![\"telegraph](\"http:\/\/www.treeshark.com\/BlogPosts\/Water\/Water145L.jpg\" "\\"Peyps")
<\/a><\/p>\nBefore we get out and about the latest one of my series of \u00a0London studio watercolours. I wanted in this do a very ordinary street on an ordinary day,\u00a0not from masochism, \u00a0because often I think such scenes are very beautiful but because they are so familiar that they pass unappreciated both by me and\u00a0others who live with such scenes. In truth there is nothing “ordinary” in our world it is all astonishing and I have to remind myself now and again to try\u00a0and see it that way. The temptation here was to exaggerate the colour but I determined in advance not to do that. The road is Peyps Road on Telegraph Hill.<\/p>\n
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This is from an outing with the Brass Monkeys. The early light was wonderful and I spent a very content couple of hours painting this. I got the balance\u00a0of dry underpainting and more succulent strokes better here than I often do. One of the problems of oils, I find, is the whole thing getting too slippery\u00a0so starting dry seems a good idea. Here I only put on the more juicy stuff at the end.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n Not a success this one but not a total disaster either. One of those where the end result wasn’t so hot but the process of doing it was very valuable. The\u00a0scene is very challenging drawing wise and tonally as well. I didn’t quite get the tone relationships right but not a bad stab at a difficult subject.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n The first day of Steve’s “Painting Fest” This was just outside Churtsey on the Thames. The light was glittering and it was hard to catch the sharp\u00a0clarity of the day. It may be a mistake, but I always try to paint the actual sky that the day presents, others seem happy to substitute an often more\u00a0appealing one, which is perhaps something I should occasionally consider. The rest of the day did not go well with three oils that are destined to\u00a0be scraped.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n Some snaps to set the scene!<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n This is the Thames at Shiplake. I slightly overworked the right hand tree, I probably should have painted countershapes to give variation. As it is the darks\u00a0a little too unvaried and look drawn on top rather than integrating with the whole picture.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n I did one other drawing which didn’t really work, then did this at the end of the day, a very quick sketch but it will be a useful aid to do a studio painting.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n Here is Mike Richardson being threatened by swans…<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n Here we are at Staines, I think the pub is called the Swan. Another glorious un-March like day. The sharp contrasts attracted me here, I experimented\u00a0on the palette to ensure the whites would have the required punch when set against the sky tones.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n This is a crop of a 1\/4 sheet the light wasn’t really good, in fact it was about right as I was packing up to move on. The background got too fragmented\u00a0I would have been better allowing it to merge more into atmospheric confusion. I might have another go in the studio.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n Last one of the day this was looking into the distance as the sun set, I had to be quite quick but it had a lovely feeling drenched in warm light.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n Here is Graham Davies concentrating hard. He is fairly new to plein air, but made huge steps forward during our few days painting. It was a delight to paint\u00a0with someone who is so keen and determined to master the tricky business of working en plein air.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n This is Sonning, the light was tricky at first with hazy sunshine. This was a bit of a battle, I didn’t entirely win. A foreground boat would make the picture\u00a0work\u00a0better but the one\u00a0just through the arch, which would have been perfect, was too fast for me and I didn’t get my camera out quick enough!<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n