faint lol!). I do use white gouache for ropes on boats as I rather like the way that it makes them show up against the dark hulls. I find that just leaving very thin strips of white paper difficult and I can't stand masking fluid - I make an almighty mess with it.

I knew that you'd used gouache for the ropes, it was the writing of the lifeboat's name which I'd wondered about. You've made a good job of those letters!

I like this very much Thea. A lovely palette and the soft mixing of the colours especially in the reflections.

Sorry - of course you asked about the lettering - dur - senior moment on my part! I did those with the fine brush and gouache as well. I didn't want the name to be too gleaming white, so after the white paint had dried, I put a light wash of yellow ochre over some parts of the letters and it seemed to work.

Thank you very much, Avril, for your encouraging input.

Lovely as always Thea:)Linda

Thank you very much, Linda.

Hi Thea, been away for a while, nice to see your work again, love it as always. Agreed this is slightly more detailed that your usual work but it certainly don't detract from the finished result.

A fine looking boat Thea!

Hi Thea thanks so much for your lovely comments on my self portrait and toddler one as well, the self portrait was really really tricky, people have commented I looked calm and even serene in it, as I riled to a fe of them I was a bit like a sea bird calm on top and flapping wildly underneath ! Concentration is defiantly the problem with these, trying not to look like we are concentrating that much and in the meantime totally forgetting to smile even slightly! Oh well, it's done and posted now, time for a good rest before I attempt another one, get some weight of as well I think!

This is simply beautiful, Thea, and notwithstanding the accuracy, it does carry your inimitable stamp of a lovely palette and a strong painting. And what a lovely story to go with it!

Just catching up on your gallery Thea - great work as always but I love boats and like the way you have weaved your way around the composition in this one

After reading your point on Ros P's pastel of a child I thought I would look for her response and what a time it has taken. Point proven and thanks for making it. Especially valid coming from you one of the big names on the site. I admire all your work and like reading others' comments and your responses. Thank you.

Ps thought about putting this up under Ros P's picture but have noticed she deletes critical ones.

Hi David, I must admit that I go back to paintings I have commented on to read the artist's responses to all the comments. It is interesting and it is the only real contact we have with one another. Often good discussions between the artist and all the people who have commented start and a lot of useful and interesting things come to light. I do find it a bit frustrating when people don't ever reply to comments on their paintings as you never get to hear what they think. I find other people's painting process fascinating and like to know as much as I can. I know that not everyone feels like that and I respect individual opinion on this. Ros does like to reply individually on one of the person's painting and I have to say that, except in exceptional circumstances when people want to pass a more private message, I have not come across anyone else using this method of replying before. However, it's a free world and each to their own. As for being a big name on the site - don't know about that, lol! I have just been on the site for nearly 5 years now so have seen a lot and 'met' a lot of people, some of whom have become good friends. I am not even a prolific poster of paintings and I am lucky if I get around to posting something about every fortnight or so. Thank you very much for your very kind comments on my work and glad you enjoy the dialogue that results from any comments made on my paintings. I certainly love that bit and it is part of the fun of posting. Nice to hear from you.

Really like the reflections here in spite of what you said in your latest post of Plockton . These ones are so good.