This is actually a painting I did a few months ago and the original is on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com. I liked certain aspects and I decided to enter it into a local art exhibition, later this week, but on framing it I had a few doubts. I took it out the frame and started to do more work on it , particularly in the middle ground and tried to link the themes a little better. I think it is now much tighter. The proof of the pudding will be whether the exhibition judges accept it or not.
A second in the series of isolation in a crowd. Its only when you post it that you see on the screen some of the shortfalls. Perhaps I should use a mirror more. I think that this works a little better than the first painting as there are less people, but I seem to have made them more detailed. I am thinking about tackling this another way, more at the level of the subject, rather than from above.
I did this for a local exhibition coming up in July. I’m still not sure about it. It goes back to earlier work I did on the passage of time and links that and my interest in the local landscape. Clieve’s Hills are some small mounds behind the drained marshlands which are themselves behind Southport where I live and the coast of Merseyside. I have done many paintings of them. Like most projects it started well, but inch by inch I began to lose the control I wanted and it ended up becoming something that I hadnt envisaged or really wanted. I suppose that’s why you keep going – to get a satisfactory outcome.
I will put it on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com. Have a look at what’s there.
The art club decided upon a day out. They said that they wanted to do some painting before heading off to a pub for lunch.I think it was a hoax. I found myself on my own before the rest rolled up with about half an hour before dinner. Anyway, the weather wasnt too bad and the old boat with the washing out to dry made quite a nice subject. In the afternoon I headed off to a bridge by an old mill, but I couldnt get a decent view, even after pushing my way through dense undergrowth. Still, I need to get out more, now that the weather has arrived.
I have often walked in this direction in the evening on the Bexhill promenade in Sussex, England. The shapes of the buildings and the masts of the boats in the sailing club make intriguing shapes in the late afternoon light. I tried painting this but the large open space of foreground made it a little lifeless, even with the lead-in of the railings and beach huts on the left. In the end I added some figures. To some extent they seem to have taken over the scene, but I have tried to space them out so that the mass of buildings, masts and reflected light still make for a dynamic painting.
This painting is on my website grahammcquadefineart.com. Take a look.
I have tried this a couple of times and perhaps still havent got it. I wanted the central figure encircled by self absorbed strangers, but felt that the strangers should be an amorphous mass, undefined thereby accentuating their movement, but having them encircling the central figure this approach got very messy. In this version I made them more defined. I have another version I will try and I’ll post that.
I prepared some paper, an old watercolour painting, with a mix of blue and white acrylic. In hindsight it could have been a little more mid-tone, but it was a last minute thing so it was a little rushed. I drew the figure in charcoal and then applied lighter and darker blues, with a few purples and reds for the hair. I think I used four colours in total.
I am always surprised by these life sessions. I rarely have time enough. This was done in about an hour and I thought I would be done in three quarters of an hour. Then you look and there is a bit which could be done better, or the position of something isnt quite right and needs adjustment. In the end I raced to the finish line getting there just before she put on her robe.
I have other figurative paintings and drawings on my website grahammcquadefineart.com.
Back to boats and watercolour. I had a number of images of the Marine Lake in Southport, where I live, but had never worked out a way to tackle the subjects. The Lake on its own is pretty boring and I was wondering how best to tackle the boats. I love their shapes and when they are pulled up close like this they create interesting patterns. This, as well as the light bouncing off the covers makes it a great subject to tackle.
Then I thought that I could pull in part of the lake and this is the result. I did consider putting some figures into the scene, but decided against it. Maybe I could try again, but with more emphasis on the boats.
More pictures on my website:grahammcquadefineart.com
graham mcquade 