Hunters boatyard demo

Hunters boatyard
9" x 12"

On a busy Saturday at the boatyard I painted a demo for a lovely group of artists in the sunshine. A very nice chap positioned this boat for me as all the others were to be taken out that day, and a lovely lady called Joan stood for a few minutes so that I could have a figure in the painting. Her jacket tied around her waist made for a lovely bright colour accent. 

The main focal point for me was the sail against the dark interior of the boatyard.

In the afternoon, I went inside the boatyard and painted from the inside looking out.

For more information on Hunters heritage fleet of beautiful wooden sailing boats see here.

Sailing dinghy at Paimpol

Sailing dinghy at Paimpol

Another small work (oils on paper), from sketches made this summer at the harbour in Paimpol. Paimpol is the nearest town to the island of Bréhat on the mainland. It's a very pretty town with a fabulous weekly market and cafes, art galleries and the harbour. My daughter went to school here when we lived on the island in 2011, and her 'college' was a big stone building overlooking the harbour.
The white sails are the white of the paper which I've reserved as you usually would with watercolours. I've simplified the busy harbour and boats in the background to one fairly dark shape with a few coloured spots and light patches. I'm all about the simplification, you've probably noticed by now!

Sails up in harbour

Sails up in harbour

Glorious weather again today, and a day away from the oil paints. I had the luxury of three hours 'waiting time' in Paimpol which I was happy to turn into sketching time at the harbour.
This is my fourth and final drawing of the same scene, and by this one I felt I was getting somewhere!
I was elated when the red sail was raised on that boat, do you know that? Just elated!
I would have completely missed that if I hadn't been sat there sketching. Stopped and watching and waiting. Absorbing the sights and sounds. Every time you snap a quick photo of a scene and move on you miss so much.
Also it was a lesson in perseverance. I struggled throughout the series of sketches and each one got better and closer.
And I feel a studio painting coming on!

If you are on twitter, you can find me there as @HaideeJoSummers
I am posting a drawing every day in August, along with many other people who are #drawingaugust. Today I posted all four!

And after all that sketching and two boules of ice cream I picked up my good friend Lori Putnam from the train station, and I'm very excited to show her the island and be able to paint together over the coming few days :-)