The River Medway 1825

The second finished painting inspired by JMW Turner's sketches done on the River Medway. This view along Chatham Reach shows the Naval storehouses lining the river. In the foreground an old 74 gun ship of the line is recommissioning and is moored alongside an accommodation hulk. To the right a frigate is in the process of getting underway to catch the evening tide.

Although I used one of Turner's sketches for the position of several of the vessels I have altered the viewing angle and composition to add a little depth and drama.

Evening tide, Chatham 1825

The River Medway, after JMW Turner

I have been perusing JMW Turner's Medway sketchbooks which are online at the Tate Gallery website.

A fascinating series of pencil sketches done by Turner at various times between 1805 and 1830, the sketchbooks give an insight into how busy the river was with naval and commercial traffic. They are a series of visual shorthand pencil line drawings, in the main done as reference for future work. This means they need a little persistence to decipher but with a little effort they yield a surprising amount of information. A few were worked up into watercolour paintings but most of the sketches went no further.

I could not resist the notion of interpreting some of the sketches into a painting or two of my own. I did not want to create a pastiche of the great mans work but instead use my own treatment of the basic sketch information.

My first development sketch was to select a subject and work it up using water soluble colour pencils which gave a very quick impression of a watercolour. I used a similar colour palette to Turner and his use of contrasting tonal ranges. The result was rather closer to a Turner than I had intended! Next I chose a second sketch made a few changes to the content to give a composition I preferred. I then selected a view and worked in acrylics using my usual technique. My interpretations are below.

It has been a very interesting journey of discovery and will result in more paintings I think.

You can find the Turner sketchbooks at:

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/sketchbook/medway-sketchbook-65837/23

Looking towards Chatham Hill

Colour values sketch with the Dockyard on the right

Towards Chatham Hill at sunrise

Again towards Chatham Hill with an 84 gun ship of the line

Chatham 1825 the complete painting

Watercolours

Refining watercolour skills has been taking up my time recently. In that regard I attended a demonstration of watercolour seascape painting by Geoff Hunt PRSMA arranged by the National Maritime Museum Art Club.

Geoff is one of the foremost marine painters in the world today so it was very exciting to watch him in action. It opened my eyes to some of the shortcomings of my techniques. I have been attempting apply some of the lessons learned. A few examples of my studies are below:

Clipper Hull Down

Sidmouth

Hull down on the horizon

Whistable Harbour

The Medway 1830 (After Turner's sketches)

Medway sunset

Racing for St Malo

This painting is based on an afternoon last Christmas watching a number of boats in the bay off St Malo struggling against some very gusty wind and a rising sea. I thought it would be an opportunity to push on the heavy sea painting technique.

Racing for St Malo

More Suffolk

I have reviewed the acrylic sketches I did in Suffolk and was taken by the colouring of Dunwich Heath, resplendent in its Autumnal colouring. I think I have done a reasonable job capturing the russets. The clouds were moving quickly and every time I looked up the lighting had changed.

Silver Birch on Dunwich Heath

More Birch trees on Dunwich Heath

Suffolk

A recent trip to the Suffolk coast has resulted in a few painting ideas the first of which is seen below. A stop at the Tide Mill at Woodbridge on a sunny winter afternoon was too good an opportunity to miss.

Painted on board (6mm MDF to be exact) rather than my usual canvas, it was something of an experiment. The board was gessoed first to give it a little tooth and the painting completed in acrylics. I found that initially when painting on the gessoed ground that the acrylic paint dried even more quickly than on canvas. Adding a little medium might be advisable if I repeat the exercise. Other than that I found little difference and my usual technique was up to the job.

Dream for sale, Woodbridge Suffolk

Stories from the Great War

I currently have three paintings on show as part of the Rochester Guildhall Museum commemoration of the First World War. (Plus Live Bait, 7th Cruiser Squadron 1914. See previous post).

The exhibition which runs from 24 May 2014 to 11 January 2015 is entitled
"Stories from the Great War" and looks at the impact of of the Great War on the people of the Medway towns.

My contribution is shown below.

Guildhall Museum, Rochester Hight Street

The Dawn of Flight

French SPAD over the front lines 1918

Opening the Account, The Battle of Jutland

www.guildhallmuseumrochester.co.uk