Glasgow Tram - Acrylic Project - 3

 I recall that I did say last week that I thought that I was unlikely to be able to find time to work on the tram in a school week, and I was right. Yeah, it's a pain, but painting trams doesn't pay all the bills (yet) and teaching English does.

Here's where we finished on Sunday:-

It seemed a convenient place to stop, and I'd guess it took between 6 and 7 hours to get this far. The plan when I took up my tools this morning was to firstly sketch in the rest of the outlines of the windows, paint in the remaining shop front - paint a background colour for the walls between the windows, paint in the frames, paint in the brickwork, paint in the details in the windows, do any remedial work necessary on what we did last time, and finally, if all else had gone well, paint in the roadway shadows and cobbles, sign and date the whole thing.

This is my first progress photo today

By this time you can see that I'd sketched the outlines and then immediately painted in the background colour for the walls. My feeling was this - if I painted these before I did the remaining shopfront, then the walls could dry while I was doing the shopfront, and it would be easier to paint on frames and bricks on dry paint. By the way, at the top of the photo is just shadow cast through the window by the bright morning Autumn sunshine. 

Having now completed the shop fronts I was just starting to be able to visualise the finished painting. This is a dangerous time for me. In the early stages of painting, I tend to think what I do is rubbish and want to give it up and start again. Experience has taught me the value of patience and perseverence. However this often gives way to a stage of believing that the current work is going to turn out to be the best thing I've ever done. This is invariably equally untrue. You might also notice that as well as finishing the shop fronts, I've just added some colour inside what will become the windows. 

I've painted this typically scottish kind of brickwork several times before, most notably on painting of Glasgow, but also one of Edinburgh. I love painting this kind of brickwork, the tones ranging from warm honey to bournville dark chocolate, with undertones of purples and greys. Hopefully you can see what a difference it makes when the windows have been painted in as well.

Not far off from a finish now. This is where I stopped for lunch, after about 3 hours ' work this morning. The building is complete now, obviously. Can you notice what else I did between this picture and the last? Well, firstly I lightened the green at the front of the tram, and a couple of patches n the side. I like the fact that the tram is so bright and vibrant against the more restrained building and shop fronts, but I thought it could stand to be just toned down slightly. Also, if you look underneath the tram I've done just a little work adding more shadow, and I've painted the tram lines. 

I could have stopped there. However, I do think that without the shadows on the roadway, the poor old ar looks as if it's floating somewhat. So here's the finished picture, after I put the shadow on the roadway, and added some definition to the cobblework.

It's far too soon for me to give a realistic appraisal of my own work here - it'll take at least a week before I'll be able to be at all objective, but I certainly think it's good enough to put up for sale - and that's the next thing I shall be doing with it.  At the very least I think it fares well be comparison with two of my other Glasgow street n' tram scenes - although to be fair, both of these were 16x12, not 20x16 like this one.

Beautiful Britain Drawings

 Right then, there’s urban sketches, and then there are other sketches. Putting it in basic terms, if you don’t make the sketch there and then on the spot, then it’s really not an urban sketch. I love urban sketching. However, with the best will in the world, who has 10 hours to sit in situ making a detailed sketch of a particular scene? So there is a marked difference in quality between my urban sketches, and other more detailed sketches. I’ll try to give you an example.

This is what you might get from me in terms of an urban sketch, There’s nothing wrong with that either. It’s clearly recognisable as Iron Bridge, but being a sketch, it is of necessity sketchy. Compare it with this.

Now, let’s acknowledge that the first sketch was made on A5 paper, while the second drawing was made on A3. The sketch on A5 wouldn’t have taken an hour, while the drawing on A3 took somewhere between 6 and 8 hours. Yet I enjoyed it so much that I decided to make it the first of a series of scenes of the UK which I particularly like, each carried out on A3 with the same attention to detail. So here’s the rest of them so far

London – Looking from the South bank across the Thames at Tower Bridge and the City of London

Chester – Eastgate, including the 1897 Diamond Jubilee Clock Tower

Edinburgh – Looking across the city from Calton Hill

Chester Ink Setch (A3)

 

Chester Eastgate - A3

I've just finished this sketch of Chester's famous Eastgate Clock. The clock was built on the city wall at the Eastgate to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria (God Bless 'Er!). I've been working on it, off and on, for four days. I don't recall spending so much time on a single sketch before, but it's a very intricate. detailed sketch. I'm pleased with the results, I shan't lie about it. 

My oldest daughter made a comment the other day, basically asking how I knew where to start in order to fit everything onto the paper. It made me think a bit. Truth of the matter is, I don't really have a 'method' as such. I'm a really slapdash kind of fellow, when you get right down to it. For example, I know loads of artists who will sketch out very basic outlines to get 'feel' for where the different parts of the composition will work on the paper/ canvas. Now, that makes sense to me, but I just can't do it myself. I just want to get started, and there isn't a lot of rhyme or reason to where I begin. I just dive in. Even with portraits, I start with the eyes. I've tried doin very faint outlines of the face, to get it the right size and the right position on the paper, and there's not doubt that it works. . . but where's the enjoyment in that? 

Anyway, coming back to the Chester sketch, can you guess where I started? Well, actually it was with the clock tower itself. From there I work towards the right, gradually working my way across to the edge of the paper. I didn't take any photos before I got to the edge, but this is the photo I took when I finished for the day yesterday.

When she looked at this last night, my wife made the observation that I was working the way a computer printer works. Well, not quite. But I could see what she meant in the way that I was working from the centre to the extreme right - only in my case I'd do a whole figure at a time, or a whole side of a building at the time.Even then, though, you can stull see a bare patch above the figure in the centre. See what I mean? Slapdash. 

After about an hour this morning this was where I was: -

When you're making any sketch which is much more than a quick scribble, there's always a point at which you stop worrying about whether it's going to work out or not, or whether you're going to spoil it,  and you can see that it's going to work out okay, and you can really start to enjoy it. The background beneath and behind the arch was tricky - you're working in an increasingly smaller space, and there's only so much detail you can include, but you still have to give the eye something to suggest what you want it to see. The blank space at the far left of the underneath of the arch was one of those problematical areas that you just have to worry away at, adding a line here - looking, checking, then a line there, looking, checking, and as I said, keep worrying away at it until it's good enough. 

I needed to nip to the bank and the barber's this morning, but with a solid couple of hours' work when I got back I reached this point:-

There's still a lot of blank space to the left, but I was really on the home stretch here. Most of the figures had been added, meaning that most of what was left was buildings I always feel that I'm on home ground with buildings. From here a couple more hours' work, adding up to a total of perhaps 15 hours over 4 days, and the picture was finished

Couldn't resist another Steam Engine

This time it's an LNER A2 pacific in King's Cross station.

Paddington was the closest terminus to the part of London I grew up in, and my local stations were all on the Western region - the former Great Western Railway, but I always had a thing for Kings Cross, the former LNER and its locomotive.

Zara's Metro Station

I finished the painting for Zara on Wednesday evening at the Artist's group. Here it is: -

Zara's Metro Station

To recap - a few weeks ago Zara asked me if I would paint the canopy and entrance of a Parisian Metro station. I started it, and got this far: -

Well. I did think I might finish it today - but no real chance of that. I'd rather take my time and make it as nice as I possibly can than rush it and spoil it for her. Here's where we are now: -

Horse Drawn Bus

I realised once I returned from Berlin that it has been literally weeks since I last made an acrylic painting. This is my latest, and I used several sources. It's a composite painting since the bus wasn't in the original phot of the background. I think that the two of them marry up rather well. The painting started as a desire to paint shire horses again - you may recall this painting: -

- which I made back in the Spring. I gave it to my Mother, since she said how much she liked it. I was visiting her last weekend, and admiring it in its frame. So this is what inspired me to get working in acrylic again. So, without further ado, here it is: - 

The Horse Drawn Bus

I'm quite pleased - it's certainly a much more complicated painting than the plough horses, and I'm really glad that I selected the background that I did. The overhanging leaves in the foreground are a really nice framing device, I think. 

Latest Sketches

Last week was my first full week in school since March, so I don't think I can be blamed for the fact that I only made one sketch during the week, which was this one I made on Friday lunchtime looking through my classroom window.

Still, it was a beautiful day in old Port Talbot town today, and I set off early this morning, determined to document more of the town in sketch form. First up was the Afan shopping centre at about 9am. Then I decided to try out the new sepia ink pens I bought recently, and produced the bottom sketch of the newly remodelled Port Talbot Parkway Railway Station. Fair play, the building before was pretty nondescript, but you can't ignore the bugger now. Why modern architects have this grey brick fetish I don't know, but I'm sorry, from certain angles this is a prime contender for the title of ugliest building in Port Talbot. When I'd finished it I drove up the Afan Valley as far as Cymmer, and made the sketch below of a building which is sadly derelict.

Derelict Bryn Siriol Senior Citizens Cntre

Afan Shopping Centre

Afan Shopping centre

Latest Pics and video

Well, here we all are again. I've just completed yesterday my first week back at work, and I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself.

So this morning I made this ink sketch of the old railway bridge across the Afan in Velindre: -

Old bridge, Velindre, Port Talbot

Then I made this line and wash sketch - and you can watch me making it in the video below the picture: -

Nat West Bank, Station Road Port Talbot

Here's the video: -

More Port Talbot Sketches

Station Road view from the car park behind on market day. I love this view because of the mish mash of roofs.

Port Talbot Station Road

Latest sketches

I posted a week or so ago about my realisation that I ought to be sketching other things in Port Talbot than just the best buildings, and as a result in the last week I've tried to show the town as it is, warts and all. Here are the latest sketches in the series: -

This is the bridge to the Aberavon shopping centre, currently being renovated, hence the scaffolding.

Every Saturday there is an outdoor market in the main car park behind Station Road. To be honest it is on its last legs really, but still a fitting subject for a sketch, I thought: -

Last but not least, this shows the Civic Centre and the Princess Royal Theatre from Tescos car park, and shows just how popular Sunday shopping is in the town

15 minute challenge

Right - a bit of a comedy of errors this morning. I wanted to try out my new camera set up. Also, I wanted to act on a bit of advice - basically my videos are too long. So I thought that I'd set myself the challenge of making a sketch in 15 minutes or less. I selected a photo I took in Port Talbot, set up the camera, and what do you know, I managed it. Here's the picture: -

I competed it in 15 minutes flat. Joy of joys. However . . . I thought I'd switched the camera off and I hadn't, and it recorded 5 more minutes of absolute crap. SO that video was unusable. Or so I thought.

Take two. I picked a photo that I took in Prague: -

However this time I didn't finish the sketch in quite 15 minutes. If you'd like to see for yourself, here's the finished sketch: -

and here's the video. Watch it with the subtitles since the sound quality is awful.

Later on in the day, my daughter showed me how to cut my first video. So here it is: -

Ink and Wash Tutorial 2

Here's the finished church sketch: -

St. Joseph's Port Talbot - ink and wash

I think it's rather nice - compare it with the original line sketch: -

There is a tutorial - this on works best with the sound off, the subtitles on, and at 2x normal speed.

Ink and wash - Take Two (and three)

Okay - if you read my last post you'll know that I decided to try once again to take my sketching on to the next stage - applying watercolour washes to them. My previous efforts left maybe something to be desired.

Okay - so I made this sketch of Mariners Quay, Aberavon Beach: -

Mariners Quay

Positives: - I like what I did with the sky. The shadows on the buildings are clear . I like the different shades of grey on the path in the foreground. The colours aren't too bright and overpowering either.
However: -
While, in my opinion, it's a definite cut above any line and wash painting I've done before, it's maybe still not quite where I'd like to be. So I looked closely at it for a while, and what eventually struck me is that it's a little bit over-drawn.

I'll try to explain that. If you compare this to the sketches I made on Saturday, you'll see that this is nowhere near as heavily shaded. That's helped. However, there are still some unnecessary lines here. The glaring one is the line of the distant hills - this could have been better done just with the paint itself. The railings on the left and the wall in front of the buildings on the right are a little fussy too.

So I tried to put these points into practice for my next sketch. For this one I picked a building in town which I've always liked. Here's the ink sketch: -

Talbot Road

As with the previous picture, I kept shading to a minimum. Unlike the previous picture, everything apart from the main building has been simplified. I've been reading up and watching some YouTube tutorials as well, and so decided to use different subtly different shades of blue for all the buildings apart from the main one. I did later apply some light washes of different shades once I'd painted the main building.

It's got something - as an urban sketch it's approaching what I want to be able to do. However. . . I still think even this is a little over-drawn. The main building is fine, but the foreground and background buildings, although simplified, are still too much. So I had one more go, this time based on a couple of boats I saw moored in the river just a wee way from the sea. Here's the original sketch:-

Boats on the Afan

Now, I think you'll agree - that's minimal. I made the decision that this picture is all about the boats, and so the boats were the only thing that I was going to do in any kind of detail. Only one tiny patch of shadings, and any lines not actually part of the boats are extremely light. The idea was to try to convey anything else with paint. Here's the finished painting:-

For once, maybe my first time, the paint is not overpowered by the ink, and the two media work to enhance each other. This was only ever a simple sketch to start with- but the colour makes it.

You Can Sketch Too Tutorials

I uploaded my 4th and 5th tutorial videos to YouTube today. Both demonstrate making this street scene.

If you want to look at the notes which go with the tutorial, then follow the link below and scroll down: -

You Can Sketch Too - Street Scene

More Sketches

I made this one as a tutorial on sketching street scenes for my YouTube channel, only to find that the camera had stopped recording after the first ten minutes.

I also made this sketch yesterday morning. The building is Port Talbot's original fire station, originally built in 1912 - no longer used as a fire station: -

Video Tutorials - You Can Sketch Too

I made my first two videos today. They're called "You Can Sketch Too - 1 and 2" and you can find them on YouTube. There's a link to them on the right, but also a link here: -

You Can Sketch Too 1

The first video, which lasts about 8 minutes, is not a tutorial as such - it's just really an introduction to me, and talks about urban sketching in general, materials etc.

The second video is a tutorial/demonstration of how to make a sketch of a more simple building, and shows me making this sketch: -

Urban Sketch - Brecon

Only time for the one sketch today while I was in Brecon: -

Lisbon Street Scene - finished painting

Pretty much what it says on the tin: -