M7 Steam engine in the Southern Countryside - WIP stages

Railway painting featuring M7 tank locomotive in the country WIP.

A steam railway engine is shown running through the southern English countryside in a 1950s setting. The artwork is sized at 22" x 16" and painted in oils on mounting board. It was done for reproduction as a greeting card, sized at 7” x 5”, for a railway society.

The panel above shows three stages of the paintings evolution. In the first panel the drawing, done in dark brown acrylic paint can be seen, which is painted on a brown wash. White paint has been added to indicate tonally lighter areas, such as the sky. Moving on to the second panel a basic set of colours has been added using diluted oil paint. This is done to indicate where the colours and tonal variations are within the artwork, and act as an underpainting. The third and final panel features the finished oil painting. Here the paint has been applied over the underpainting in a thicker and more refined manner, and detail added. This nostalgic railway scene can be seen in better resolution by following this link.

 

M7 Steam engine in the Southern Countryside - oil painting

Painting of locomotive in the countryside, set in the 1950s.

This nostalgic painting, measuring 22" x 16" and painted in oils, shows a traditional scene of an M7 Southern railway locomotive in the English countryside, during the 1950s. It is based on an old black and white photograph, possibly showing the Fawley branch or Hawkhurst branch/ Pooks Green, in southern England. Elements have been slightly rearranged in the composition from the photo and figures added.
The locomotive type itself, a 0-4-4 passenger tank locomotive, were built between 1897 and 1911, the last one in service in 1964. Two examples are preserved. They were built for the LSWR by Dugald Drummond at Nine Elms locomotive works, in south London.
The artwork was done with the intention of it being reproduced as a 7” x 5” greeting card for a railway society.  It can be seen in larger detail on this link.

 

 

Working on closeup 81

Snippet of a railway based oil painting...

Terrier Tank railway locomotive at Havant Station - WIP stages

Terrier Tank railway locomotive at Havant Station - WIP stages

Stages of painting the railway locomotive at rest

This railway themed painting was produced during November 2019, and is based on a poor quality photograph taken during 1957 at Havant station, UK. The photo above shows work in progress over four panels. In the first can be seen the initial drawing done in brown acrylic paint on top of a brown wash. As the painting referred to an old blurry and contrasty photograph, a lot of research had to be done to actually see what the everything actually looked like in terms of detail, as it was hidden in the shadows or difficult to make out. Not just the locomotive but the buildings and cars. Also the original picture had two men crewing the locomotive, but these were reposed by a friend and redrawn in to the scene. Once the scene was nailed down the first application of thinned oil paint is made in the form of underpainting, which gives a indication of areas of colour using darker tones/ hues. In the third panel thicker paint has been applied over the underpainting which is more in keeping with the final intended tone/ colour. The final panel shows the completed oil painting which also had an addition layer of 'glaze' or transparent paint applied to enhance colour/ contrast within the scene. This railway scene can be looked at in detail by following this link.

Terrier Tank railway locomotive at Havant Station - oil painting

Terrier Tank railway locomotive at Havant Station - oil painting

Painting of a 'Terrier' locomotive taking on water at Havant.

This railway themed oil painting shows a small tank locomotive (called because of the water tanks mounted each side of the boiler) at a station. The engine is being topped up in the station bay in the English town of Havant, on the south coast. The locomotive crew consisting of the driver and fireman are to be seen preforming checks before departing for another service, and refilling the water tanks. Based on an old blurry and contrasty photograph taken in 1957, some research was made in to the engine (a 'Terrier numbered 32661) and the surroundings, including the cars. In addition the figures were reposed and then redrawn, but based on the ones in the picture. The locomotive itself is a LBSCR/ SR class A 0-6-0T, commonly known as a 'Terrier'. These small but very popular locomotives were built during the 1870s, and have a very elegant design. Many were still in service in to the 1960s, and a number can be found still running on preserved railways.

Painted using oils in November 2019, on mounting board sized at 33” x 23” approx. The artwork can be seen in greater detail on this link.

Bournemouth Pier late summer morning - acrylic painting

Bournemouth Pier late summer morning - acrylic painting

Bournemouth Pier late summer morning - acrylic painting

This acrylic painting shows the famous 1950s pier at Bournemouth, Dorset, found on the South coast of the UK. The painting shows a sunny morning in late summer, with the golden sandy beach that the seaside resort its known for, and some tourist enjoying the pleasant weather.

The pier, seen here from the Boscombe side, in its current form was built in the 1950s, replacing an earlier Victorian structure. Until recently the pier did feature a theatre (in the large building), but is now used for sporting activities. In addition other equipment for sporting activities have been added to the pier recently.

The 20” x 16” painting is done in acrylics on stretched watercolour paper, and was completed during march 2017. It can be seen in greater detail here.

City Invasion Furry Monster - digital painting

City Invasion Furry Monster - digital painting

City Invasion Furry Monster - digital painting

This digital illustration features a large, black, furry creature terrorizing the residences in a major city during the 1950s. It may have been the result of some scientific experiment that went wrong, so the glowing, red eyed creature is on the loose, and seen here crushing a taxi.

The painting was done during late January 2017 using 'Auto Sketchbook Pro' on a computer, with some final colour grading done in Photoshop, and can be seen in full detail here.

City Invasion Furry Monster - drawing vs painting

City Invasion Furry Monster - drawing vs painting

City Invasion Furry Monster - drawing vs painting comparison

The picture shows the initial drawing and finished painting of 'City Invasion Furry Monster' together. The drawing and painting are both done digitally using 'Auto Sketchbook Pro' software, found on tablets and desktop computers. The drawing would have been created with each element on a separate layer and cleaned up on a further layer until the drawing looks reasonably clear to work from. 
For the painting the sketch is enlarged in Photoshop to the required output size and again each element is painted on separate layers to make working on the file easier and more flexible.
Often the content will be changed slightly, because it can be found that the drawing is not that good but it is just to act as a starting board, so the element when being painted would in effect be redrawn at the same time, rather than alter the drawing level. It can be seen that there are a few subtle changes between the drawing and painting on close examination.
The final artwork can be seen here in closeup.