Travelling paintings

Margaret and I have been travelling around over the last couple of weeks, first over to the Norfolk Broads and then more recently down to Wiltshire. But, in between those trips, I have still been busy with teaching groups and one-to-one. The life of a working artist!

painting of norfolk cottage in the style of edward seago
Norfolk Cottage near the Sea. After Edward Seago. Watercolour on Arches 140lb rough paper 22ins x 15ins.
pen and wash painting of Pulteney bridge and weir bath
Pulteney bridge and weir, Bath. Pen and wash on Langton rough paper, 12ins x 9ins.

I would like to share a couple of recent paintings with you. Both painted en plein air, but in quite different ways. The view of a Norfolk cottage near the sea was painted at Ludham on the Broads, actually in the garden of Edward Seago’s old house, the Dutch House. The garden was open as part of Ludham Open Gardens, and a group of artists, including myself, were invited to paint in the village as part of the event. As you can imagine, it was quite a privilege to paint in the very spot where Seago’s own easel might have once stood! To make this watercolour I had to imagine a scene, as the only view actually available was of the house and garden. I used a large hake brush to work very quickly, hopefully emulating a little bit of Seago’s own loose technique. The composition is based very much on paintings of his that I’ve seen over the years. A bit of fun anyway and my thanks to Jane Seymour who currently owns the Dutch House for allowing me to paint in such a great location.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and we are currently down in Wiltshire for a break – a change of scene. Today we went into Bath for a look round this historic city. It was very warm and busy with visitors, but we managed to find a bench in the shade along the bank of the Avon. From there I had an excellent view of Pulteney bridge and weir, so I soon pulled out my sketchbook. Travelling light, I’d only taken pen and wash equipment to Bath, but that’s the perfect medium for a subject like this. It took quite a bit of careful pen work to get the bridge and surrounding buildings established, and I tried hard not to put in too much but to simplify. A few washes completed the painting, applied with a medium size flat brush, yes only one brush, using my Daler-Rowney watercolour box. Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, French Ultramarine and Cadmium Yellow were the colours used. A very enjoyable hour or so!

One thought on “Travelling paintings”

  1. Spent a long time trying to complete a reasonable watercolour of Pulteney Bridge & weir from a photograph I took earlier in the year. Unfortunately, not too much success. Perhaps I tried to include too much detail as well as having insufficient skill. More tuition required in the new year, methinks!

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