Evacuee Project

Taking a break now. Here's two photographs showing what I've done this morning: -

You can see that I've started painting in some of the detail of the far wall, which allows me to put in some figures on the far platform. It's also had the effect of bringing out the man in the light brown coat on the far left a little as well. The painting at this stage is still dominated by the pink wash that I gave the canvas before I started.

More work on the far wall, and the far platform details, and at last it is really starting to look like a railway station. Still worried by the pinkness of the background, I painted a large section of the far wall white, which is just something I can paint over, but I've got the perspective wrong, and will need to correct that before I go much further with that wall. 

Update: 6:31 - That's it, I've finished for the day. I might do some more tomorrow, otherwise it will be Wednesday. There's still an awful lot to do, but we are getting there.

Now that the green building on the far platform has been painted in we're losing ore of the pinkness, which is all to the good. The figures on the opposite platform by the green building are really helping to make the station feel more crowded. Also I couldn't resist starting to block in where the station clock is going to go. 

The Evacuees - Wednesday evening

Here's the latest photo of my Evacuees painting. I'm going to start work on it again a little later this morning, but this was taken after two hours work on Wednesday evening at the Artists Group

Project - The Evacuees

Having finished the brewers dray I wanted to leave behind horses for a bit and go back to steam engines. I was researching, looking at photographs, and I found several taken in stations at the start of world war II when children were being evacuated from the big cities. I'm a Londoner originally myself - although unusually both my parents, born in the first few months of the war, stayed in London for the duration. So I do take an interest in London in this period. So I decided that my next painting would tell a story, something about the horrible experience of waiting to get on the train for God alone knew where, which these children had to undergo.

Last time out I used a light blue wash on the board before I started. This time I want to see what the effect will be of using a light red/pink wash.

Here's the photo I took after my first two hour session on Sunday last: -

This is an experimental painting which I'm making very much for my own amusement, and so I didn't sketch out the whole thing before starting, which is something that I'd normally do. Here's the 'star' of the painting if you like - a very apprehensive little schoolboy, waiting in a bustling Paddington Station.

I took this one after a two hour session on Wednesday Evening at the Artists' Group. Though I say it as shouldn't I'm really happy with the second figure, a slightly older boy, trying to affect a little nonchalance, not letting on that he's as scared as the other.

The figures aren't floating in space now, after a three hour session today. I've sketched in some background details, although still not everything. The gloominess of the greys and blacks is appropriate to the subject matter, I think.

Finished painting: Vintage Brewers Dray

2 hours' work on Wednesday evening, and another hour today saw the dray finally finished. Here it is - with the previous photo as a comparison: -

I haven't lightended the horses between the two photos - but used a flash for the second.

Vintage Horse drawn brewers dray

Not finished yet but I reckon I've spent about 10 hours altogether so far in 4 sessions. Here's the photographs I've taken during the process

I originally planned to stop when I sketched this on the canvas last Saturday, and not start again until Wednesday evening with the art group. Couldn't stop myself.

For once I decided to put a thin acrylic wash onto the canvas, although I left the rider's apron and the horse's pasterns white. I felt that blue would give me the best base for the painting. I've already painted in the figures on the left, and I'm very pleased with them. 

I carried on painting on the Sunday as well. I'm pleased with the effect of painting on top of the blue wash, and trying hard to stick to the plan of painting from the left to the right. However, I couldn't deny myself the pleasure of painting in the body of the dray.

This is where I stopped on Wednesday evening. I've done a lot of wok on the horses, and started on the wheels of the dray.

This after about half an hour's work today, painting in details of the horse's harnesses, more work on the dray body and wheels

Where I stopped today after about 3 hours. More refining work on horses and dray, and the pub is virtually completed. Alight wash has been applied to the building on the right, and I've started painting in he brickwork.