Watercolours too?

In one of my earlier posts I made the point that I'd only ever used water colours in the past, and frankly hadn't been at all pleased with what I came up with. The basic problem I still feel is that I don't do delicacy and subtlety very well at all.

Another of my daughters, Jenn (I have 4 altogether, and 1 son) gave me a small watercolour field set for my birthday, and so I had a go at a couple of paintings. This is the first : -

Swansea Mumbles tram

I think that this has some good things and some bad things. The tram is quite well painted, and a real contrast to everything else in the picture. The water actually looks better than it does in this scan, and the sky is not grey as it appears here. But I'm afraid that while it worked painting the tram itself boldly, as I would use acrylic, I don't think for one minute that it has worked anything like as well painting the tracks and the foreground. The rocks in front of the tram aren't very good at all in my opinion.

As for the subject matter, the Swansea and Mumbles railway - which became the tramway - was the world's first ever passenger railway. It was horse drawn when it opened, and it did so a good few years before the Stockton and Darlington Railway - some of whose services were steam locomotive hauled - opened for business. The council, with the foresight councils have shown since time immemorial, decide to pull up the tracks and junk the trams back in the 60s.

Update - This picture has since been bought

This next one is based on memories of my first trip to Wales in 1976. As a mad keen steam nerd I was desperate to visit Dai Woodham's scrap yard, and finally did so at the grand old age of 12, having bedgered my parents into taking me and my brothers on a day trip excursion. Woodham's became a mecca for steam enthusiasts throughout the 70s and 80s because, like many independent scrap yards, they bought many locomotives and wagons from British Railways, when they stopped using steam locomotives and tank engines in the late 60s. Unlike all the others, Woodhams put off cutting up the engines for years, concentrating on cutting up hundreds of coal wagons first.

Great Western Railway Locomotive - Barry Island c. 1976

Now, as a painting this had got good points and bad points. I used the watercolours as I would use acrylics, and this has worked well in places, and not so well in others. The grass is very vivid, and I like it. I also think that the lower portion of the front end of the engine with the buffers, and the cylinders is very good. The rusty boiler though has too much of a contrast between the main body with the rust, and the shadow. It's a shame, since it's not that far off being a decent painting.

Update - Jan 2016 - This painting has since been sold