July Challenge

For July it was my choice of subject and I chose the following, a photograph I took some time ago. For newer readers (!) Mick or Michael Carney and I, good friends after meeting on a Charles Reid workshop three years ago (is it that long?) alternatively select a photograph each month and paint our version of it. We then display the results on the blog. Micks blog is www.thepaintingstruggle.blogspot.com/  We shall meet again hopefully at the May 2013 Charles Reid workshop at Stow-on-the Wold. 

Dundas, a spur off the acqueduct which is very popular with canal boats. I have painted here plein air several times.

18" x 12" Fabriano Artistico 140lb (300gm) not

As you can see I pretty much followed the photograph, except where I changed the colours of the trees to brighten them up and create greater contrast. Colours used varied from Cadmium Red Pale to Ultramarine Blue. Cerulean also featured on the boats. The red of the people is Cadmium Red Pale. The browns are Hookers Green (Graham) with Burnt Sienna. There is some yellow, Hansa Yellow Medium (Daniel Smith PY97) in the background. I deliberately didn't make the water too dark and used some white gouache to help with the reflections, which I finalized on the following day. Throughout the Escoda travel brushes were used.

I  painted this at an AVA indoor session earlier in the month. We couldn't go outside because of the appalling weather. It was suggested by Jan that the boat looked as if it was going uphill. I couldn't quite see that but I altered the bottom slightly afterwards to take account of this. The only other change I made, again the following day, was to darken the foliage, adding Ultramarine to Hookers, on both the left and right hand sides. My thinking here was to create greater recession. This was my first and only full attempt at this subject. I didn't think I could do much better, although would have preferred a more radical approach, so left it at that.