Evening light, Harwich

Evening light, Harwich
24 x 30 cms

At the end of the first day of teaching in Harwich (a chilly day with a strong north-easterly wind) I took my paints back out to the Quayside. It wasn't weather conditions for the faint hearted, but once I'd seen this subject well... I couldn't care less about the practical difficulties. I just get so excited and carried away... I only noticed I was shivering with cold when I was packing up afterwards.

I LOVED the red flags and of course the dazzling light on the sea. It was a real challenge because the boat was silhouetted against the water but there was still colour to be seen within that silhouetted shape, but very very muted. Even the bright red flags had to actually be painted as dirty reddish greys. A great learning experience, and I was really happy with the end result and happy that I'd earned my hot dinner.

Evening street study, Seville

Evening street scene, Seville
Oils 8" x 12"

Talk about a rush! When you attempt a subject like this you know that time is short. Most of the street was in shadow and the warm evening light was still hitting the tops of the buildings, mainly on the left hand side but some coming across the sides of the buildings on the right too. It was one of those 'nothing to lose, just bash on with it' moments. Again I knew I had no time to be finickety with the drawing or details in those buildings - an effort to catch the light and atmosphere being order of the day.