For the second year running I have sold a watercolour at the Mall Galleries and the same subject: a Norfolk round tower church. Could this be a clue to latest trend in popular subject matter? ...or just a coincidence? Here it is: All Saints, Freethorpe. A lovely church with a large Norman tower.
...and here it is finished - although I always look at the finished artwork the next day when you tend to be more objectve and make a few adjustments. It has, once again, ended up rather fussy and over detailed but I tend to overwork a painting when I have too much time!
I'm looking forward to the next study of the Bargate Monument.
Here is St Michael's pretty much in all its glory. Again, as with Tudor House there are no shadows to act as depth codes and so all the "modelling" is achieved through the use of subtle tones across the image. This helps to describe the architecture to the viewer and its relationship to its position and surroundings. All that's left is to make it "earthbound"!
...and of course I had to sketch a delightful church nestling on the corner of St Mary's Axe in contrast to the high tech steel and glass which dominates this part of the city.
St Michael's Church is the oldest building in Southampton still in use today. It was originally founded in 1070 and has surviving aspects dating back to this time. It is said that it survived war damage due to its spire, which was rebuilt in 1733, which was used during German bombing raids as a feature of navigation. The view I have chosen is the West end showing Norman pilaster buttresses and the 15 century doorway with marks of the original roof gable end before it was raised in 1828.
Again, there's no direct sunlight which means I can deal with subtle tones and textures in the stone and windows. This is about halfway through and has taken about 12 hours so far.
I am very excited that my new website is live! I hope that you enjoy looking round at my work and thoroughly explore the gallery area. I will be adding new work regularly so please come back and visit. I will also be blogging regularly about my interests, current work and also what is going on in the arts community of the city of Southampton where I live. Please get in touch with me via the Contact page!







