Last week I decided to have another go at the Magdalen Bridge boathouse. David Pilgrim and I had already painted it but it is such an attractive view that I thought it would bear another shot. Unfortunately on 8 Aug I lost the light so decided to do a Monet and come back at the same time on a sunny day to finish it. This is how far I got. Note the Camembert parked on the palette. Dangerous business, eating while painting. The chances of absent-mindedly dipping my oily brush into the camembert are quite high but accidentally catching some Cadmium Yellow on my baguette would be worse and of course a dose of Genuine Naples Yellow (if I used it) would probably finish me off!
I returned yesterday but this time forgot my tripod. What to do? I ended up buying a slide-projector stand in a charity shop nearby for a fiver and strapping my palette-easel to it with some bits of old wire I found by the river bank. It worked:
I even had a tray to put my pochade box on.
I was relieved to get this one more or less finished but it is a bit busy and needs a more obvious focal point on which the eye can finally rest so one of the umbrellas might have to go.
I suspect that it will be the left-hand one.
Nice one Tim. You got the colours just right on this one and I love your blues and greens. I get your point about the umbrella - I think you could actually keep both if you change the colour/tone of the left one to make it less vibrant so the right one is the focal point.
ReplyDeleteTim I really like your use of figures in this painting. So many outdoor painters leave them out or render them so loosely/poorly that the painting would be better without them. But your figures are wonderful and add so much life and energy to the painting.
ReplyDeleteDoug