This was a painting of washes in three colours. One was the staining winsor blue, green shade, which sometimes has a mind of its own – so there was some trepidation as I applied the paint. I wanted the calm that a wash can, in my opinion, create.
Looking at this now I might give the man a bit more of his head, though he could have his collar up or be looking down and I did ponder footprints in the foreground but decided that the reflections might cover them up anyway, I think the calm lead-in is crucial.
I just wanted some fun: a break, so I upped myself off to Camps Bay near Cape Town by gathering together some of my old photos and painting me a little time on the beach.
The yellow of the umbrella is just the base colour left untouched. I use yellow as a priming colour as I have a big tin of it that was on offer. I then blocked in the image with square brushes. I liked the shapes created by the two under the shade with a few sunlit edges creating hints as to the form – and then the colours of the umbrella…
Other beach scenes are available on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
I have been fighting with floral paintings recently and not getting very far. I need an image for an upcoming demo and fortunately I have a bit of time to come up with something. So, I just wanted a break – a different subject, to set the juices running – and following on from my last post ( which was itself a trial for another demo) I thought that I would return to feel good paintings – if nothing else but to make me feel good. This was a treat to paint this – mainly washes of luscious colours. First the sky, the sea and the beach then, when that was dry, the tree and bushes etc in one hit, mixing colours on the paper. Again, I let that dry before extending the dark area of shadows, people and paraphernalia dropping in bright colours into the shadow and leaving small gaps for the chinks of light. After that, all I needed to do was paint the two front figures and those in the distance, then add a bit of texture in the sand. It was done by lunchtime – my kind of painting – putting me in a happier frame of mind.
Incidently, the beach scene was from photos I took whilst painting the scene below which I posted in February. It was a beach in Thailand – great subjects where ever you looked. I then added the front figures from other sources.
I had a bit of time to get out and do some sketches in the last few days. This one is a view from Bexhill to Hastings, in the distance, on a bright summer’s evening after the dark clouds had passed.
This is one from Hastings of an old lighthouse ( built around 1850 to replace an earlier one) which stands on the West Hill over the beach where they pull the fishing boats up on. There is also another light below it on the beach. The idea is returning boats line the upper and lower lights up as they approach the beach which means they have a safe passage past the submerged rocks. Now they beach on a different location and this lighthouse is redundant.
Here is one of the fishing boats on the beach waiting for the tide or fish quotas to reset before setting off again.
My daughter and her boyfriend came up the other day and we went for a walk along the coastal path north of Liverpool. This is another place where the path brushes the beach – at the end of Lifeboat Road in Formby. What little remains of the lifeboat station are some well washed bricks down there on the beach.
I am a sucker for the broken fences and the shadows that they cast – perhaps I could make a bit more of them here. And with the windy day came the churning waves eating away more of the sandy beach.
A day at the seaside up in Cumbria: I spotted these rock poolers on their summer holidays and took a few photos. The lad quickly wandered off but I caught a pose as he stood by another pool and in this painting drew him in a position that gave some narrative.
Rushing around looking at replacement paintings for the exhibition after the sudden sales, I considered a number of local landscapes for display. Some I had affinity for but was reluctant to put on show. So when the dust settled last week I thought that I should see whether I could get them to a stage where I would put them in a frame to exhibit.
This is the first one – the beach at Southport in the evening. The first version was quite large – a half imperial sheet. I realised I could get the essence by compressing it, with the sand, grasses and reflections on the water constained by a narrow format. I also kept a tight reign on the hue, reflecting the beach in the sky.
