![\"Battersea,](\"http:\/\/www.treeshark.com\/BlogPosts\/Painting\/oil51L.jpg\" "\\"Battersea\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nThis was an expedition with the brass monkeys. I was by the river by about 11 am and the light was dull but had a certain atmosphere so I set up to paint.\u00a0I had been going about 45 minutes when the sun came out… often this is a bonus bringing the scene to life, but this time the scene changed so much that\u00a0it was either stop or start another. This is nice enough but will probably be scraped and something better painted on top. I actually rather like painting on\u00a0panels that have a few underlying attempts, seems to add a little history to the new painting.<\/p>\n
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Here is a scene that has been painted by many an artist. I should have resisted as the world doesn’t really need another daub of this view.\u00a0Once on site however with the sun blasting on to the water I couldn’t resist. Nice enough, the colours were really quite odd with the sun leaching\u00a0the saturation from everything with its dazzle.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n I snatched the time to do this watercolour. I have been doing many an oil of the city but hadn’t done many watercolours so this was a challenge.\u00a0The thing with the medium is you only really get one chance, mistakes are hard to correct. This was started with a single wash leaving just the\u00a0lights and the road markings white paper. I wanted the lights to be shining but also wanted the rest not to be too dark and heavy. As I was studio\u00a0bound I had the luxury of breaking for cups of coffee while washes dried. Something I find frustrating outside on dull winter days when your first washes\u00a0take an age to dry.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n I have been experimenting with hand held painting as you would not be allowed to set up an easel anywhere like this. Hand held however you can\u00a0put your back to a post and paint nearly anywhere. I was quizzed by two police officers as to what I was up to they let me carry on. For this one I\u00a0just clipped my board to the palette with dog clips. There is a bit of awkwardness at first getting all the paint out and stuffing you pockets with likely\u00a0colours and rags, but on the whole it was easier than holding my small pochade. The trickiest thing was that I kept running out of palette space, but on the\u00a0whole surprisingly practical. I had to work very swiftly as the light was good only briefly. I had planned my venue so had the drawing already there from\u00a0a previous visit. I got all the main building tones blocked in and a few bits of detail just to indicate. You can always finish off windows etc later. The\u00a0main thing I wanted to get down was the distant view of Big Ben and the wonderful changes of tone and colour in the road and pavement. I put in cars\u00a0some of the people later but just noted down how the shadows went. Below is a snap of my set up.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n Another hand held expedition, a scene I have painted a few times in morning light but this was the other end of the day with the office workers headed\u00a0home and crossing the street to the station. I got all of this done on site though my arm was aching after nearly an hour and a half. One good thing\u00a0about painting London taxis is you know another will be stopped in the same place a few minutes after the previous one had driven off! I noted in the\u00a0figures intending to refine them from references, but I sort of liked the way they turned out so this time I left them be. I used a head torch to help see\u00a0what I was doing, but there is so much ambient light on the street I hardly needed it.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n A wonderful day out by the river at Rotherhithe. I was the lone Brass Monkey alas but the day more than made up for it. This scene started in flat grey\u00a0light but as I worked the sun started to break through suddenly lighting up different parts of the river and buildings. The timing was good as I was at\u00a0just the stage where I could dash in bits as the cloud shadows passed over. The wind was wickedly cold and piercing so after this I had to retire to\u00a0the pub for beer and sustenance.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n