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Christmas Cards

by on November 5, 2011 in Latest News, North East Prints

Since my first Christmas Card back in 1992 for the Charity Marie Curie I have regularly painted a scene of the North East to raise money for a local charity. My new Christmas Card for 2011 “Grey Street in the Snow” which is on the cover of my Christmas Exhibition Invitation, is already proving popular. Indeed one of my customers contacted me today having just received his invitation to my Christmas Exhibition and bought the original watercolour.

My Christmas Exhibition preview starts on Friday 18th November and continues on the Saturday and Sunday at my Studio & Gallery in Ponteland.  We are usually open Tuesday-Saturday 9:30-5:00pm however it is best to telephone  01661 871 800 to confirm we are open in case I am working away on location.

The new Christmas card and the others on view in this post are now available online at alanreed.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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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Central Arcade, Newcastle upon Tyne

by on July 20, 2011 in Limited Edition Prints, North East Prints

Central Arcade

Central Arcade

Newcastle upon Tyne is full of architectural treasures, one of which is the Central Arcade, a stunning Edwardian shopping arcade built in 1906 within the Central Exchange, a triangular building built by Richard Grainger in 1836-1838 to the designs of John Wardle and George Walker. I’ve painted the outside of the building on many occasions as it appears in my paintings of Grey street, Grainger Street and Market Street. Folk in Newcastle will best remember the Central Arcade as the home of J.G. Windows music. I recall going in to the basement to check out the latest rock music releases as a long haired Genesis fan many years ago!

Back in 1993 I was commissioned to do an original watercolour of the Central Arcade in Newcastle. At the time, I was doing a series of paintings of Newcastle taken from ariel perspectives. The client had commissioned two other paintings along that theme and wanted the one of the arcade to be viewed from above too. This was a challenging task, as the Central Arcade is enclosed by a glass roof and there is no public access to the balcony that is on the first floor. I managed to persuade the caretaker at the time to allow me to climb through a small window from a room that overlooked the shopping area below, for me to be able to take some photographs.

There’s nearly always somebody busking in the arcade but unfortunately on this occasion there wasn’t so a few days later I drew my son Oliver playing his violin on our driveway from an upstairs bedroom window to get the correct perspective. I was so pleased with the end result that I decided to reproduce the original watercolour as a limited edition print with only 250 in the edition.

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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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Burnham Overy Mill

by on July 15, 2011 in Painting on Location

Burnham Overy Mill is just a short walk from Burnham Overy Staithe in Norfolk. It’s a delightful area for any landscape artist to paint with the low lying land, estuaries and big skies. We’ve stayed there as a family for the last two years and I’ve seized the opportunity to paint on location, rising early to capture the early morning sunlight and often disappearing after our evening meal to take in the fading summer light.

As we were driving into Burnham Overy Staithe for the first time in September 2009, I noticed the windmill and decided to do a sketchbook study later that evening. The light was fading, so I only managed to do the first couple of washes of Lemon Yellow, Rose Madder and Manganese Blue (which was essentially the sky and foreground) before the light made it impossible to paint any further. I returned the following evening to render the windmill and distant trees. A carefully placed application of Raw Sienna in the foreground enabled me to pick out some of the bales.

A few days later I decided to do a day time scene, adopting my usual method of working on a sketchbook study and a watercolour on a 14″ x 10″ Arches Block of rough paper which is available from many good art suppliers. I’ve posted a link to the Heaton Cooper Studio website which is worth a visit.

This time the light was more consistent even though the cloud shapes were constantly moving. Again, Lemon Yellow and Raw Sienna featured, this time for the first wash. Once dry, a mix of Manganese Blue, French Ultramarine and Payne’s Grey with a touch of Purple gave me the cloud colour. I had to be careful to leave a blob of white paper for the roof of the mill and a sliver of white for its sails. Once the sky was dry, I was able to knock in the rest of the windmill, trees and bales as before.

Whilst doing this post, I’ve had fun just flicking through my sketchbook, remembering the trip and feeling inspired to paint again on location. The 14″ x 10″ original watercolour can be seen at my studio & gallery in Ponteland and is also available online.

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The Artist’s Wife, Venice

by on June 7, 2011 in Italy Prints and Originals, Limited Edition Prints

The Artist's Wife

The Artist's Wife

It was my wife Susan who first introduced me to Italy. She had lived in Venice for five years and was always enthusing about the country, its people, the culture and of course, the food and wine. We made our first trip together in 1991 and I soon found myself painting exquisite scenes on location. I was beginning to discover for myself why Italy has always inspired artists from all around the world.

Sketchbook Study of St Mark's Basilica, Venice

Sketchbook Study of St Mark's Basilica

St Mark’s Square has a special place in Susan’s heart as it was in the Basilica on the 7th April in 1985 that she cried out to God and committed her life to Jesus. So the painting above, titled “The Artist’s Wife”, depicting Susan standing under one of the archways with St Mark’s church in the background, is one that holds poignant memories for Susan.

Although the original watercolour remains in our private collection of paintings of Italy, we have reproduced it as part of our series of limited edition prints of Italy. There are 250 in the edition and 25 artist’s proofs which are hand remarked as seen in the mounted print above.

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