Royal Society of Marine Artists Exhibition 2013

Me with my painting (top)

I haven't forgotten that I promised you a photo of the finished painting with the red sail, but I haven't taken any yet. I have however been down to London twice this week to see the Royal Society of Marine Artists annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries.

Here I am proudly posing with my painting, the first time I have ever exhibited with this society. 

Last year was the first year I entered but although four of my paintings made it through pre-selection none actually made the final cut. Here's what I wrote about it in my blog in August last year - " It's been a funny few days. I found out the news that none of my four that were pre-selected for the Royal Society of Marine Artists have made it into the exhibition. That was a disappointment, but it only makes me more determined to do better work and keep focussing on my goals. I'll get there one day! "
I just wanted to share that with you in case anyone is feeling discouraged at the moment. Some things are worth fighting for! Work out what those things are for you. If it means that much to you, you can turn rejection into a positive. Use it to give you the push to improve and whatever you do - keep on trying. Just keep on keeping on. Ok, pep talk over!

Anyway, what I really wanted to say was that I had a fantastic day catching up with lots of friends. I do hope you'll go and see the exhibition if you can get into London before the 27th October.

Caught in the act of raiding the buffet

After the water spout, Eastpoint

After the water spout, Eastpoint
Oils 24" x 30"

This is a recently finished studio painting, based on sketches and photos from the plein air event in Florida. The early morning light was glorious and I had just finished painting the oyster boats facing towards the sun when I turned around and saw this subject right behind me! I wasn't able to paint it at the time but I thought it would make a perfect subject for my venture into studio paintings.

I started off with thin turpsy glazes of colour. I do enjoy doing more of this thinner work in a studio painting, because you have the luxury of being able to walk away and let it dry in between layers. 

The beginnings

Soon after establishing the mid tones and darks I wanted to put the sky colour in to get a better idea of how it would all be working together. The sky had to be dark enough to eventually show off that white side of the building that was lit by the rising sun.

Moving on

Nearly there

From then on it was a case of building up the darks and the lights, until the painting said what I wanted to say. I did at the last minute decide to add a figure and a car, but tried not to make them stand out in an obvious way. If you didn't even notice them, that's great!

Detail

It was important to me not to go too far and add all kinds of extra details that I wouldn't be bothered with if I was painting the subject 'en plein air'. The sketchy treatment of this foreground feature probably sums it up.

'Say what you need to say in the painting then get out. There is no use chattering on after you have made your point'

I never remember who said that, but I always remember those words!

Oyster boats at sunrise

Oyster boats at sunrise, Eastpoint
Oils 9" x 12"

Here I am, back in the UK and unpacked. I spent a lot of today cleaning and tidying my studio and writing my new three page work 'to do' list - daunting!

When we stayed overnight in Carrabelle last week we wanted to get up very early to get to Eastpoint, and when we arrived we were greeted with this fabulous view. There was a whole line of boats with men standing, sitting and leaning on each one, talking to one another. They were obviously waiting for something but I didn't know how long they'd be there so I set up and got to work quickly.
Apart from the very real risk of the subject disappearing altogether, conditions were quite tricky as I was looking straight towards the sun and it was already hot by 8am. There was an unpleasant smell wafting over from the giant mound of oyster shells piled up behind us. I used the triple whammy of baseball cap, sunglasses and easel umbrella to enable me to see the subject without blinding myself!

As I say, I worked quickly and the boats stayed put for about half an hour before gradually leaving, one at a time. I was told the men were reseeding the oyster beds and they had to wait in line before accepting delivery of a bucket load of oyster shells from the big heap and then taking them out to sea. Sorry I can't share a more technical explanation!

The other tricky aspects to this were
a) getting the right tonal value for the water to fall into place with the silhouetted boats and show the sparkle of the sunlight
b) getting the colour right of the water, often tempting to go too blue with water, and there was obvious pinkness reflected from the sky but what I was really after was this subtle silvery grey.

That was all quite a lot to think about before breakfast but I was really pleased that I'd managed to capture an honest impression of those aspects of the scene that had excited me.

It sold almost as soon as it was on the wall in the wetroom, and it was one of those paintings that could have sold ten times over! Everybody wanted it!