A long format for a view of the Leeds to Liverpool canal on a cool autumn morning. It is a favourite angling spot of a friend of mine who catches more objects than fish from these waters.
Other views of the canal are available on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
I was put off from painting this because of the overwhelming green, but I tried washing in reds, oranges and blues to stir things up and layered in masking fluid so that, although the greens do dominate, there is enough to keep a bit of interest going. I think I took this picture last year when I was out painting plein air on the canal and I am thinking of doing more this year, as this time I wont be recovering from a hip operation that kept me grounded for a couple of months.
I also had another go at Uphill Struggle: the painting of Cape Town’s Waterkant suburb, I first published a few weeks ago in February. This time I increased the size of the main figure and painted the road in a warmer hue to emphasise the ambience
Other landscapes and townscapes are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
I have a couple of watercolour demos to do at the end of the month. In fact they are on consecutive days which is a bit awkward – I need to get that secretary replaced. The first one wanted a canal scene so I have been looking through my images to find something suitable to do. I did this yesterday morning, so with a bit of preparation, like getting my paints ready and having everything to hand, I should be able to do in the allotted hour and a half.
This is a scene I have posted before, both as an on-site sketch and as a more finished painting. The painting never sold and I have made a few small changes in this version. I am thinking of getting down to the canal and starting to build up a series of canal paintings as they were popular and its always a nice place to sit and paint.
Other canal scenes are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
With the equinox turning I thought I might ponder on things to come, well at least for us in the northern hemisphere.
Though no doubt we’ve got a few more good days to come before winter grips it’s pull.
Other landscapes are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
I parked up in the carpark by the canal ready to go off painting and just took a glimpse along the towpath. Fingers of mist still clung to the reeds, avoiding the sun’s weak rays. Out of the reed beds some moorhens glided across the chill water, probably thinking I might be a source of a free breakfast.
I tried this out in pastel to get the wisps of mist. In hindsight I could have done it in watercolour and used white gouache for the mist.
Other canal side paintings are available on my website grahammcquadefineart.com
Another canal scene and in a place I’ve painted before on the Leeds to Liverpool Canal. The light coming in from over the fields and catching surfaces on the boats and vegetation caught my eye. To evoke the morning stillness I tried to reduce the range of colours, so that there was a calmness of hue.
Other canal scenes are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
Mixing the paint on the paper and then shaping the resulting image. I had to do it in a number of stages, but I like the haziness it produces. Better than an earlier post of this scene which is of the Leeds Liverpool canal.
This one of Ambleside in the Lake District: a lot of overpainting and modification after the initial washes – a bit like the Venice painting I posted earlier in that I’m going back to my own way of working after starting with this new approach.
Just keep trying.
Other landscapes are available for purchase on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
I got messed around recently by someone who wanted some paintings of Venice . In the end it came to nothing, but I discovered this amongst my photos and I thought I’d use it to try a Nita Engle approach on architecture. Unfortunately I tightened up on the building details, but I do like the dark, dank canals opening up into the light. Might have another go and try and kill the detail.
Other paintings for sale are on my website grahammcquadefineart.com
graham mcquade 