Beach party at Barricane

After a blissful weekend of hot sun and fun little waves in North Devon, I found an hour to do a little painting. Blissed our and exhausted this one stayed as loose as my arms after a 4 hour surf! 

Original watercolour, 24x31cm for sale £125 

When I'm cleaning windows

I painted this same view almost a year ago and yesterday's sunshine inspired me to tackle it again. I spent a lot more time on the drawing of the dome and windows, and I was rewarded with the window cleaner making an appearance! I mixed cerulean with a bit of ultramarine for the sky and washed that onto a carefully wetted area, I lifted out some clouds with tissue then darkened the bottom of them with ultramarine , red and some Chinese white. 

I built up the dome with several thin glazes of cobalt teal and white trying very hard to not go too dark. The shadow white of the building was a mix of purple and white with varying amounts of water. 

The rest was a case of slapping all the foliage in trying to get a nice loose mix of greens.

Quinacridine Gold was used for the lights and huge bolts in the bridge bits. 

Finally I used some Naples yellow mixed with some of my bridge green to overlay the railings.

Original watercolour, 31x41cm Arches 640gsm £295 framed.

Hammersmith bridge, low tide.

Just loving this Arches 300lb paper, it's invincible! Stunning early morning sun, plenty of time to sketch first? Really enjoyed this one.

Original watercolour £295 31x41cm framed size 45x55cm 

Sunset over Knightstone

Rain clouds and Rowers

I thought I might have a window of rain free painting on this one but it wasn't to be, I sat on the pontoon right on the water surrounded by rowers all enjoying the evening light,  the chap rowing on his own became a perfect focal point, even if only for a second. No sooner had I done a quick under drawing and laid my first washes when the rain came.

Whilst the scene was still fresh in my mind I went home and finished it off...without any photo reference I might add, fresher to use ones memory. Very happy with the balance of simplicity and sharpness of the bridge and the Harrods depository roof.

Original watercolour for sale £125  framed. painting size 24x32cm 

Houseboats by the bridge

After a beautiful sunny warm day I headed straight down to the river after work, looking for a new angle and trying a new approach, I set up and after a long hard think, dived straight into this one with no under drawing...something that is quite exhilarating and nerve wracking at the same time!

I knew that I had to keep all the background as smile as possible, also knew I had to try and "mass" all the boats together into a manageable shape. I'm not sure I was entirely successful in doing this but it was a really good learning exercise. I was most happy with the figures I added on top of the wall on the far left, not so much the figures themselves, they're just little blobs, but I am pleased with my restraint in not adding the wall in and overworking it, to me, they feel like they are sitting on and standing behind a wall. A bit of scalpel scraping was employed on the foreground mud and to add a few highlights to the water. The super heavyweight 300lb /640gsm Arches paper is so beautiful to use and can easily handle this scraping technique. If you try it on thinner paper it can very easily just tear up the surface.

So after a couple of weeks now, I am fairly happy with the "feel" of this piece, lots of mistakes in my mind, but that's all part of the watercolour journey!

Original watercolour for sale £295 framed. 31x41cm painting size. 

Lunchtime by the bridge

The sun was shining and I was itching to get out of the office, I've been meaning to sketch and draw this view for ages now! I spent 30 minutes sketching this and then painted in the studio only from the sketch and my memory. To be honest, I composed the bridge wrong on the paper and was faced with the lower third being empty! Not one to waste a good sheet of paper I put my hands in POV style. Makes it a little different ? 

Original watercolour for sale £200 30 x 40cm framed and mounted. 

My garden on a rainy day x2

Well it's chucking it down today and determined to do a painting this weekend I set up in my fav chair looking out on my palm trees and set up.i thought I would share my step,by step progress with you. here is the view so you can see what I'm painting.

I thought for some reason that now escapes me that I would do two paintings side by side at the same time! I have no idea why but it seemed like an interesting idea. 

I kicked off by wetting a top triangle area and mixed up my dismall sky colour, cerulean, ultramarine and a bit of something purpleish  that was left in my palette, this was very quickly put on with a fairly big brush adding a bit more pigment at the top to keep the top area darker. Being inside I had the luxury of my hair dryer, so a quick blast of hot air dried off this wash.

For the lower two thirds of the picture I felt incredibly brave and reckless and threw on a strong wash of lemon yellow....crazy I know, but I wanted the vivid nature of this to try and punch through all the rest of the green gunk I knew I would put on. I then started to mix up various greens using several combinations of cobalt blue, cerulean, cobalt blue, Hansa yellow, lemon yellow and my fav pre mixed green Malachite genuine ( I use nearly all Daniel Smith professional watercolours by the way ) which is a  very versatile green that either just works straight out of the tube or beautifully mixes with anything else for variety. I then re wet the lower areas and in a very loose carefree manner splodged all the bushes, conifers etc in.

At this point I paid careful attention to reserving a white unpainted area for the clematis on the left of the picture. I hate to use, and therefore don't, masking fluid...I tried it a few times, it took ages, I got bored and I always find the results far too clinical ( not knocking those who do use it, just my preference). the lawn area was a bit more lemon yellow added to my mix of green and then added water to keep it loose. I also started to include a few darker areas to try and define some shape.

At this point I felt something very cold crawling up my leg and onto my chest, it was one of our bearded dragons coming to see what I was doing, so he sat there happily for 10 minutes and then crawled back to his sun lamp.

Ok, time for the palm trees, resetting this area first, I then started with a lighter green and loosely but carefully ( does that even make sense?) laid down some fronds, from experience I've learned that trying to paint palm trees too cleverly is a sure fire route to disaster, the looser the better...I've most probably even overworked mine ! then it was time to start introducing the contrasting reds..luckily they were actually in the garden although to be honest I would have invented them anyway, all that green would be unbearable without some contrast!

The finishing stages added, some Potters pink and Chinese White for the clematis, followed by a tiny bit of opera rose just to help them punch through.  the palms had some more darks added and so did the base of the conifers, some white was mixed in with cerulean and cobalt blue for the spikey palm thing at the base of the palms oh and a lovely little swathe of pale purple...for the pathway, amethyst genuine and a touch of ultramarine, one stroke to keep it simple, some loose twiggy shapes with a super fine rigger, loaded up and held at the end of flailed like a crazy person who just doesn't care! A couple loose strokes to suggest the trellis and uprights of the arch and a few dabbles before tore the tape off, signed them and declare to the dog, cats and bearded dragons that I had finished! Needless to say they weren't that impressed! Well I hope you have enjoyed my rainy day ramblings, I'm off to join the bearded dragon under his sun lamp 😃please feel free to leave a comment as I would love to hear your feedback...good or bad I don't mind! cheers, Scott.

"The return of the big tree"

This mornings sunshine dragged me from my slumber and I had an enjoyable couple of hours at Hammersmith bridge painting this before work. Spent longer than I wanted to on drawing the bridge, I always get sucked into that trap, I need to just paint it with no drawing next time, must be fearless!!! 

Easter Monday at Burnham-on-Sea

The sunshine surprised us today as it was forecast rain, so we packed up and headed down the road from Weston to Burnham, after my visit last weekend I wanted to paint looking the other direction. I took along a couple of new paintings as well as my display book and a new sign proudly displaying that I accept card payments, via my new Izettle card payment device. You download the app on your desired device where you can add pictures and prices of whatever you are selling or make custom ones on the spot. Once you are paired up via Bluetooth you insert your card and pay just like you would do in a shop. An instant email is sent to the buyer to acknowledge their payment. brilliant! www.izettle.com 

So, after a while pondering the view and then a lengthy sketch and a few chats with passers by I eventually got some colour going. I pondered some more over whether or not to add Debi in, but felt it would be just too bland without some foreground element, adding Patch my Jack Russell was also another monumentous ponder over another coffee, he never sits still and seems to know when I am about to start drawing him, but today he was chilled and gave me that lovely quizzical expression as I sketched him. Well the painting turned out fairly ok I guess , as usual there are bits I like and learnt from and bits I don't like. Lots of nice people were met and cards handed out. Well 3 paintings this weekend, not bad considering I'm still drugged up on tramadol and co-codamols for my dental pain! Although after 8 days now I think it's finally easing! 

Original watercolour for sale £295 framed and mounted plus p&p 40x50cm

Photo courtesy of Jack Spratticus, many thanks!

Good job that log was there to rest my paintings on! 

Pondering! 

The big guys on the top boards.

Sat in my studio on this miserable Easter Sunday I was thinking if what to paint and my mind drifted back to my childhood and the fun I used to have on these incredible diving boards. I think I might paint a series of these! 40 x50cm watercolour. Original for sale £295 framed and mounted plus p&p.

Ice Creams at Anchor head.

Sheltered from the cold easterly wind this weekend at Anchor head I decided to turn the other way for a change. With the tide snapping at my ankles it was a very pleasant scene. Original watercolour for sale £295 framed and mounted plus p&p

Burnham lighthouse

With the sun shining i was up early and out ready for a painting morning. I fancied a completely new location today, so headed down the coast a little bit to Burnham-on-Sea. I remembder the old wooden lighthouse that my mother used to have as we were growing up, so thats where i headed. After painting the lighthouse in its true colour, white, it just didnt pop off the page like i wanted it too, so like all artists have the power to do..i changed its colour! Much better.

Original watercolour for sale £295 + £15 p&p

View from the other side

Started this early on Tuesday morning before work. The sun was shining, people jogging, rowing, dog walking and of course rushing to work, whilst I was stood still taking in the view! 

Original watercolour for sale framed and mounted £200 + p&p 

Houseboats in the sun

A disaster with a cheap tripod almost put paid to this days painting, but I persisted and was rewarded with beautiful sunshine sparkling on the Thames. My first attempt at painting water last summer.

Original watercolour for sale £120 24cmx32cm framed and mounted. 

A Lovers Sunset

At home in sunny Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, UK. We get the most incredible sunsets i've seen anywhere in the world. The added bonus of the colours reflecting in the wet sand make for a double delight!

Original Watercolour for sale 30 x 40 cm, Framed and mounted 45x55cm £295 + £15 p&p

Maintaining the bridge

On a cold but colourful early morning, my walk along the Thames from Fulham to Hammersmith provides me with this view, always changing, always interesting. This morning had a small boat tied up to the far tower to carry out some maintenance work.

Original Watercolour  20x30cm for sale £120 + £10 p&p

Waiting for the tube at Turnham Green station

Whilst on my lunch break i popped over to my local art shop for supplies, the art shop is right at the entranc eto Turnham Green station. Its got to be one of the prettiest in London. I sketched this composition whilst waiitng to return to work, i painted it the same evening at home. I loved the way the sun hit the bright blue paint of the iron girders. The geraniums were actually white but i fancied a bit of pink!

Original Watercolour for sale 20 x 50 cm £200 + £15 p&p

Early morning Joggers

This was painted last year in October and the early morning sun set these leaves on fire! Their colour was just so intense and was beautifully contrasted with the blue paint on the iron railings. The background and Joggers were purposely left vague and loose to keep focus on the right hand side.

Original for sale mounted and framed £200  30x40 cm 45x 55cm in frame.

Sunday boat fixers

Another gorgeous day at the Uphill boatyard in Weston-super-mare. Whilst wandering around looking for what i was to paint, these two beauties caught my eye. I loved the red of the boat on the left and was challenged by trying to capture the light refecting on the hulls. Normally i dont use any kind of masking fluid or tape to reserve areas but i really wanted a strong clean hard white line for the masts so i attempted to use thin strips of masking tape for the masts then put my sky wash on, well..it partially worked! Looking back on it now though i prefer the broken bits of sky by the masts that are not too perfect, it gives it more energy.

Original Watercolur, 30x40cm mount and frame 45c55cm £295

Rush hour on the bridge

This was painted on a super cold morning in February, on hammersmith bridge, London.  I started all wrapped up like in the artic and by the time I had finished an hour later I was in my t-shirt enjoying the sunshine! This was quite a tricky angle but made a nice change from the usual viewpoint. 

Original Watercolour 30 x40cm for sale £200 inc mount and frame.

Early spring sun on the dunes

The sand dunes at sand bay, WsM are a lovely place to chill when the sun shines. Lots and lots of glazes to build this one up. 

For sale £200 30x40cm + mount and frame inc.

Weston Pier Electric

With the sun fading fast the wet sand comes alive with the colours from the sun, clouds and Pier neons. This is one of my personal favourites!

For sale £295 image 30x40cm 45x55cm inc mount and frame.

Sitting pretty

Back at my usual painting hangout, hammersmith bridge, London, this bird perched atop the post caught my eye. I imagined him to be chuckling at all the crazy humans rushing to and fro over the bridge! 

For sale £200 30x40cm image, frame 45x55cm

Time for a stroll

.

On a very windy Sunday morning in Uphill, I found some shelter by the boatyard and composed this one.I did a few quick sketches to try out some compositions and then dived straight into this one with no under drawing like I usually do. I started with my biggest squirrel mop brush and painted my sky wash with cerulean blue, I purposely wanted to create the sweep of the hills, trying to leave some white for the bright sun on their slopes. I tried very hard to not overpaint the dark cliff face to the left and also to keep the grass looking fresh and light. Funnily enough the bit I love the most is the doggy poo bin at the base of the flag pole, it was done in one quick stroke which had a lovely energy it and so was left apart from the thin line for the lid.

For sale £120.  20x30cm plus mount and frame, inc in price

Marine lake sketch

This is the sketch I did that later became the basis for "clocks forward, more time to play"painting.

Sunny slipway

Uphill boatyard provided the inspiration for this painting. Trying very hard to keep the distance light and simple to contrast with the strong values in the foreground.

 Watercolour 24 x32 cm For sale £125 inc mount and frame. P+P £10

Clocks forward, more time to play.

Finally the clocks have gone forward and we all have more time after work and the weekends. For me that means more time drawing and painting! This was inspired by a sketch I did ( see following post) whilst sat chatting with my dad relaxing in the sun.

Original watercolour For sale £195 20x50cm