Author: grahamfindlaywatercolours

I am an artist and teacher based in the Cotswolds, United Kingdom.

Drain Liners

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They have been lining the drains around here for most of the week, and whilst I am not too sure what the process involves, it has clearly taken a great many vehicles of all shapes and sizes, pumps, generators and swarms of orange-clad men in white helmets who, between sporadic bursts of manic activity, did a lot of standing around, talking. Which was most fortunate for me, once I realized they weren’t going to be changing position very often, as it gave me the chance to try and draw them. They mostly stayed still except the one on the left in this sketch who kept wriggling his legs I think in an effort to keep warm, but for all I know he could have been rehearsing his part in an upcoming pantomime. Anyway, they seem to have lost interest in our road now.

Painted in Moleskine A5 sketchbook.

November snow

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The snow may have gone, for now, but the memories linger, thanks to a painting I did looking out of a window where I had no need to worry about freezing water or fingers. I used New Gamboge, Permanent Rose and Cobalt Blue in the sky and some Raw Umber in the buildings.

A taste of things to come?

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Snow in November – Thanks to Storm Arwen. You either love it or hate it, viewing it as either magical or a threat to life and limb. It’s certainly magical to paint, and in some ways simplifies the landscape into areas of cool blues and violets against areas of warm siennas and ochres with a few slithers of untouched paper.

Of course, the difficulty with watercolours is if the water hasn’t frozen, your fingers probably will, so if you are somewhere where you are unable to sit in a car, it might be a good idea to memorize a simple view or make a pencil sketch to work from when you reach home – alternatively you could just paint the view through the window.

Shadows of Gin

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Unfortunately, the Gin was missing – only the bottle reached me, but in fairness it was the light coming through the bottle which made me want to paint it. I wasn’t sure which red would work best, so I painted brushstrokes of a few different reds onto an offcut of paper, and then held it behind the bottle while I looked through the coloured glass. One of the brushstrokes seemed to disappear, which meant that was the one closest to the colour of the bottle. And the winner was… Cadmium Scarlet. I added Crimson and a little Violet for the shadows and left some slithers of untouched paper for some of the lights

This is in a small sketchbook done at the end of a long day spent painting something much larger. I should really have put it into context, showing it on a table or a window sill or something – but there is always another day.

Neighbourhood View

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I saw this view while I was washing the car this morning. The autumnal colours of the trees bringing this usually shadowed corner out into the spotlight, if only for a little while. By the time I had finished the car and sketched this, the sky was beginning to look a lot more grey. I used New Gamboge and Burnt Sienna for the main tree.

Another time, I might not align the lamp post with the edge of the refuse bin quite so well. Originally I wasn’t thinking of taking it as far over to the right, but it just happened, you know?

Painted in a hardbound A4 sketchbook Stillman & Birn, beta series.

The last three

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Today, three pears remain uneaten, although if those we had last night with chopped pecan nuts and maple syrup were anything to go by, I don’t expect them to be around much longer. Apparently, Pears ripen from the inside outwards, so there is no point in prodding them while still on the tree. You have to lift them off gently just before they drop. When you come to sketch them, you have to try really hard not to make them look too much like old-fashioned light bulbs!

Autumn Produce

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One of the joys of Autumn/Fall are the colours unique to the season.

I enjoy seasonal painting whether it is Snowdrops or Daffodils in Spring, the rich colours of a Summer garden or the fruits and berries of Autumn. ( I also like Winter landscapes and snow). The point is, every season has something to look forward to, and it is the anticipation during the rest of the year which makes it so special. For example, would Pumpkins excite us as much if they were as abundant throughout the year as they are in October?