Cornwall 3

It seems hard to believe now that we crammed so much into 8 days.

As well as Sennen and the mines we ventured to the East side of the peninsular on several occasions - usually because we thought we would have better luck in poor weather with a harbour such as Mousehole.  Two sessions at Mousehole produced several rather grey paintings, the least grey of which is this one:

Falling Tide, Mousehole

I think this was the day when the wind caught the new umbrella fixed to my easel and lifted the whole lot sideways, spewing kit all over the harbour wall and propelling a tube of Naples Yellow into the water.  That brave fellow Worthington immediately dived in and rescued it for me.

On a particularly rough day, Michael Worthington and I made our way to the little cove of Porthgwarra and enjoyed some wet spray whilst painting this sort of thing:

Heavy Seas, Porthgwarra

Another postcard of the scene:

I did two more versions before we decided we were sufficiently drenched to need a cup of tea (on these occasions the Kelly Kettle comes into its own).  By that time too, the waves were actually  rising well above the horizon line.

A fine morning spent at Perranuthnoe, looking SW towards St Michaels Mount and NE into the local bay, netted Michael and I two more views.  We also had a good session at Cape Cornwall, back on the West side.  My second painting there was of the open air pool, which is refilled every high tide. 3 brave souls in wet suits tried it for a while but it was a very cold day:

The Open Air Pool, Cape Cornwall

My wish to paint the Irish Lady again was rewarded with two sessions, one a 20minute one and the other when I had more time.  The 20-minuter was necessary because I was also trying to catch the sunset from Pedn Men Dhu and had to switch at the last moment.  I like the rushed one better than the other - it has more life even though it is not topographically accurate.  First the fast one:

Irish Lady from Pedn Men Dhu (in 20 minutes)

And then the more leisurely version:

Irish Lady from Pedn Men Dhu

The sunset postcard was actually a disappointment but you only get those 5 minutes and it can go either way.

Finally a few more 6x4 postcards:

Nearing Sunset, Sennen 6x4

Wave Study 1, Sennen Beach 4x6

Wave Study With Gannet Fishing 4x6

And Zawn A Bal - as we now know that it is called.  David P made a much better job of the light on the water (see his blog) by using the side of his palette knife - a technique I intend to try next time!

Zawn A Bal, Botallack 8x10

What a trip - great company (those guys really lift your game), great place to stay (Atlantic Lodge) and superb subjects to paint. I don't even mind that it is such a long journey to get there - the anticipation winds you up nicely.

ROI Picnic

Before I post the third Cornwall report I thought I would do a quick post on the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI) picnic at Strand On The Green, Monday 28 May 2012.  I was invited as a Friend of the society - as I guess Sue Edwards was - but the rest were members or aspirants.  It was hell getting there on a Monday morning but I managed to start at about 10 am with a10x8 looking West towards the Cafe Rouge area, preceded by another of those 6x4 postcards:

The tide was falling all the time so I wandered down to the Cafe Rouge area to see what the others were doing.  I felt quite uninspired so did two more postcards of Oliver's Island (one shown here) before heading off for coffee and cake at the Cafe Rouge.

I was joined by a substantial number of like-minded people.  I think we had all found it a bit of a struggle.  The next two hours were spent sipping tea/coffee and talking about art!  We left at 5pm but I then realised that I would be caught in the rush hour so went back to the Cafe Rouge and painted it from across the road:

Cafe Rouge, Strand-on-the-Green

This might make a good subject for about 3pm on a sunny day.

Cornwall in May - Second Post

I have been having trouble with Google's new blog software in my normal browser but David Pilgrim has advised me to use Chrome, which seems to have eased the problem.  Incidentally, I was disappointed that Anneka Rice did not concentrate on David's work during the Queen's Jubilee Pageant (he was one of the 20 'chosen ones').  It will be great to see David's masterpieces - what a great souvenir of the day.

Anyway, back to Cornwall!

First Sennen beach.  Living so close, this was always a draw, so we did quite a few paintings on or near the beach.  Here are a few:

Turning Tide, Sennen

High Tide, Sennen

Against The Light, Sennen

On my last morning I went up to a spot that David Pilgrim and Mike Richardson had used and looked back down to the cove:

Sennen Cove From Near The Lookout

The weather was rarely good but we took our chances.  For Pendeen, Botallack and Levant we were quite happy with heavy seas and the occasional bit of sun to add some sparkle.  Pendeen was our first port of call and I have to admit I struggled that day but you have to go through that initial period before you find yourself in the groove.  I climbed the Enys from the back but found nothing so did this one of the light from low down :

Pendeen Light from across the Zawn

Botallack and Levant were more successful.  First Levant on a cold, blustery day:

Pendeen Watch from Levant

Looking the other way on a brighter day we captured Trwellard Zawn:

Trewellard Zawn from Levant

At Botallack the Crown Mines were once again an irresistible pull:

Crown Mines From Zawn-a Bal Headland

Before I tackled this I did one of those 6x4 postcards that I find such fun:

Crown Mines Rock Study 6x4 inches

These little things seem to have a 'presence' all of their own and are very useful as colour/tone notes.  I now carry around a box of them in case I have 20 minutes in which to do something.  I am tempted to go up to 7x5 but where does one stop?!

I still have to cover the other locations but I will close this and do a third Cornwall post tomorrow.