Marine studies

I have been experimenting with my painting techniques in both watercolour and acrylics.

Having neglected watercolours for some time I have begun to put some time in and am getting back up to speed, at the same time trying to push the technique on a little bit, the first study is quite tightly controlled but the second, a study of St Malo marina after a passing storm, is slightly looser in definition. On the whole I think the experiment worked, I now need to loosen up a little more, a few more studies should do it!

The acrylic is similarly less defined and is on board rather than my customary canvas, this makes the brushwork much more obvious, paradoxically requiring more precision.

Fishing boats at Deal, watercolour

After the Storm, St Malo watercolour

The Marina St Malo, acrylic on board

October in Margate

My recent show in Margate gave me an opportunity to do a few doodles of the seafront in the evening light. I used watercolour pencils and wash for the three sketches and watercolour with body colour for the final one.

Evening sunset glow

Late afternoon on the harbour wall

After sunset

After sunset watercolour

Fiery Sunset

Aloft & Afloat

Below is a selection of the work currently on show at the Margate Gallery.
A taster for the exhibition which runs until November 17.

A mile from Glory

An August evening near Mont St. Michel

Fighter sweep 1945

Ed White walks in space 1965

Eastbourne pier

http://www.kevinclarkson.co.uk

Aloft & Afloat Exhibition, Margate

My only one-man show for this year opens at the Margate Gallery on Friday (25 October).

Aloft & Afloat reflects my passion for machines which fly or float and includes paintings of the earliest flying machines through to the Lunar Module on the Moon in 1971.

The marine section has an historical and contemporary flavour too, together with a number of coastal studies.

The show runs until 17 November 2013.

Sketches for D-Day Commemoration 2014

I am continuing my research for a series of works to be complete in time for next years
D-Day Anniversary. I am still experimenting with treatments and colour values to achieve the final mood and texture. A quick preliminary sketch appears below.

I have also included a watercolour study done in 2011 of a visit to "Dog Green" sector of Omaha.

This sector was depicted in the movie "Saving Private Ryan". Notably missing in the film was the 10 foot seawall and road. The high bluff behind the beach is much further away and quite a bit higher too.

The first wave in the shallows

"Dog Green" Sector Omaha Beach 2011

Plein Air Painting

An area of work I have neglected over many years is painting from life outdoors. It poses its own set of challenges over and above the relatively straightforward task of capturing a likeness of an object or scene. Have you brought the right kit for the job, if not can you improvise? Is that weather front coming our way and have you settled down on an ants nest without realising it?

To get the best out of the exercise I also set myself a time limit in order to focus on the important elements only and avoid delving into too much detail.

I intend to try and make this a regular exercise in order to speed up and sharpen my technique.

Below are the most recent sketches.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich

St Jacu de la Mer, Brittany

St Malo beach, Brittany

Intramuros and fort St Malo

Fort at St Malo

A mile from Glory

The latest work is a study centred on the race to be the first to fly the English Channel in a heavier the air flying machine.

The history books will tell you that Louis Bleriot was the first pilot to cross the channel in July 1909. He was not the only one to try, another Frenchman Hubert Latham made two attempts and ditched in the Channel on both occasions, the second only a mile from the English coast.

Hubert Latham ditches a mile from the English coast.

Corvette commission

I have just delivered my latest maritime commission, an enjoyable and interesting journey it turned out to be. The  painting was a 90th birthday present for a former member of the ships crew.

HMS Rhododendron (A Flower Class Corvette) has family associations for me also. Coincidentally during research for the painting I was contacted by relatives of one of her former Captains.

The "Flowers" were the largest class of warship ever built for the Royal Navy (270 built). Very small for an ocean going warship, they rolled and pitched violently, making even veteran sailors violently seasick! They made a major contribution to winning the Battle of the Atlantic.

Below are a few selected stages of the development and then the final painting.

Initial composition,
the corvette in her natural environment.

Sketch for client approval

Main elements blocked in with underpainting

Completed work, HMS Rhododendron 1944-45

Frieze Artwork

Working with the Made in Greenwich Gallery, I have developed a number of ideas for interior design projects. Largely exploring the idea of bespoke frieze deigns for application to walls in either a paper or canvas material.

The first results are shown here:

Wild sea

Antigua

Breakers

Dunes

National Maritime Museum Art Club Annual Exhibition 2013

The National Maritime Museum Art Club Annual Exhibition is currently on show at the Paul McPherson Gallery 77 Lassell Street, Greenwich, London, SE10 9PJ.

The show lasts until Saturday 22 June and comprises marine themed paintings, drawings and prints from members of the Art Club.

I am fortunate to have three paintings on show this year. All work in the exhibition is for sale.

Canadian Corvettes in acrylics with a second corvette
 painting in the background

Officer of the Watch acrylic

Castle in the Air, also in acrylic

Aviation work

I have an exhibition later in the year which will be a combination of marine and aviation work. So at the moment I am looking at themes related to both subjects. I am particularly drawn to the early days of aviation and a number of works from that period will feature in the show, but the first subject will probably be a daring Mosquito raid on a French Chateau during World War II.

Footage exists on YouTube of the raid I wish to portray, well worth viewing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKt_SQuqQug

I have begun the preliminary work on the composition but there is much to do before embarking on the final painting.

The pose selected is from behind and slightly above.

My intention is  to capture the drama of a very low level raid.

The first attempt to capture the colour values

Port Solidor

I have begun to explore a softer slightly less finished style of landscape over a slightly textured and coloured underpainting. After a few experiments this is the first finished piece. I think the technique needs more experimentation, but on the whole I am quite pleased with the result of this one.

The location is the estuary of the river Rance in Brittany, to the left of the river mouth is the French resort of Dinard. To the right is Port Solidor and beyond the headland is the port and resort of St Malo.

Evening at Port Solidor, Brittany

Paris

We managed to squeeze a day in Paris during last years trip to France. Its been a few years since I was last in Paris so it was an enjoyable time and for once last year the sun shone. 

It was such a warm day we stayed outdoors the whole time and did all the usual tourist sites. I just had to try and record them in paint, so below is "The Paris collection 2012".

An Eiffel of sunshine

By the Orangery

Paris from the Trocadero

The Seine

Tuileries fountain

D-Day 70 years on

The 6 June 2014 will be the 70 anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. Sadly there will be few veterans left to remember it.

The subject has fascinated me since I was a boy. Two of my uncles crossed the beaches on and shortly after D-Day and it was always a treat to be allowed to look at a D-Day map of Gold beach.

So I have begun to plan a tribute of my own for next year, in paint of course. The final idea has not yet formed but I have begun a few sketches.

My starting point has been the famous Robert Capa photographs of the first waves landing on Omaha beach. Only nine frames of Capa's photographs remain, the rest were accidentally destroyed by an over enthusiastic technician who melted the film emulsions in a drying cabinet!

But those nine frames tell the story magnificently. If I can capture an essence and mood of such a momentous event in paint I will be very satisfied.

Initial thoughts on composition

A quick colour sketch, the day was heavily overcast and grey

View from the assault boats, the first wave goes ashore

In the shallows looking back out to sea

Officer of the watch

I have long had a desire to capture the activity on the bridge of a warship on convoy duty in World War II. Despite the immense search power of the internet I have found relatively few pictures around which I could compose a painting.

The reason I think is that photography was not encouraged, except on official business, security being paramount. Therefore not many pictures exist, and fewer still that fitted the pose I wanted to execute.

I managed to find a few that approximated the angle I wanted to portray, below are the preliminary ideas followed by the final painting.

Initial concept and notes

Sketch of a possible colour palette

The final painting "Officer of the watch"