St Tropez From The Bateaux Vert by Thea Cable

It's lovely Thea and recognisable straight away as one of yours, love the pastel tones in the buildings and their shapes and sizes are gorgeous, as is the movement in the water, your lovely light touch is very evident here, not least in those love fine pen lines

Thank you, Ros for your positive comments. However, now that I see it posted, I think I am a bit iffy about it. Just wish I could properly crack pen and wash as I love the medium but can't seem to quite get my head around it. Just have to hope for a eureka moment, lol!

I'm not sure what it is you find iffy, but this is evocative of the place; bright and sunny.

Looks pretty good to me Thea, as Ros has already said, your work is easily recognisable, which is a good thing. I suppose your style and working methods will change gradually but I wouldn't worry about it.

This is a lovely fresh watercolour painting Thea, nothing iffy about it at all!

Fresh, clean colour, a beauty Thea.

Thank you very much Gudrun, Stephen, Christine and Carole - you are all very kind in your comments. For all my slightly negative thoughts about this work, I really enjoyed tackling it and that is, after all, the name of the game, don't you agree?

I think this a very beautiful watercolour of a gorgeous place Thea!

As usual you are much too hard on yourself! it's a lovely pen and wash, no 'ifs or buts' about it!

Thank you very much Satu and Debs - very kind of your to leave such nice comments. Debs, well... you know me.. the eternally tortured artist lol!

Ah well, I like it! The colours are lovely and as you say, if you get pleasure from painting then that's what important. I don't think that any of us are ever completely happy with what we paint. I know that I'm not, but often think to myself 'it's ok' and then others seem to love the painting that I wasn't too sure about myself! This is good, the jumble of houses work well and you've caught the sunny atmosphere of the scene. One thing though, something for you to ponder, perhaps the sea in the foreground could be a little darker and the background hills a little paler, but that's just my opinion. I might as well add to this, what about darker shadows on the buildings? It all depends how you want to portray the scene, but some darker areas in the sea especially would add to the overall picture (I think!)

Jolly , colourful and very St Tropez Thea. I like the colours and always like your style too.

I meant to comment on this yesterday but got called away as I started typing. I love the colours you use. Pen and wash seems to work for you and you certainly have your own style. keep going you'll like your results as much as we all do in no time.

Practice makes perfect ! Though as far as painting's concerned I don't think it should be perfect and thislittle gem is no exception. Love the colours and all those sun lit roofs.

Hullo Thea. I've never tried pen-'n-ink, but I suspect that the finished work will reflect the nature of the drawing. If it's good and detailed the 'risk' is that one is tempted to 'colour in' the spaces. On the contrary, if it's sketchy, the colours will bleed and blend across the borders. How about starting with some random warm colour blobs, then drawing quickly over them? That said, it's a warm and characterful piece!

Thank you very much Louise, Sarah, Dawn, Avril and Kim for your very kind comments, which I really appreciate. Louise, the sea is actually a tad stronger in the actual painting (the problems of reproducing work digitally) but I take your point. It is always difficult to decide on tone and I did mull over how dark I should make the sea. I probably could have been bolder I think. Kim, in this one I did essentially fill in the spaces (with a few exceptions) but I did a fairly detailed drawing to start with so the dye was cast. I did try the more indistinct style in the last pen and wash I did called Image of Provence, but although it looked looser and more impressionistic, it just didn't do it for me for some reason. I am not sure this one does it for me either as I am still casting around to find a style that satisfies me. Lots more experimenting required I think and I will try out your suggestion. How about you doing one in your style to show me what you mean??!

A stunning piece, Thea - the jewel hues really bring such life and atmosphere to the painting. I think you're always too hard on yourself. I'd be very chuffed if I'd done that.

Will do Thea!

Thank you very much, Seok, for such a nice comment. Kim - am waiting with interest!!

Hi Thea, thanks so much for your lovely comment on my David Frost pastel portrait, delighted you think I have captured that look on his face, a look that sums him up so well ready to interject into an interview with some question or point that he wanted to make, the pastelwork was very pale on this one, he was not one of the most tanned of our celebrities was more important to try and capture that facial expression and everyone who has commented seems to think I have caught him so I am happy with that, thanks again, just looking outside at a lightly cloudy sky, at least it is warming up which bodes well! X