sunny day Archives - Salcombe Art

29 January 2018 In Art, Sketchbook note

Sketchbook Notes: Merlins Racing Past the Venus Cafe

Merlins are by far the most exciting craft to grace the Salcombe Estuary. The excitement – and the beauty – when they hoist their spinnakers is breath-taking, and their races always promise thrills and spills.

I take hundreds of photographs in any one year, and many of these are of the Merlins. These snaps are sure to provide inspiration for a painting; the tricky part is choosing which photo to use.

The year before last, I painted one image of Merlins (featured above) and it sold within days of going on show at the 2016 Salcombe Art Club Summer Exhibition.

So I had to paint another, and have actually done three!

Merlins Racing Past the Venus Cafe

This is the photo I chose as my main source of inspiration for Merlins Racing Past the Venus Cafe. The boats consist of horizontal lines (the hull) and strong vertical lines (the masts and sails) and I find this combination pleasing. The composition is not perfect but I feel I have captured the excitement of the race.

The next step is to create a sketch, deciding which elements of the photo to keep and which to lose, and applying ‘rules’ such as the rule of thirds. This is my sketch.

Notice that I have placed only those Merlins in the foreground and that they create movement from right to left. My shoreline is positioned just below centre, and I have scaled the boats so as to include their full height as best I can.

In drawing this sketch, it became clear that the closeness of the two boats on the left hand side would only lead to confusion. So, while this sketch provided the outline for the composition, I knew that when I moved to the painting stage, I would need to tweak the composition even more.

So, having done my preparation and having a clear idea in my head of the main features of this painting, I move to the next stage, and this is where I’m at right now.

It was a sunny day, so I started with fairly pure colours and have yet to address shadows or indeed reflections in the water. I have also left the surface of the water and will at some point decide how rough to make it look.

I have also yet to decide whether to include additional craft, for example on the shoreline. Time will tell… I have much to think about before this painting is finished.

THE SKETCHBOOK NOTES SERIES

This is one of the Sketchbook Notes, a series of posts explaining what inspired me to produce a particular painting.

If you own one of my paintings, or are just curious about an image, let me know; I’ll then write a blog post especially for you!

25 July 2016 In Art

Going, going, gone! Sold …

In the past week, I’ve sold three paintings. Going, going, gone! Sold!

The first was Sunlight on Avon River, a watercolour, and one of the few of mine to be predominantly green.

There is water, as ever, but it’s not blue, and there’s no blue sky. And no sailing craft in sight … or seagulls …

This painting has graced the walls of Beacon House Gallery for some time now. Painted in 2012, it will be missed.

The second sale was Dawn at South Pool Creek, an acrylic painting of the view from my studio window.

It’s rare for me to be up so early. I am a night owl and enjoy sleeping late. However, my wife, Anne, is always up before dawn and, if it’s an especially beautiful one, she will wake me. I take photos and go back to bed, and she goes back to her computer.

Last but not least to be sold: Paddling at Burgh Island – a painting which captures one sunny day when Anne and I visited her friend, Sheila, and we walked across from her house to Burgh Island.

Like many of my paintings, Dawn at South Pool Creek and Paddling at Burgh Island are available as fine art greetings cards.

When the original is not square, the card image is created by cropping – and you can be seen the difference between the two if you compare the featured image (far above) with that shown immediately above. I decided to focus on the two lady paddlers and the island and to lose some of the left-hand part of the image.

AFFORDABLE ART

You may be surprised to know that 52 of the 127 original paintings I’ve created to date are available as a fine art greetings card.

For less than 1% of the sales price of an original, you can invest in a card. Send it to a friend or frame it for yourself. Whistlefish sell frames that fit… about £10 each.

Where can you buy my cards?

The complete range of cards is available at Malborough Post Office. View while you queue!

bloomers-florist-of-knigsbridge-shop-front Bonningtons (the newsagents) and Salcombe Information Centre are both a short walk from the Loft Studio and stock a range of cards.

Cards are also on sale at The Gallery Project (at Avon Mill and in Noss Mayo), and at Salcombe Yacht Club.

If you are visiting Kingsbridge, our newest stockist is Bloomers, the florists, 37 Fore Street (about half way up the hill!).