For a number of years I have gone away in the summer with a group of other artists to paint in France. A coach load of painters all intending to paint a masterpiece or three. As you think about the trip in the weeks before you start to fantasise about the opportunities that are bound to occur for a great subject at a fantastic moment in time. So the coach arrives you disembark, media at the ready, and… Well just and… Reality just refuses to arrange itself into perfect subjects!
This time we were in the Ile De Re a place I had visited before and had mixed feelings about the place. On my previous visit I had experienced the great oil painting disaster. I had notably failed to produce a single half decent work in oils. In a way I suppose all that anticipatory build up is bound to result in deflation when the paintings refuse to fly off the brush.
So the coach has arrived and we disembark in St Malo…
On my last visit here it was wet so it was a great pleasure to see it in the sun. I had decided before leaving to start with drawing to get myself in the groove. It was a good move I now feel as I enjoyed trying to catch the bustle of this very touristy town. Once the rough pencil outline was in I set about putting the key figures in. I have learnt over the years this is a good approach for me as I tend to get lured into overstating the architecture.
After a long coach drive we arrived in St Martin on the Ile de Re too late to paint. Next morning I was up early ready to go. I started to paint the harbour but it all went wrong… I don’t often tear up watercolours on the spot but I did this time. Slightly despondent but still as ever a sucker for punishment I set about a much harder subject. I had to be very quick as the light was on the move. From the start I simplified as much as possible and just focussed on the way the light was falling. My confidence restored a little I then retired for breakfast and strong coffee! 9in by 6in Watercolour.
With some trepidation I then set out on my first oil painting of the trip. I had nearly not packed my oils, but in the end decided to take only small boards and my 10in by 8in pochade. I had painted this square before in watercolour so I knew it was a reasonable subject. I forced myself not to rush and after drawing spent a fair while getting the tone relationships between the tree shadow, sky and lit wall right while still leaving enough headroom for a strong highlight. The sky had to be an unexpected tone for all that to happen so I’m glad I took the time. In any painting there tends to be a key relationship that needs to be just so. Spotting which one is key is another matter though. 10in by 7in oils.
My confidence boosted I set off up the town to do another. One nice thing about revisiting a destination was that I knew where some decent locations were and so didn’t have to spend time wandering and looking. Once again I looked at key tone arrangements and decided the church tower and sky relationship was the one to get right. Again the sky had to be a weightier tone than I would have painted it if I had just jumped in without thinking properly. 10in by 7in Oils.
Next day I decided pen drawing was the way to go especially as this view could be drawn from the shade. Usually with pen drawings in the UK I would lighten the sky but here the heat and intense downward light on the ground made the relationships quite different. I think this is where I went astray on my previous visit. The only tricky bit on this was the road it would have been very easy to overdo the cobbles. Pen and Ink.
I took two goes at this as the light moved too quickly and I was in a rather exposed position partially blocking the pavement. I might do a studio one of this as I’m pleased with the overall feel but some bit of drawing are a little erratic in scale which undermines the feeling of distance. 10in by 8in Watercolour.
We had sea mist on a couple of days which was a real challenge. This is the gate to the prison. I should have stood to do this but made a poor decision to sit. I dislike the way nearby figures loom tall from this viewpoint and it undermines the scale of distant features. I was however pleased with the general mood. 9in by 7in Watercolour.
As I walked further on the mist withdrew and once on the beach the light took on a fascinating character. In the Ile de Re the tide goes out for miles with the sea completely on the horizon. Only a few figures wandering in the shimmering heat punctuated the scene. I had considered painting a boat to two but didn’t have the will, so I set about doing this on a tiny board. As I worked a transit van belted past me across the mud and sand going out to the mussel beds, the tracks it left made the perfect lead in! I had to draw this quickly to a close as I and my tripod were slowly sinking into the wet sand. 8in by 5in Oils.
Another day and more morning sea mist. So difficult to keep the tones under control with this. The mist kept coming and going in waves so one second everything was ghosted and the next watery sunshine was breaking through. Very difficult but great fun to attempt to paint. I put a little too much colour but I was worried it would take on a wintery northern feel so went a little too far the other way. 10in by 8in Oils.
Later the same day I reverted to the pens as they do those middle of the day subjects quite well. Again I found myself using the paper colour more than I would at home, which certainly speeds things along. This is the back door to the prison and part of the wonderful defences of the town that were ordered to be built by Cardinal Richelieu, though what you see here was built by the famous engineer Vauban in the 1700’s. Pen and Ink.
I am not a fan of harbours full of boats but as I sat eating my baguette I suddenly saw in my mind’s eye a way of rendering the mud. Unfortunately all the rest had to be drawn before I could put my theory into practice. I have to note the only boat so far! Pen and Ink.
This is the sadly war damaged church. I had avoided drawing it before as aside from the main tower it is such an odd mish mash of repairs and alterations. Drawing doesn’t get much harder than this! Pen and Ink
It has come a tradition to go out and do nocturnes and this is my effort on the last evening. You never quite know what you are going to get until next day when you see your effort in the daylight. I was quite pleased that other than a vibrant streak of green in the sky I had more or less got things right. Probably more by luck than judgement though! 10in by 6in Oils.
Here we are further North in Port en Bessin in Normandy. It is a busy working port and a welcome contrast to the touristy Ile de Re. The change in the light from being a couple of hundred K’s North was striking. This needs some figures to cut across the cars but I doubt I will ever bother to actually put them in. It was very breezy and I had to hang on to the easel the whole time. 10in by 8in Oils.
There are wonderful boat repair yards in the town which patch up the chunky fishing boats that ply the channel. I had to sit peering through the railings to do this, Pen and Ink.
The town has hills each side of it which give great views of the town and outer harbour. I had decided to relax and just draw during the day and only paint in the evening when the light was best. Pen and Ink.
The same view but later and further down. A hard subject and stretching the limits of pen and ink. Here I used my wide fude fountain pen the block in the large areas of dark. I have added this and a brush pen all made by Sailor in Japan to allow me to get a different feel and add weight to some of my pen drawings.
The next evening actually down in the town but the same view. I used the fude a lot in this it certainly speeds the work and gives a bolder less delicate feel to the end result.
A before supper painting as the sun dropped, very hard to get the tones right to give some idea of the dazzling light. Oils 10in by 8in.
Here is the same view after supper and a bottle of wine! 10in by 7in Oils.
I had been chiding myself for avoiding the fishing boats in the harbour so I went out to assuage my conscience. Not as painful as I expected as I took my time and got the basics of the drawing properly resolved before painting. 11in by 9in watercolour.
Finally a visit to Bayeux, I love the fine cathedral and how it stands over the very fine town. So that’s it back to battling with the summer greens in Dorset!
