Up Swan Street

This is the companion piece to Down Swan Street and was painted just outside of the studio door on Sunday, the final day of Open Studios West Berkshire and North Hampshire, with a few minor adjustments made today.

The sky was ominous for most of Sunday, and, by the time I took the decision to stop, thunder was rolling through the valley. The red kite had been calling most of the afternoon, and made an appearance in the sky at just the right time for it to also appear in the painting.

Oil on canvas, 40 x 60 cm

The George and Horn: painting a line and wash

The finished painting is at the end of this sequence of in-progress shots, showing you how I painted the local pub...

Our printer was out of magenta and yellow, so I printed my photograph out in rough monochrome.
I used a mechanical pencil (beause it was there) to sketch in the construction lines freehand.
I used my Noodler's Creaper flex-nib foutain pen, loaded with Koh-i-Noor document ink, to ink in the line work. The document ink is wateproof and claims to be safe for fountain pens. Waterproof is important, because the wash is wet! Usually, I use acrylic ink or India ink with a dip pen.

Pen work (almost) all done
(can you spot the missing bit?)
and a few bits of masking fluid in place.

That fantastic moment when you remove the masking fluid...

Most of the watercolour wash is done...

Finished!

Barns

Oil on linen canvas, 55 x 46 cm

Tuesday was gloriously sunny; a perfect day for painting pretty, disused barns ... and for getting just a little bit sunburnt in the process. Of course, I should have followed my friend's example and set up in the shade.

One-off Posters

Three of these wonkily lettered posters are on village notice boards. One remains to go up...

Kingsclere Library - Commission

Kingsclere Library, Line and wash

Our village library has closed.

The Village Club - Commission

This painting was commissioned by the trustees of Kingsclere's Village Club as a gift for a dedicated  committee member upon his retirement from the committee. It was presented to him today (Sunday 8th March), framed and and mounted, with a dedication in a separate window.

I wrote the dedication in the same sepia acrylic ink used for the linework, using a calligraphy dip pen, styled in the Chancery hand.

The mount and frame was made by Overton Gallery.

I have it on good authority that the gift was well received.

Kingsclere Village Club
Line and wash, approx A3

Diagonal Poppies

Diagonal Poppies
Oil on canvas, 80 x 80 cm,  commission

I've called this Diagonal Poppies because of the composition (the flower heads rise diagonally into the sky as you go from left to right), although it also, effectively, "Cottington's Poppies 5". The image, though it represents a very specific place, is a composite of several source images, and I wanted to make sure that it was a strong image (hence the geometric design) that was distinct from previous treatments of the same subject.

Here are the "in-progress" shots:




The hill in the background is Cottington's Hill, upon which sits our local radio mast, Hannington Mast. The mast is, unsurprisingly, a local landmark, and its inclusion was requested by my client. The daisies were also specified, and are based on the chamomile found in the field from which the view is taken.

• Click here to see other Cottington's Poppies paintings
• Click here to see other Poppy paintings
• Click here to see other paintings sharing the same location

Trees and Seeds

This is a drawing made from a photograph that I took last Wednesday as I headed out on a longish walk on the downs. The trees may look familiar; they are the "Skyline" trees on Plantation Hill, featured in several of my paintings and drawings.

Swan House

This painting was painted inside its subject.

Kingsclere Downs - SOLD

This is the view from (almost) the top of The Dell, a road-cum-track that rises out of the village of Kingsclere in north Hampshire.

Heart of the Village

This was a commission; it was good to get a scene that I have made images of twice before finally down on canvas.

Footbridge at Gaily Mill - SOLD

This footbridge forms part of the public footpath past Gaily Mill. It's a lovely cool place on a warm summer's day.

Acrylic on canvas, 7 x 5"
11 September 2013

St Mary's in a Fairy Tale - SOLD

This is our local church, St. Mary's, but doesn't it look just a bit like a fairy tale castle? I took the source photograph on a lovely evening in July this year and I only heightened the colours a little; the façade fairly glowed in the setting sun's light.

Acrylic on box canvas, 20 x 26 cm
09 September 2013

SOLD

Dipping into Watercolour Sketching

Above: Tadley Common, with and without cattle. Both ~ 20 minute lunchtime sketches.
Below: 15 minute sketch of fields near Kingsclere.

Watercolour is a dashed tricky medium.

Kingsclere Gallops - SOLD

There's a place near here where the footpath runs alongside a lowland gallop. It's on my way to my favourite painting pitch. Last year, I managed to coincide with the local racing stables' morning exercise, and I sneaked a few photographs.