Plein air painting 66

A tree is shown, as seen on Southampton common, Hampshire, on an early summer morning in August. It was early enough to feel a little chilly! The tarmac path leads from the south up to the north of the common as a busy route for cyclists, joggers and others, including school children, to help get from one area of the city to the other avoiding the busy traffic that surrounds the common on each of the four sides.

The painting measures 12" x 9.5" and is painted in oils on shop reclaimed cardboard.

Plein air painting 57

Within the area of Northam, a suburb of Southampton UK are two old gas holders. One was built in 1935 and the other, shown here in this painting, was built in 1909. It has a pretty decorative lattice structure and holds the actual collapsible tank, build in three sections which varies in size depending on how much gas is stored in it. A full tank would mean the top of the tank would fill the volume of the structure. The gas holders are seen in many old photographs of the area mainly as they were amongst the largest buildings in the area.
They have not been in used for ten years and were listed as an important part of the area's industrial heritage. However, at the time this painting was done, demolition had begun so it seems that the gas holders had been removed from the registry and will be replaced by flats.

The main road running left to right is Northam road. Britannia road starts at the traffic light junction and runs in to the distance where the Itchen bridge can be seen right in the distance.

Painted in oils on mounting board, sized at 12" x 9.5" during one early Sunday morning during August 2022.

Plein air painting 51(c)

This is the third painting done at Warsash, Hampshire on a day in August 2022 and follows on from the previous two posts. It is of one bench to be found near the local ferry. Painted in oils on mounting board sized at 7.5" x 6.5".

Plein air painting 26 

Northam road, within central Southampton is captured in this plein air painting, created one early Saturday morning in June 2021. The viewer is looking west toward the city centre and two notable landmarks are visible, with the flats known as Albion Towers in the centre of the horizon and one of two large Victorian gas holders, now empty on the left hand side of the composition. A set of traffic lights are on either side of a pedestrian crossing.

 Plein air painting 13

This plien air landscape art shows the entrance to Southampton City's Art Gallery during a sunny September morning. It is painted in oils on a piece of primed mounting board sized at 12" x 10. The gallery is a grade II listed building and opened in 1939 and situated within the city in the county of Hampshire, UK.

 Plein air painting 12

Painted in September 2020 this view shows Bugle Street in the Southampton 'Old town'. Looking south, the docks/ Town Quay area can be seen at the end of the road. This road is very old and right next to the location of where this painting was created is Tudor House, a museum housed in a large building from that very era.

 

 
 

Plein air painting 02

Southampton old cemetery headstone pair

12" x 9" oil sketch of a pair of headstones with path, done on a Sunday afternoon in August. The cemetery itself is a large Victorian one, now largely unused and mostly overgrown.

 

 

Plein air painting 01

boat in yard on stilts

Painted in August on a Sunday morning, this small oil painting (12" x 9") shows a boat on stilts undergoing maintenance. The location is a small yard called Shamrock Quay in Southampton. It took about 80mins and is done on primed mounting board.

 

Southampton City Wall - watercolour sketch

Southampton City Wall - watercolour sketch

This sketch was done on a sunny Sunday morning in early June and shows a part of the remains of the old stone walls that once surrounded the town of Southampton, and date from the 1300's. The road it is on, the Weston Esplanade, would not have been there originally and in fact the sea would have been licking against the wall, while ships would have unloaded valuable cargo. The water colour sketch is 10" x 7" approx and took about an hour.

Southampton medieval wall - water colour sketch