AVON GORGE

Spent  a good couple of hours with Tom Hughes painting the Gorge from near Clifton Suspension Bridge.
The second work from that vantage point. The light had been good but  went a bit flat in the late afternoon.

Newgale Sands, Pembrokshire

A sunny blustery day.

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Ink drawing and Watercolour.  Partially painted with a Chinese calligraphy brush 

16" x 8" (Sold)

I'm running a day  'plein air painting' course "Painting Ancient oaks"  at Great Chalfield Manor on 22nd July, to paint mainly trees. (places are still available  - Hope the weather is  as good as today!)  
Details can also be found on my painting website www.andrewptaylor.co.uk

Two studies of the Thames : Waterloo Bridge to Blackfriars Bridge

Done last 2011, the Shard not yet finished. Both times it was extremely windy, wind gusting up the river and very hard work. These feel like they need  a lot more practise.    (Top 14" x 10"  -    Lower 12" x 10" Oil on panel)

'Evening sky with Mayflower and Rapeseed'

 'Evening with Mayflower and Rapeseed' field atop Lavington Hill, edging Salisbury Plain. There could be a lot more white may blossom on that bush but the light went suddenly, perhaps I'll still add some more.        Oil on card (10.5" x 8")

JANUARY SNOW Cows, and willow trees

The painting below had a tricky beginning. I'd forgotten my double-dipper so had to paint with pure white spirit and no oil medium - the cold and fine snow seemed to affect the texture of the paint so it felt quite dry despite liberally using the wet spirits. 

 Cows at the watertank in snow, and Willow Trees

The following day, going back to do a little more to the above, the cows proved a problem. They came right up to the  two-strand electric fence, gazing curiously at me and bellowing frequently. A bull with a ring in his nose and steaming nostrils joined them and when he bellowed he had a destinct tenor tembre to his, whereas the cows and full blown bass voices. Odd that!

Looking towards Little Cheverell

All this was unerving and I couldn't really concentrate standing two feet from the fence, with 20 ton of cattle steaming so close to my elbow, so I did the painting above, moving off about 20 ft (observing the  1ft per 1ton, safety rule:) and standing with my back to them  - still unerving and checking  behind me every now and then!! This time mislaid my rigger, an essential  brush, for lines and detail, so the painting hasn't reached  a successful conclusion.

Then I was facinated, watching a small flock of starlings flying back and forth, like they weren't sure where best to settle. It looked a primal landscape, more like from a Bruegel painting, hardly like England.

WILTSHIRE LANDSCAPE in Stained glass

The panel finally assembled. I'll try to post some details later.

........ more detail

Towards Bath, From Redhorn Hill

One of those amazing clouds (with a silver lining), the sun just behind it. on a very still evening in the summer, I just had time to paint it before it changed too much.
(9" x7" oil on gesso panel)

Bristol Plein Air Meet -

CLIFTON GORGE

Above Wayne Attwood, Tom Hughes and Valerie Pirlot at work. It was  a stunning view working against the light.
Several of us met 'under the PAS Umbrella', in Bristol for the day on Saturday 29th Sept. (Thanks for reminding me Valerie)
I'd been very busy but decided to make the day out. It was a bright sunny day and perfect for the occasion. I arrived about  noon, a little late, just as people were putting finishing touches on their paintings of the Supension Bridge.
I did a rushed piece of the bridge view, but that needs a little more attention before I decide to post it. Sometimes rushed pieces are great, but this one perhaps not. In the afternoon we worked facing the North view.

It was  a great day, good company and cameraderie,  exchanging valuable painting and equipment tips  .......
i.e. Valerie's versatile adjustable painting transporter, and Tom's credit card paint scraper - ingenious. We ended up in a nearby pub in Clifton Village (having missed the last coffee shop) to discuss the day and agreed we should it again before too long.
Will try to add more photos later ....................

Painting after Titian

The White Horse Opera set painting project has come to an end and the show, La Traviata  (set in Paris 1910) started last night.   In addition to the 12 post impressionist paintings used to set the atmosphere of the scenes in the opera, I copied a Titain, "The Entombment, to hang in the lasts act as Violetta dies from consumption (happy stuff some operas, but fab music!).  In this final scene all the paintings are turned to the wall as her apartment is being closed due to her declining health and fortune. But this one painting can still be seen hanging.
The director had asked for a religious painting and I chose this, partly because I'd made a tiny copy of it years ago (about 6"x 8") and because it sets a suitable solemn and compassionate mood.

Titian's wonderful work, squared up for copying.

Initial drawing on  a rather blotchy overpainted ground. 

94cm x 64cm

 I had initially started painting very loosely recalling Ruben's method of putting in white impasto highlights early on, loosely applied. I went  a bit over the top, but was just experimenting and couldn't stop myself. It was  a mix of  home made Titanium white, some varnish binder (dammar maybe) in egg tempera mixture, which I'd  had in the freezer for years.

Starting the colour using oils. It was a pretty rough start causing a bit of difficulty later in taming it down.

So I  had to back pedal and wrestle with it a bit to bring in a bit more accuracy.

My more or less finished copy below, I can see lots still needs doing, but out of time but it and it does the job.

 I've always looked long and hard at Titian's work (and others) and  now realize I have been actually absorbing something and could begin to usefully use some of his methods from memory.  Being restricted by time, and not wanting  slavish copy but more capture a feeling of his style, perfect accuracy wasn't the goal.
To sum up .....One rarely gets a chance to copy an old master painting. After starting working from a book reproduction, I went to the National Gallery to look closely at the Titians and realized that it was essential to see how he built up the drawing and laid the paint on in various ways, scumbled layers and glazes etc. So when I returned I could see where I'd been going wrong, drawing rather dark hard lines instead of building up the drawing with softer siennas, particularly noticeable with his depiction of hands. The Madonna below is one of my most favourite paintings. Everything is so softly even blurrily painted, and the glazing like nothing else I've seen, so many thin colours blending and picking up the  canvas texture, particularly over the blue gown. Most of the shadow in the gown was added later in multiple glazes.

Virgin with Child (National Gallery)

 Some of Titian's later work can be  incredibly loose. ie "The Death of Actaeon" (National Gallery)

 But his earlier work is more precise combining a confident looseness juxtaposed with incredible delicacy, particularly in the drapery of the figures. One of the finest bits of painting is in the Bacchus and Ariadne painting (National Gallery) - in the lower LH corner is  a crumpled yellowish cloth with an urn tipped on it's side, engraved with his name. If you  can get there to see it take a look at the way that cloth is painted. No photos can really show that but here is the  detail to show one what to look for. One needs  to get up close as possible to see it, but stay behind the rope security!