Bournemouth Beach Hengistbury Head

Bournemouth Beach Hengistbury Head

This painting shows, in the distance Hengistbury Head, as seen from Bournemouth Beach in the South of England. The location to be exact is the sandy beach in the Southbourne area of the seaside town. It is based on a photograph taken during the autumn 2013 when the holiday makers are thin on the ground. It took about a day to do.

The painting was done in acrylics on stretched paper measuring 10” x 12” during November 2015.

http://martin-davey.artistwebsites.com/featured/bournemouth-beach-hengistbury-head-martin-davey.html

#beach #painting #seaside #bournemouth #art

Bournemouth Beach Hengistbury Head WIP

Bournemouth Beach Hengistbury Head WIP

This photograph shows WIP on a small painting of Hengistbury Head, as seen from Southbourne beach. Southbourne beach itself runs in to Bournemouth beach, Dorset. It is done on paper, the painted area being 12" x 10". As seen in the first panel the paper is painted red and the drawing done on top with brown acrylic paint. The middle panel shows a half way stage and the last panel the final work.

The final painting can be seen in detail here.

#wip #beach #art #dorset #bournemouth

Hengistbury head from Southbourne Beach WIP acrylic painting

Old Boat Propeller

Old Boat Propeller

This painting shows an old propeller attached to an old wooden fishing boat. She was built in the 1930s and was under going repair and preservation in a boat yard in Southampton. The surface of the propeller was very worn, weathered and covered with old algae and muck that had become bleached in the sun. This made an interesting contrast to the rest of the scene with the wooden hull largely in shade. I painted the picture quite loosely and deliberately did not become fussy with the details, just using a larger brush than normal to keep thing from becoming too tight. The hull had been partly sanded down and so revealed lots of different reds and blues coloured paintwork from its life in the water, plus the bare wood itself. The contrast to the many pieces of bright blue coloured synthetic rope was pleasing.

The painting is 12” x 10” and painted on a canvas board using acrylics.
LINK

#marine #art #boat #propeller #sailing

Old Boat propeller acrylic painting

 

Horses on Lyndhurst Hill WIP

Horses on Hill, Hampshire painting WIP

This is a WIP photo of a painting depicting a scene in the New Forest. The location is near to Lyndhurst, a small town within the forest, located in Hampshire, UK. The painting is on a canvas sized at 20" x 16". It is painted in acrylics. The photo shows three stages of the painting which is based on a number of photographs. I took an number of pictures and later back at my studio was able to rearrange the horses to a pleasing layout. In the first panel can be seen the drawing, done in brown paint on a red ground. The drawing is worked out using a grid system to create the image with some accuracy. The second panel shows a number of base colours applied to cover up the red and block in the tones. The red paint will still show through very slightly however in to the finished painting, which is shown in the final panel. Normal I would have used oils at the last stage but the acrylics meant it was done quicker and the styling seems to work well and some looseness in the painting is evident.
#horses #art #painting #landscape #hampshire

Horses on Hill, Lyndhurst WIP

Boat Yard Boat 01

Boat Yard Boat 01

Acrylic boat yard painting 01

This painting was done in acrylics on a canvas sized at 20” x 16” during late September. It features the stern of a boat laid up on wooden poles for a few years at a local boat yard in Southampton, Hampshire. I always find the hull on ships of interest, in particular the rudder and propeller. I had tried to draw it a few weeks before using a digital drawing program on a tablet. Unfortunately the battery went flat and I only got part way through. I did take some photographs during the visit and this painting is based on one of those. The painting took about two days to do.

Boat Yard 01 WIP

BOAT YARD 01 wip

Acrylic painting WIP boat yard 01

This image shows a work in progress on a painting of the stern of a boat laid up at Shamrock Marina, Southampton. The River Itchen would be behind the viewer. It is a 20" x 16" painting, done in acrylics on an old canvas I had lying around, one of a number that needed to be used up. I had tried to do a sketch originally on my Surface pro Tablet but although I did manage to do a sketch it proved difficult to do because of the daylight shining on to the screen so you could not see what you were doing. I went back the following day and took a photograph of the scene with the plan of doing a painting anyway. You can see the three stages involved with the final result on the last panel. I tend to work from a red ground for most of my paintings. I tried to keep it quite loose but I found myself getting to use ever smaller brushes for the details to show the construction of the vessel. It is still quite loose for me however and does skip some details. The painting was done in late September 2015, my first painting at this size for about a year.
The finished painting can be seen here. 
#boat #painting #industry #WIP #art

Bitterne Boats Southampton

Bitterne Boats Southampton

Bitterne Boats Southampton acrylic painting

This painting shows a view of a number of boats, some of them wrecks, on the River Itchen in Southampton, Hampshire. It is based on a number of photographs taken from Northam Bridge and looking toward the hilly suburb of Bitterne. The time is a summer evening with calm waters and the tide going out from this tidal estuary section of the river, revealing a land of mud and algae, and long lost sunken boats. The late evening light gives the scene a slight golden glow.

The painting is done in acrylics on a canvas board measuring 20” x 16”, and was painted in autumn 2014.

#boats #art #marine #Hampshire #Southampton

old propeller acrylic painting WIP

Old propeller acrylic painting WIP

This image shows a WIP of a small painting, 8” x 10” of a propeller on a boat undergoing restoration. I had done a small digital sketch about 2 weeks earlier here, but this was to be a painting done in acrylics. The initial stage of the painting in red ground with the drawing traced out in brown acrylic paint is on the left. In the middle is a halfway stage with most of the elements in the scene blocked in with some acrylic paint. The right hand image shows the finished painting. I intended to do the painting quite loosely so I used quite largish brushes on this small canvas to stop me from getting in to details with little brushes. Dominant brush strokes and dabs of colour was the intention here. I spent about 4 hours painting the image, after about ½ hour drawing out the subject.
#boat #art #painting #boatyard #propeller

WIP boat propeller painting

Digital sketch of Shamrock Quay, Southampton

Digital sketch of Shamrock Quay

This small digital was done one Friday evening in late September when there was an unexpected Indian summer bathing the country in fine sunny weather. I took my little stool and the surface pro computer with me, to sketch this little scene from Shamrock Quay, in Southampton, looking over the River Itchen toward Bittern on the other side. The weather was pleasant and I was hoping the later in the day lighting conditions may enable me to look at the screen more clearly on the Surface pro's glossy screen, a constant problem with out door digital art work. Sadly it made no difference and I still could not see exactly what I was doing, but something did come out at the end of the day. I think the sketch does give a little of the atmosphere of the late afternoon light just beginning to darken for the evening. Boats sitting on water are eternally appealing anyway.The software used on the tablet was 'Auto Sketchbook pro'.
#digital #sketchbookpro #hampshire #boats #art

digital sketch of Shamrock Quay summer evening

digital sketch propeller close up

digital sketch propeller close up 

old propeller sketch using 'sketchbook for tablets'

This small rough digital sketch was done using 'Auto Sketchbook for tablets' on a Mircosoft surface pro in early September. It is a propeller of a fishing boat that is undergoing restoration, with a number of blue ropes bound around it.  It was a sunny afternoon when I did this and as usual I could not actually see what I was doing. Then the battery went so that was the end of the drawing, which I would finish off later at home. Just as the battery did go on the device however, the man restoring the boat saw me sketching it and was fascinated why I picked his boat, considering all of the luxurious boats and yachts surrounding it. I told him that his boat had lots of character. Apparently it would take about 6 years to restore this 1930s built wooden vessel. He then invited me on board to have a close look at the restoration work, at one stage crawling along on my belly to look at the engine, because all the decking from the boat had been removed.

Digital sketch of boat on poles at marina

Digital sketch of boat on poles at marina

Today I did a digital sketch from life of a small boat on props at a local marina in Southampton. I used 'Autodesk Sketchbook Pro' for this. It was the first time I had used the 'pro' version after upgrading from the free version a few days ago. The main feature, for me, is that you are now able to choose your document or canvas size. Before it was restricted to the size of your screen on your tablet or device. You also get some more materials and tools to play around with and of I will investigate further at some other time. The boat was loosely sketch in with a pencil and the intention was just go around tightening up the drawing for my allotted period drawing. Instead however I decided to add some rough colour in to the artwork. The day itself was during the start of Autumn so the temperature was getting milder now. It was also a grey and damp day with a few spots of rain falling on to the screen of my 'Microsoft Surface Pro'. The usual difficulty was there of not being able to see what I was doing, because of the shiny screen reflecting the sky above. Also the battery was not fully charged so I had a limited time to do something. It took about 30mins to do and it is ok for what it is. If I had been able to carry on I would have put in some suggestion of the other boats, mainly on the left hand side and more precise colour and detail. 

#boat #sketchbookpro #marina #southampton #art

 

Dock Rhino meets Gilbert the Zebra at Southampton

Dock Rhino meets Gilbert the Zebra at Southampton

Dock Rhino meets Gilbert the Zebra

Back in early 2015 Marwell Zoo in Hampshire announced a follow up campaign to their earlier successful project held in 2013, in collaboration with Southampton council. The project then was to paint a large, full size sculpture of a rhino which is then placed around the city of southampton with many other Rhinos, painted by local artists, to create a trail around the area. Details of the original scheme can be seen here.
The follow up campaign is for the protection of Zebras, and is called 'Marwell's Zany Zebras'. The plan is again for artists to paint full sized zebra models for display around the city during 2016. After the event, all of the large sculptures will be sold at auction to raise funds to conserve endangered Grevy’s zebras and other wildlife, and to support communities living in the arid rangelands of northern Kenya.
As part of the promotion my original 'Dock Rhino' form 2013, funded by ABP and DP WORLD, companies closely associated with the docks and shipping at Southampton, was moved to the entrance of the Ocean terminal to greet visitors and meet 'Gilbert' the zebra as part of the promotion for the new project. The photo shows the photoshot with the organisers at the location.
#southampton #art #wildlife #hampshire

Zombie Killer Rabbits

Zombie Killer Rabbits

Small digital sketch of some funny Zombie Killer Rabbits up to no good! The sketch was done in the windows desktop version of sketch book, which is different and better than the 'tablet' version. It was still the free version I was using and the final image size is small and fixed to your device's screen. If you want a custom canvas you need to upgrade the program for a fee. The picture was done on a Microsoft Surface Pro using a wacom stylus on the screen. The hardware is pressure sensitive but the software does not read that info, so you adjust  the brush opacity for the effect you want. It was a little bit of fun to do! 
#zombie #art #funny #rabbits

Zombie Killer Rabbits Sketch

digital sketch from life of little boat moored

digital sketch from life of little boat moored

A few days later after the previous post featuring a digital sketch from life, I decided to do another one. It was of a boat moored in one of the local marinas and I painted it during a very sunny morning. I did find it difficult however. It was not the subject or the drawing that was the problem. It was that it was too difficult to see the colours I was painting because the screen on the surface pro was just reflecting the ambient light around, even though the screen was set up at maximum brightness.  Basically I was just guessing colours and painting with them though what I thought I was selecting as a colour and what the computer was creating were often not the same. Even so the little sketch was not too bad. I did attempt another sketch during the afternoon which was still very sunny. I only got so far when the battery went on the device so that was the end of that. I may finish the sketch based on my memory at some stage.
#art #surfacepro #sailing #drawing #sketchbook

digital sketch from life done on Surface Pro

Fawley from Weston Shore Hampshire Digital Sketch

Fawley from Weston Shore Hampshire Digital Sketch

This is a small digital sketch painting done from life. It is also the first time I had a go at painting digitally on location and generally speaking it worked out quite well. The painting is no masterpiece but I think I will continue to explore this avenue! The location is in Hampshire looking at Southampton Water from Weston Shore/ Victoria park. In the distance on the other side of the water can be seen Fawley power station and oil terminal. Beyond that is the New Forest.

The software used was 'Sketchbook for Windows tablet' by Autodesk. I down loaded it the previous afternoon to play around with it, using my Microsoft Surface Pro device, that uses a Wacom enabled screen/ pen. One concern I had is not being able to see the screen as I worked, if the day was sunny. As it turned out I could see it reasonably well, on this very sunny Autumn day. I had installed 'Painter Essentials' a few months ago but found that is was over complicated for quick use and disappointingly the pen or tablet did not work well with it, often having to press or draw a number of time to get any response, and that does not suit the fast way I work. To make painter work well, when sitting at a desk does mean using an external keyboard for short cuts. That's ok when at home but not when out and about. The 'Sketchbook' software I have to say worked well. The pen was always responsive with the software without fail and controlling the software was simple so you can concentrate on the task at hand. 

#westonshore #hampshire #painting #art #digitalart

Fawley from Weston Shore Hampshire Digital painting

House at Hillier Gardens

House at Hillier Gardens

This small painting shows a part the house (Jermyn's House) within the 180 acre gardens at Hillier Gardens, Hampshire.

The Victorian 'Jermyn's House' was rebuilt in 1830 to the house as seen today, from an earlier house built during the previous century.

Seen here is a part of the back of the house, surrounded by a number of mature trees and plants, creating a cool, shady spot around this part of the building. The path using natural pieces of stone leads the eye through to the building.

Painted in a day during autumn 2014 on a 12” x 10” canvas board.
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As an addition note the work in progress image of the painting has been added to the post showing the three stages. The first stage is the drawing done in brown acrylic paint on a red ground canvas. The middle image shows the basic colours blocked in using acrylics. the final stage is the oil paint level done on top.

http://martin-davey.artistwebsites.com/featured/house-at-hillier-gardens-martin-davey.html

House at Hillier Gardens, oil painting

House at Hillier Gardens in stages.

Pink Ferry On The River Hamble

Pink Ferry On The River Hamble

This painting features a scene on the River Hamble, in Hampshire on the south coast of the UK. A pink ferry (one of two) is collecting passengers from the Warsash side of the river and will go across and transport them to Hamble-Le-Rice, on the opposite side. The ferry runs almost every day and has been in operation since 1493. The painting show a number of passengers, some with bicycles getting ready to board on this sunny spring Sunday morning, the bright pink colour of the boat contrasting well with the blues and browns of the scene. Around the area can be seen numerous yachts and boats filling the marinas dotted around and serving as the background of this painting. 
The painting is done in acrylics on a canvas board measuring 20" x 16", and was completed in September 2014.
The finished painting can be seen here.

Pink Ferry On The River Hamble - acrylic painting