Tram Man Project

Here's the latest tram painting after a session at the Artists' group: -

I'm pleased with the way that the tram itself is coming along in this painting. Not sure about the figure, but it's early days yet for this painting.

Yet Another Glasgow Tram

I enjoyed painting the last one so much that I've already sketched out the next. However, this time I wanted to put a narrative into the painting, and it seemed to me that the best way to do that would be putting a figure into the foreground. Here's my sketch onto canvas: -

I deliberately sketched in the figure with his back to the tram, and looking slightly past the viewer's right shoulder. He's got the traditional cap on, but also a collar and tie, which begs the question where's he going? He's maybe taken the tram to get there, and he's made the effort to dress up to the extent of the collar and tie, but then he seems to have a rather grim expression on his face, maybe apprehensive, not looking forward to some appointment?

This is a bit of a departure for me, combining different images to make a new image entirely. I'm unlikely to do much else with it before Wednesday.

Commission: Puppy

Hot on the heels of the Glasgow tram, I've been asked to paint this puppy. Here's the photo: -

Cute little chap, isn't he? Here's the preliminary sketch onto canvas

I'll maybe keep the background white on this one. Here's the painted dog anyway: -

Commission: Glasgow Tram

I took the painting along to the artists' group last night, and it took a couple of hours to finish it. Here's the finished painting: -

Glasgow street scene with tram

I'm pleased with the way that the cobbles turned out. Basically I laid down a wash of very light, creamy yellow, and let it dry while I added other touches like painting in the tram wires. Then I used I browny purple, and a grey blue to paint in the cobbles - different dilutions giving me pleasing different shades of each. 

Criticism: - The tram itself isn't at all badly drawn, but it's not perfect, and could have been done better. 

However, as an example of the learning curve I'm on, I have to be pleased with what I've accomplished here. Buildings and cobbles are nicely done, and I think show a lightness and delicacy of touch that I wasn't capable of 6 months ago. 

As regards the chap who commissioned it - well, we didn't discuss price before I started, and I'm waiting for him to get back to me.

UPDATE - 19/2/16 - This painting has now been sold 

Commission: Glasgow Tram: Day 2

I started early today, and continued from where I left off yesterday - the buildings. First job was to paint in the rest of the stone/brickwork, trying to get in the variation of the colours in the stones/bricks as I went.

This was taken after about 45 minutes more work. The brickwork is done at this stage, and some of the windows, although there was still a bit of work to do. Within an hour and a half of starting I'd finished this part of the painting, which you can see in this next photo, which was taken after about 2 hours. : -

By this time I'd reached street level, and I got to paint in the little car, which I really wanted to do yesterday. You can also see two of the three figures as well. As you can see, I've been using a pretty watery palette - for the background buildings at least, I pretty much completed the buildings within between two and a half and three hours of starting out today, and then it occurred to me that it might be nice to work towards a finish tonight at the artists' group. So I stopped for now - here's the painting as it is now: -

Commission: Glasgow Tram

Right, do you remember the Glasgow Tram that I painted a few weeks ago? well, when I sold it the buyer mentioned that he'd love some more Glasgow tram paintings. Cut to the chase, I've been in touch with him, and he's commissioned another. So this is the preliminary sketch for another 12x10in painting: -

Glasgow Tram

It's a more obviously city scene, and a rather newer tram.

Now, really and truly it makes more sense to me to put the backgrounds in first before painting in the foreground. But, well, I was just kind of enjoying myself with the painting today, and so after I put the sky in, I cracked, and started on the tram. This was after an hour or so's work: -

Glasgow tram after about an hour

I carried on working on the tram for at least a couple more hours, and there's still more that I want to do on it. But I also started painting in the buildings, and the rails. I wanted to at least get as far as the small car immediately in front of the tram, but my grandson arrived unexpectedly, and so I downed tools. This last photo shows how far I'd reached by the time I knocked off: -

Glasgow Tram after about 4 hours

You can always find fault with your own work, and that's probably no bad thing at all. Allowing for that, though, I'm pretty pleased with the days work , and I certainly hope that my client will like the finished product. When it's finished, that is.

Port Talbot Painting: Royal British Legion

So this is the first 12x10 canvas I've painted of Port Talbot. Here's the photo again: -

Royal British Legion, Talbot Road, Port Talbot

Now, here's the sketch on canvas: -

Royal British Legion - sketch

And here's the finished painting: -

Royal British Legion, Painting

Here's a point. The building on the left of the painting is Customs House, the building which replaced the Customs House that I painted last weekend. The original photo I took standing in Eagle Street beside the Plaza cinema, looking out to the Legion across Talbot Road. 

Small Paintings of Port Talbot: Pages DIY

OK - here's the sketch we began with :-

Pages DIY preliminary sketch

Now here's the finished painting: -

Pages DIY - finished painting

Quite enjoyed this one. Basically it's a nice, unassuming Art Deco building which I would imagine is pretty much contemporary with the Plaza cinema, which is literally about 500 yards away along the same street. When I first moved to Port Talbot it was a Vauxhall car showroom, but in the words of Samuel Goldwyn, we've all passed a lot of water since then.

Finished Painting - Lisbon Streetcar

Here it is: -

This is the painting which has taken me the longest time to complete, and it's certainly the most complicated since my Amsterdam commission. The art group like it, and though I say it as shouldn't, I don't think it's bad at all. 

Small Paintings of Port Talbot: Taibach Rugby Club

I live on the main road from Port Talbot eastwards towards Margam, and so maybe this is the reason why the road I live on has more than its fair share of interesting buildings. I've already pained the Plaza cinema, and the sadly demolished Customs House. I've also sketched out the British Legion and Taibach Library. A few yards along the road from the library is another impressive building, Taibach Rugby Club. Here's my reference photo I took last weekend: -

Taibach Rugby Club

- and here's my sketch onto canvas: - 

Taibach Rugby Club sketch - 5x7in canvas

When will I paint it? Not sure, but watch this space. 

Port Talbot British Legion

I decided against a small canvas for this one - I thought that it's time I did some larger paintings of buildings - so this is a 12x10 canvas. Now, here's the reference photo I took this morning: -

I could have gone for the 'portrait' view, which this photo essentially is. However I liked the idea of taking this one landscape, and just cutting out a large amount of the top and bottom of the photo. Here's the sketch onto canvas: -

That tall building on the far right is the replacement for the Customs House I painted yesterday. Not my cuppa tea.

Small Paintings Project

With a break in the bad weather I took the opportunity to nip out and takes some reference photos of some of the buildings I'd like to paint.In no particular order, here they are: -

This is the signal box just opposite Port Talbot railway station

Port Talbot British Legion - on the right you can just see the building that has replaced the Customs House

The Corner House: Currently Taste Bistro - and the new Port Talbot Parkway railway station

The Corner House - Currently Taste Bistro

The Former Magistrates Court - now home of the Youth Offending team

The derelict Port Talbot Workingmen's Club - empty for several years now

Taibach Rugby Club

Express Cafe Tollgate Margam

Tollgate Margam

Tollgate Margam

Twelve Knights Margam

Bar Gallois Aberavon

Jubilee Building - occupying former site of Vivian Park Hotel. You couldn't say that it's not pleasant enough - it's just a shame that they had to demolish the Vivian Park Hotel to build it. 

Victoria Road

Nisa Local from different angle

The Craddock Arms, Aberavon

In addition to these there are a few I took in the rain of yesterday : -

Barclays Bank, Station Road. Same architect as the Customs House perhaps?

Old Aberavon Fire Station. This unprepossessing building is the oldest surviving fire station building in the local area, although it hasn't been used as a fire station for a very long time.  The last I heard, the council were planning to renovate the station as an employability centre. 

Old Aberavon Fire Station

Old Aberavon Fire Station

Aberavon Local Supermarket. This one literally sticks out like a sore thumb, because it is in the middle of a group of perfectly pleasant but unremarkable residential streets of terraced houses. It gives just a hint of the sort of buildings that were destroyed in the redevelopment of the town centre in the 70s and 80s which saw the building of the Afan Centre shopping centre, and eventually the Civic Centre/Princess Royal Theatre.  I'm not blinkered about this - much of the development took place before I moved to Port Talbot, and I know plenty of people who tell horrendous tales of traffic congestion at the level crossing at the junction of Station Road and Water Street. But I can't help wondering if at least a little more character couldn't have been kept at the time.

Station Road, Port Talbot

Station Road, Port Talbot. Impressive, stately buildings, full of character. Hopefully they'll at least see out my time. 

Small Paintings of Port Talbot

Here's the original sketch of the Customs House: -

Customs House - Eagle St. Port Talbot

Here's the finished painting: -

I'm not saying it was a spectacular building - it wasn't. But hopefully from the painting you can at least get an indea of it's generally pleasing proportions and why I think it's the sort of building that leaves our town a little poorer  now its been demolished and replaced.

Small painting of a Deltic

Here's the original sketch onto the canvas: -

English Electric Class 55 Diesel Locomotive

I worked on the painting last night, and here's the result: -

Deltic - finished painting

There's always things you can find that you don't like about your paintings, Still, I do think that if you put this one alongside my first ever acrylic painting, of a steam engine, then there's reason for saying that I'm improving. In fact, let's do that: -

Now, the steam train isn't awful. But it is rather naive. I haven't yet learned to work with acrylics, the draughtsmanship, especially on those horrendous driving wheels, is not good. I haven't learned anything about blending colours together. If you look at the deltic painting, the foliage in the background is better than anything I could have done 6 months ago. Look at the steam in both. There's not a lot in the deltic painting, but what there is, arising from the middle of the locomotive, is so much better than anything in the first. There's also the fact that the steam train was painted on a larger canvas than the deltic.