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Chelsea, Centenary Champions

by on May 3, 2012 in Commissions, English Scenes, Football and Rugby Prints, Limited Edition Prints

Stamford Bridge

Chelsea, Centenary Champions

After watching on television Papiss Cisse’s two wonder goals last night against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, I was reminded of my one and only visit to Chelsea’s ground.

In 2006 two of my clients who are Chelsea fans, commissioned me to do a watercolour painting of Stamford Bridge where they are season ticket holders. They invited me to a match so that I could get suitable reference of the fans going to the ground on match day to enable me to produce a painting similar to my successful Toon Army print. I arrived at the ground a couple of hours before kick off so I could do some sketchbook studies and take suitable photos to use as reference.

Chelsea are known for playing in blue, so it was important to repeat the colour throughout the painting, not just in the tops that the fans were wearing but also in the sky and elements of the stadium. It was a bright, sunny day, so I began the studio painting with a gentle warm wash of Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Lemon to set the tone and mood for the painting. I deliberately kept the brush marks crisp and sharp to keep the architectural elements of the stadium defined and strong. This provided a contrast to the more fluid rendering of the figures making their way to the ground.

The clients decided to reproduce the original watercolour as a limited edition print titled Chelsea, Centenary Champions which is available on line with only 95 copies in the edition. Papiss Cisse describes his second goal against Chelsea as his best ever. It has to be of the contenders for goal of the season.

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Manchester in the Snow

by on July 22, 2011 in English Scenes, Football and Rugby Prints, Painting on Location, What's on the Drawing Board

Manchester in the Snow

Manchester in the Snow

In 2009 I was exhibiting at Manchester’s Buy Art Fair. I decided to do an original watercolour of one of Manchester’s famous architectural landmarks, the Printworks that overlooked the venue of the Art Fair that year, the Urbis building. A number of weeks before the fair I spent a weekend in Manchester when it rained for much of the time. I managed to do a very “wet on wet” study of the Printworks which helped to capture something of the mood and atmosphere of the city. Along with the reference photographs, I was able to start on the studio painting.

Before embalming on the finished painting, I did an A5 study of one of the figures I planned to place in the painting, a rather portly gentleman sheltering under an umbrella. To make sure the painting was going to work, I then did an A4 watercolour on hand made paper with a deckled edge which I used to refer to for colour and composition.

You will notice of the photograph of what’s on my drawing board, a book on Adolphe Valette, a French Impressionist who lived in Manchester for several years and is best known as L.S. Lowry’s tutor. I went to see some of his stunning paintings at the Manchester Art Gallery which I have to say were a real inspiration. The moody, foggy scenes that Valette painted helped me to decide the palate which I ended up using which involved a greater use of Lamp Black than usual.

The small painting of the large man sold almost straight away when on display at the Buy Art Fair and a few weeks later I sold the large studio watercolour to a customer in Manchester which is also available as a limited edition print. The A4 original watercolour study, however is available online.

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Thames Sunrise

by on July 18, 2011 in English Scenes, Football and Rugby Prints, Limited Edition Prints

Thames Sunrise

Thames Sunrise

On Saturday evening I watched an interesting documentary on BBC 2 about the impressionists. I enjoyed it because it was refreshingly light and informative, not just about the artists themselves but about their working methods, techniques and influences. Towards the end of the programme, the presenter, Waldemar Januszczak went to London where Monet and Pissarro spent part of their lives painting different aspects of the city. Monet’s moody paintings of the Thames are well known, particularly those which capture low sunlight and I was reminded of my own paintings of the City of London.

The painting above depicting a Thames Sunrise was painted in 2005. I wanted a painting of contrasts, the linear form and structure of the skyline, contrasting against the fluid, loose washes of the sky and water. Also I wanted the painting to be full of light, not just from the sun breaking through the low lying clouds, but also the last remnants of the artificial light being produced by the city itself before being switched off to be taken over by the full light of day.

This giclee limited edition print has been faithfully reproduced from the original watercolour which was painted on Fabriano Esportazione, a very expensive hand made paper from Italy.

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London Eye

by on July 1, 2011 in English Scenes, Football and Rugby Prints, Limited Edition Prints

London Eye

London Eye

London is full of incredible architecture from so many different periods in history. The London Eye has taken it’s rightful place as an iconic symbol of the Thames amongst other famous landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament and Tower Bridge. It was opened in March 2000 to bring closure to the 20th Century and to herald in the new millennium.

For this particular painting I wanted to combine the new with the old and to create a strong visual contrast between the sharp, straight vertical lines of past architecture against the smooth, gentle curve of the giant wheel. By looking into the low afternoon sunlight, most of the shapes became silhouetted which gave me the opportunity to produce some intense golden colours for the sky.

The London Eye is one of two paintings I have reproduced as limited edition prints, the other being Thames Sunrise. The original will be one of the watercolours I will be exhibiting 4-9th July at the CastleGate in Newcastle as part of the charity exhibition titled “INDEPENDENCE” to raise money for OWN IT.

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Durham School v Rugby School

by on May 24, 2011 in English Scenes, Football and Rugby Prints, North East Prints

English Scenes, Football and Rugby

Durham School v Rugby School

My latest limited edition print is this scene of Durham School v Rugby School playing in the final of a mini rugby tournament. The inaugural Veterrimi IV Rugby Tournament, hosted by Durham School, took place on Saturday 23 October and despite the unrelenting rain, rugby fans turned out in their hundreds to be part of this special day. Durham School and Rugby School battled it out in the final, with the A J Dingle Trophy finally going to Rugby School.

Already 9 of these prints have sold out of an edition of only 25 signed and numbered, to parents of some of the boys who played that day, together with some being sold to the schools and members of staff. The print is available online, either unframed, mounted in a deep edged mount (seen above) or framed. It can also be seen at my studio & gallery in Ponteland.

If you have one of my prints of Durham School v Rugby School which evokes special memories which you would like to share, then please feel free to post a comment below.

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