A PLEASANT PLACE TO PAUSE – WATERCOLOUR PAINTING

Having recently sold a couple of canal scenes I thought that I would paint a view of the Leeds to Liverpool Canal at Parbold. Another reason was to rattle the Troll’s cage – it gets agitated when it sees a canal – though never reading its rants, it might have changed for all I know or care.

I liked the boat tucked into the sunny mooring though I changed it to a narrowboat and the figures I borrowed from another photo. I saw some guys in a narrowboat when I was painting along the canal in the summer. They didnt look your usual barge folk. When I packed up to leave I walked past them and heard them speak in a foreign language. Later, it occurred to me that perhaps they were using narrowboats to house foreign workers – or perhaps illegal immigrants, who knows. There are quite a few craft well past their prime moored along the canal so that might be an easy way to raise some income. Though once you`ve handed the keys over your asset might disappear off into the sunset, never to be seen again.

Other canal scenes are available on my website for sale. Hurry, they are going fast. Check out grahammcquadefineart.com

THE WEAR ROLLS SEAWARD – WATERCOLOUR PAINTING

Last week I was in Durham and was able to get outside painting on a couple of warm and sunny days. However, the painting above was done at home. I had spotted the subject whilst sketching the dead tree beside the river, below – in fact this view above was behind me as I sketched, but getting the filigree foliage against a smoky forest backdrop needed a bit of thinking through, so I declined the challenge and painted this instead.

In hindsight I should have given it a go. Still, it was good to have an unexpected chance to get outside. The day before I sat and sketched the city skyline into the light.

This was again done on the banks of the River Wear with a curious bull snorting near my back from the field behind me. Fortunately the seemingly flimsy barbed wire fence did the trick and I survived to paint another day as this blog and my final sketch: looking up the hill to the other side of the river – testifies.

Other landscapes are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

ON THE WEIR – WATERCOLOUR PAINTING

Whilst visiting my daughter we were walking along the river Chelmer – near Chelmsford in Essex – on a bright autumn day. I saw a swan bathed in sunlight and was hoping for it to open its wings as it preened itself. Unfortunately it was disturbed by a couple of fishermen, so for this painting I had to make something up, but I managed to capture the lighting effects against the darkness of the background which had first caught my eye.

Other wildlife paintings area available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

TAKING IN THE VIEW – ACRYLIC PAINTING

Back to my seaside series, though this was from an image I took on Lake Garda years ago. I also did a watercolour of this a long while ago, but thought that it might be worth trying again in a loose style with acrylics. I am quite pleased with the result as the counterchange of light and shade give it a vitality and  with the haze you don’t get bogged down with detail.

Other seaside paintings are available for sale  on my website grahammcquadefineart.com