The Moat at Elstead

Not a terribly exciting image but it has some things going for it. It's of The Moat behind Elstead.

I took off for a couple of hours this morning to see if anything convinced me to paint it. After strolling around The Moat for a bit (remaining unconvinced) I decided I had to do something rather than pack it in so I sat myself at the far side of the pond, looking back on the little sandy beach.

It's not a bad representation the scene but it looks a lot better in the thumbnail than it does enlarged. Lacking crispness and a bit muddy again but I'm happy with it considering I wasn't that motivated.

It's a lovely spot, very relaxing, ducks paddling, ripples rippling, a couple of biplanes droning overhead on the way to the Dunsfold airshow. In the end, as always, it didn't really matter what I came up with, it was just nice to be out and about painting.

I might just treat this and another I did at the time as sketches and have a go at a studio image later.

Mackeral

It's too easy to get used to good weather. This weekend we forgot we were in the U.K. followed a break in the clouds and went line fishing off a boat (Kraken) out of Lyme Regis. The sea was spectacular, a gently undulating glassy surface with a seamless blend between it and the pearly cloud backdrop. Quite a beautiful and surreal experience for an infrequent boater like me.

Of course the weather borked and everyone was soaked within 10 minutes despite coming equipped with perfectly good tee-shirts and even some socks. Anyway, once you're really wet you're probably as wet as you're going to get so we carried on.The company and the fishing was pretty good though; interesting chats and enough of a catch for dinner.

Mackeral are a beautiful fish to catch (easy), eat (tasty) and to look at (stripey). Unfortunately I haven't really done them service here, E.Mc has done much better in the past. To make amends I later headed off to Tesco to have a crack at an iced one but they only had Herring. Arguably as tasty but not such a looker if you ask me.

Cliffs at Burton Bradstock

More of the crazy cliffs at Burton Bradstock near West Bay in West Dorset with the Isle of Portland in the background. This one on a really hot August day with the crowds out. Sun-cream and ice-cream as as as the eye could see.

I'm pretty pleased with this pic; It feels like the place and the paint is going down a lot cleaner than recently. I'm being more agressive with it which seems to be paying off. It's certainly a big improvement on last year's visit to West Bay a bit further west along the coast.

This one is about A5, watercolour with some gouache to help with the people (the dotty bits in the middle). Thanks to A.S. for suggesting adding more green in the summer sky, paradoxically it does feel warmer and helps remove the 'straight from the pan' quality from the F.U.Blue.

Last Year's images http://paulmcsblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/west-bay.html

Grey Day by Golden Cap

A Bleak day and quite a bleak picture. Had an hour between downpours to rattle one off on the beach by Golden Cap (Lyme Regis in the background).

I had some problems with laying down the initial tonal values so it's a bit overworked but worth doing, any practice is good practice.

Beer Garden

Some success (by my standards) though. It was a wet Sunday but later in the day the sun came out and we retied to the beer garden of the Manor Hotel in West Bexington.
Ordered cider for the first time since being a student, good choice, I suspect there's more to follow if the summer holds out.
Anyway, this pic has some annoying shortcomings but I'm happy enough considering I was 2 pints in.

The second image is a kitchen repainting I did later (for Maria and Si) which presumably relegates the first one to sketch status now. I suppose the repaint has lost a bit of spontaneity but I actually think it's a much nicer pic and captures the mood of the place more effectivly.

Coastguard

If anyone needs an image to put on a souvenir tea-towel or box of fudge then I'm yer' man.

Here's a quickie of the fields behind the coastguard cottages at West Bexington.

Later in the day I tried to recreate the feel of the place from memory. I like the way it's become more stylised but there's not much in it really. That said, the process of reimagining the scene was an interesting exercise in itself, worth doing if you get the chance.

Behind Elstead

Another empty landscape. This one is to the back of Elstead village. I 'm lucky enough to pass this way most mornings. It's pretty parched now in mid Summer but it's amazing how it changes through the seasons.

This pic' might not look much to you but I'm really happy with the way the paint is going down here and the fact that the image captures the colour/light pretty successfully. I'm going to try some other similar, simple compositions to keep paint options to a minimum and reduce the potential for messing up.

Tractor

Got pulled behind a tractor at Loseley today. Exhaust, dust and hot rubber; I love it!
This is a digital colour-up of a pencil sketch I did at the time.

Tamarisk Farm

There's a fantastic, ancient farm at the top of the hill in West Bexington. It's a ramshackle and eclectic collection of grey stone buildings enlivened by a lovely blue on the woodwork. Weather was problematic but a nice subject to work on regardless. These are pencils and (precision) felt-tip drawings given a colour treatment with watercolour.

It's sort of my fallback style I guess. A5 ish and about an hour or so to do each at the side of the road. The colour is pretty delicate and some has disappeared in the scanning, I'll have another go at them later.

The application of mechanics to the practice of Devotions

 

A bit of a legacy from my Catholic upbringing this. I managed to lose god before it was too late but it's hard to get the memories of ceremony and sniff of incense out of your sysyem. If nothing else Catholicism is always good for a spot of bizarre and dark drama.

This thing is pretentiously but very accurately titled (there is even a label on it saying): “The application of mechanics to the practice of Devotions”.

I designed it as a foolproof aid to prayer and worship, practically guaranteed to help you gain favour with all the major God figures although tuned for the Catholic Christian one from my youth. It’s quite simple really:

Instructions for use:

1. Select your saint on the top roller from a choice of the 40 most useful and popular. Padre Pio is a new addition to the line-up and a pretty good all rounder. There will be a series of collector cards to follow.

2. Genuflect (optional) and light the, now electric, devotional 'candles' using the switch provided.

3. Type your invocation using the keyset. It's a QWERTZ arrangement, Southern Europe being better attuned than the north for this purpose. Try to be brief and to the point. remember, it's a machine so there is no benefit in being overly wordy or poetic.

4. As you key, the bell chimes in time, creating a solemn and holy atmosphere. This focuses the mind and draws attention to your spiritual condition.

5. Prayers will then be answered in the normal way only moreso.

It’s not fully complete yet but so far it has proven to be extraordinarily effective as well as decorative, far better than either unassisted prayer or simple secular wall adornments.

The wings are really only there to add some ambience of the angel. From what I can tell, they don’t affect the functionality in any way. They were found, along with the rest of the crow, by an my daughter's 11 year old friend while out cycling and left on the windowsill in case I had a need. Which I did :-)

More attempts with watercolour. This time while on holiday in the Dolomites in the Autumn of 09. All of these are in the area of Ortisei in the Val Gardena and actually painted from balconies on the villa we were staying in! I'm getting marginally better (well, braver) with applying colour and am relatively happy with these but the reality is that I don't paint often enough to make significant improvements.

The night-time sketch was of moonlit clouds forming up in the Pitzberg mountains. This was incredibly dramatic at the time and even a bit creepy, just needed the cry of a werewolf to complete it. BTW the little bright dot to the right is Jupiter.

The others are looking up the valley towards the Sella Gruppe and are effectivly the view from the kitchen window!

Went all went on a day trip to London last Sept. I had intentions of doing all sorts of scribbling and drawing but once I'd done this sketch of the pillbox at the end of Putney Bridge tube station the pad never came out again. I guess I was having too much of a good time or something.