Latest Ealing Watercolour.

I haven't had my paintbox out since before Christmas, and only then to make a couple of Christmas cards, and that doesn't really count. This really is a bit remiss of me considering that I definitely felt I was improving with my watercolours during the summer, after I produced a couple of paintings that I was really very pleased with during the 30x30 Direct Watercolour challenge in June. And for that matter, while it isn't going to enable me to retire early, sales of prints of my Ealing paintings from last summer in my Etsy shop have been jogging along quite nicely, thank you very much.

But you know how it is. During term time if you don't paint at the weekend you certainly aren't going to be able to in the evenings. There's too much to do, and to be honest, even if there weren't I hate painting in artificial light. On school term weekends I've been too knackered, if I'm honest. It's a funny thing to explain. It's not physical, but painting - whether in acrylic of watercolour - demands mental effort from me. This is why I've been drawing in ink so much in the evenings and weekends since Christmas. That's not effort. I'm not bragging, but it's almost automatic. I can sit in front of the telly, and produce a sketch while I'm watching a long show, or a film. I can't do that with a painting. Mind you,  do like to listen to the radio while I'm painting.

So, to cut to the chase, I sold a few prints last week, and so I had a look at the Ealing paintings. There were 11 of them. Hmm - thought I - one more and you've got a calendar. Well, look, I've gone down the calendar route before, and to be honest it's a lot of effort for a small return in a very small selling window. But the idea of adding another painting to me Ealing range was very appealing. I had the hwyl yesterday, and so I went for it. This is the result.

This is a piece of sculpture by Judith Bluck which stands outside an entrance to the Ealing Broadway shopping centre. It was unveiled by her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1985. I would move away from Ealing the following year, but I've always liked it.

I will admit that I have taken a few liberties with the colour. The statue is bronze and is far, ar more brown than green, But having said that I am very pleased with the effect that I've got on the horse's head, and look, it's a painting, it's not meant to be a photograph. 

I did sketch the statue from a different angle a few years ago:-

but at least this time I used a different reference. In a few of my other Ealing paintings I used the same photo reference that I'd already used in an ink sketch.