Wednesday 10 August 2011

Winter Dawn, Thornham

Oil on Board, 10x14ins
(Click on image to enlarge)

This is my second offering for submission to the prestigious RSMA to be collected at 7.15 this Thursday morning.  I was hoping to produce 4 new paintings, but this one has taken me ages to paint, so unless I can paint another pretty complicated Brancaster Staithe subject later today after I've had my usual 5-6 hours sleep, it looks like I shall only submit two this year.  You can submit up to six, but unless you are a member (voted for and invited by the committee) you are only allowed to have a maximum of four accepted.  Last year there was what is technically known as a cock-up - they accepted all six that I submitted, then had to call me to explain their error and get me to withdraw two of my six.  So, that error won't be replicated this year as my Devon exhibition has prevented me producing enough boaty paintings.

Listen to me, dear dear, you don't want to hear all about that, you want to know about the painting itself.

The appeal for this one was not just the beautiful, piercing yellow light of dawn, with the sun rising behind the group of trees, but the amazing, fleeting light effect of the boat cabins lit up, just as if electric lights had been switched on. This made for a dramatic painting, full of visual impact, with soft, purpley darks, bluish mud and boats, all receiving reflected light from the water, and those intense yellow highlights dotted about the composition.  Very concentrated painting with subtle shifts of colour and tone - phew, I'm exhausted after the fight!

Must get to bed to rise early to attack the third painting to see how far I can get...............

1 comment:

  1. Your fight has paid off. It is an exceptional good painting (all your other paintings too). I wish you all the best with the RSMA which I understand to be the Royal Society of Marine Artists?

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