![\"Richmond,](\"http:\/\/www.treeshark.com\/BlogPosts\/Painting\/oil40L.jpg\" "\\"Richmond")
<\/a><\/p>\nThis was a lovely day in Richmond, almost too beautiful, resulting in slightly picture postcard image. Still there is nothing inherently wrong with\u00a0that. I am getting rather fond of bad weather paintings but shouldn’t, I feel, shy away from more conventional scenes. It is easy to be always looking\u00a0for the unusual as a way of marking out your uniqueness. However this to my mind rather leads to the trap of making the painting about yourself and\u00a0your cleverness rather than what the subject requires to be best served.<\/p>\n
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I returned to this scene in the studio as the light improved as I was doing the plein air but didn’t want to “chase the light” which often ruins a painting.\u00a0I had no intent here other than capturing the deliciousness of the day with people enjoying the respite from the grey and wet. I considered altering the red\u00a0of\u00a0of the buggy as it is perhaps too insistent, but experimenting in photoshop showed me that the red was performing the function or enriching all the\u00a0blues so I’ll leave it be!.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n I have been doing quick pastel sketches which only take a few minutes, but I think I will be doing more of this as the immediacy of the result makes them\u00a0a great resource for later paintings. I am deliberately restricting the colours to just four or less. With the toned paper doing the bulk of the work.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n A little bit later on my way home… the wet road a product of my imagination!<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n A studio painting done from a mixture of sources, the first inspiration was the dark alley with the cool grey towers of the modern buildings\u00a0providing contrast of both tone and age. The image of the van and walking figure is from a different day but just seem made for each other.\u00a0My most successful studio picture of the city so far I feel as I got the balance of looseness and focus working properly in my favour.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n This is an expedition with the Brazen Monkeys to the river at Strand on the Green near Kew. A cold day and I was unwell, but it’s amazing how painting\u00a0makes you forget your woes! The tide was very low allowing views close to the water. This was painted very quickly \u00a0in less than an hour. You really have\u00a0to make the effort to see the colours and then exercise restraint in not over exaggerating them.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n A few hundred yards upstream these barges were an interesting challenge. I painted this on a slightly larger canvas than I usually use for plein air,\u00a0something I must do more of when it’s practical. 18in by 14in.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n Here is how the camera sees the same scene. Interesting that almost all the richness of the blues is missing.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n A larger studio painting, I felt the subject required looser handling than I usually use. Also I deliberately used a very smooth linen which allows a\u00a0sensuous, juicy feel to the brush work. The wet street was huge fun to paint but I had trouble getting the right balance of accuracy and freedom in the\u00a0buildings which meant I scraped out and repainted a few times before I was satisfied. There are still a few adjustments to the main figure, but they willhave to wait until it is drier.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n Another outing with the Monkeys, a very wet day, so thanks to Michael Richardson for providing the impetus to get out there and paint. This was painted\u00a0umbrella in hand as it didn’t stop raining for a moment. But the glitter of the market transformed by the tranquility of the canal make a great subject which\u00a0I think may make a bigger picture in a while.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n