Trafalgar Square in happier times

Every so often, I scroll through my photos to see what inspires to paint. In this time of being almost cut off from the outside world, it's wonderful to remember visits to crowded places such as this one.

I expect we are still weeks away from being released from our isolation and I am thankful that we are still allowed out for daily exercise, which gives us the opportunity to connect with our surroundings.

Memories of a rainy visit

Watercolour of Lugano

A second painting after my visit to Lugano in October. Despite the gloomy weather, the colours shone through and brightened up the scene.

Piazza della Riforma, Lugano

Watercolour, Aquarell

This is Piazza della Riforma, the market square of the pretty Ticinese town of Lugano. The photo reference for this painting was taken a day after deluges of rain hit the canton of Ticino. As we emerged from the train tunnel (Europe's longest) on the south side of the alps, we could see waterfalls everywhere running down the  mountains.

I do like painting rainy weather, as it provides reflections and colourful umbrellas that can enliven a subject.

Avoiding symmetry in painting

One of the design concept one should adhere to when composing a picture (or even a photo) is to avoid design elements that are exactly the same, as this makes for a static and boring composition.

When I drew Tower Bridge, I realised that the composition was quite symmetrical, so I knew I had to counteract this in the painting stage.

You may notice that I darkened the water unevenly and also lifted paint from one of the  towers to stop them from being identical.

In the shade of the chestnut tree

Whenever I have walked past this chestnut tree, I have been impressed by its size and thought it would make a good subject. I photographed it on a particularly sunny day for reference and painted it this strong yellow to convey a sense of light and warmth.

After turning the painting upside down for assessment, I felt the yellow was too isolated and introduced the same colour into the shadow underneath it to help with unity.

Ich bin oft an diesem Baum in der Zofinger Altstadt vorbeigegangen und habe schon lange vorgehabt, ihn einmal zu malen.  Mir gefällt seine Grösse und ich stelle mir vor, dass er schon sehr alt ist. Wieviele Generation haben sich wohl in seinem Schatten unterhalten und ausgeruht?

Ich möchte mit meinem Bild eine lebhafte und lichtvolle Atmosphäre wiedergeben und habe deshalb für den Baum ein kräftiges Gelb gewählt.

View Towards Piccadilly

Piccadilly, Watercolour

Another watercolour of a wet day in London, based on a visit from last February. 

Painting rainy weather calls for softer edges and wet-in-wet passages; I also used greyer colours to express the dull light.

Fourth Plinth, Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square, watercolour

This is the latest  in a  small series of watercolours of London in the rain, which is based on a visit back in February. This link tells you more about the sculpture which was installed on the Fourth Plinth at the time. I was quite taken aback, when I saw it!

Just recently, a new artwork has taken its place, one with a more political and humanitarian message. 

This watercolour is painted on an A3 block of Saunders Waterford paper. I am quite pleased with the transparent grey I achieved for the clouds, using Teal (Ken Bromley) and Permanent Alizarin Crimson (Winsor & Newton). 

The reference photo had a very close tonal range between background and foreground, so I planned to keep the background lighter in tone for the foreground to stand out.

Gate to Chinatown

Chinatown watercolour

Although London presented itself on a rainy, grey day, the ornate Chinese gate in Wardour Street and the many umbrellas provided some much needed colour.

Red Umbrella

This is painted from a reference photo taken on my iPhone on a wet day in February. For once I took pictures throughout the painting process to show as a step by step for those who would like to know how to approach such a subject.

I usually start a landscape painting with the sky, taking care to keep the tones light. I used Turner Turquoise Blue mixed with burnt sienna for the clouds and washed over the light walls with raw sienna.

For the next step, I don't have a usual approach but start with the shape that stands out to me, in this case the dome of the building. I painted this darker tone with cobalt blue and permanent alizarin crimson. The shadow sides of the buildings are a mix of turquoise blue mixed with raw sienna and burnt sienna to give a grey. The small roof is pure turquoise blue.

I started to lay in some darker washes for the buildings (Teal from Ken Bromley mixed with ultramarine blue and alizarin crimson) and painted the couple with the red umbrella (alizarin crimson), which was one of my focal points.

For the reflections on the ground, I wetted the paper to create a diffuse effect.

The crowd of people in the distance provides further dark tones (cobalt and ultramarine blues mixed with burnt sienna and alizarin crimson)  to contrast with the lighter ground.

At this point, I decided that the church in the background needed to be knocked back, so I lifted some colour off with clear water. The finishing touch was the lamp post on the right, painted with teal, ultramarine blue and alizarin crimson. I like to include some street furniture, as they make interesting stopping points in an urban painting.

People sometimes ask me how long my paintings take; this one was painted over three days and took mainly that long because the washes took some time to dry.

Bridge House

Bridge House, Watercolour

I have been meaning to paint this old local house for a while. I loved how the sun lit up its white facade and took a photo to paint from later.

The bridge the house is named after is not visible from this angle, but it spans a canal which runs between the white house and the dark building behind it.

Wettsteinbrücke Basel

This is the first time I am painting on Khadi paper (A3 rough). It feels more absorbent than Saunders Waterford or Bockingford paper and tears more easily when using masking fluid. Some of the paper fibres lift when painting, which can cause a mottled effect. I feel this paper is therefore not suited for traditional watercolour paintings and is maybe better for an impressionistic style, where unpredictable effects don't mar the painting.

Near the bottom of the painting is one of the iconic ferries that cross the Rhine in Basel. They are attached to a cable that spans the river and are dragged from one bank to the other by the current of the water.

Painting of Niklaus Thut Fountain, Zofingen

Niklaus Thut Brunnen

Quite a few Swiss towns have colourful fountains with statues of saints or medieval legendary figures. The statue on this fountain (erected in 1894) is Niklaus Thut, who was Zofingen's Schultheiss (similar to a mayor) in the 14th century.

He died at the Battle of Sempach in 1386, having fought on the side of the Habsburgs against the Swiss. Why Zofingen chooses to celebrate a defeat and backing the "wrong" side with this fountain is a bit of a mystery! He is best known, however, for swallowing the Zofingen flag to save it from being captured by the enemy, which has made him a local hero.

I enjoyed painting the different reds, purple and greens in this subject.

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Dieser Brunnen ist Niklaus Thut gewidmet, der im 14. Jahrhundert Schultheiss in Zofingen war. 1386 führte er Zofinger Soldaten in die Schlacht von Sempach, und zwar auf der Seite von Habsburg und gegen die Eidgenossen. In derselben Schlacht verlor er auch sein Leben. Der Legende nach kam Niklaus Thut aber zu Ruhm, indem er die Zofinger Fahne verschluckte, um sie vor den Feinden zu retten. 1894 wurde ihm deshalb von einer Studentenverbindung ein Brunnen errichtet, um diese Tat zu ehren. Es ist eigentlich erstaunlich, dass die Zofinger hier einer Schlacht gedenken, bei der sie auf der 'falschen' Seite kämpften und auch noch verloren...

Auf jeden Fall gefielen mir die lebhaften Farben des Brunnens, die ich in meinem Aquarell ausdrücken wollte.

Zofingen Old Town, Altstadt Zofingen

Altstadt Zofingen

Zofingen (Switzerland) is a town that still has a town wall, formed by a ring of houses encircling the town centre. This is part of the town wall, and what looks like a tower is really only a facade and probably not nearly as old as it looks.

The Old Tannery, Watercolour

Die alte Gerbe, watercolour

The many wooden shutters on these buildings in the old town of Zofingen made a great subject to paint. The shutters on the right hand building gave me the opportunity to paint in colourful greys. This used to be a tannery in the last century and still belongs to the same family; now there are residential flats upstairs and a business on the ground floor. The tannery, Gerberei Friderich, still exists and has long since moved out of the old town.

***

Dies ist ein Aquarell der Bärengasse in Zofingen. Das rechte Gebäude ist die Alte Gerbe. Mir gefielen, wie die vielen Fensterläden ihre Schatten warfen, was mir die Gelegenheit gab, für die Grautöne entsprechende Farben zu finden.

Die Gerbe ist auch heute noch im Besitz der Gründerfamilie Friderich. Während dies heute ein Wohnhaus mit einem Geschäft im Erdgeschoss ist, war es noch im frühen zwanzigsten Jahrhundert eine Gerberei. Dieses Foto um 1900 zeigt die Rückseite des Hauses, wo auf der Veranda Leder trocknen. Im Hintergarten waren auch die Gruben, wo die Felle bearbeitet wurden. Der Geruch war vielleicht nicht besonders angenehm!

Alte Gerbe, Zofingen

Die Gerberei Friderich  gibt es auch heute noch, ist jetzt aber ausserhalb der Altstadt gelegen.

Marktplatz, Basel

Basel used to be my home town, and after a break of two years, it was great to go back for a visit. Basel has a wonderful old town with the Marktplatz at its centre. What drew me to paint this scene were the late afternoon shadows splitting the houses diagonally.

It's always a challenge to simplify a busy scene and I decided not to include bicycles and street furniture, which I felt would detract from the main idea of the painting.

Getting to know a Place better

Altstadt im Herbst

This is the Stiftsturm in the town of Zofingen. I have been visiting this place fairly frequently this year, as my mother has moved nearby and I have family there. Zofingen has a charming old town with a ring of houses that act as a town wall. This small tower is the Stiftsturm; I liked its blue roof and the trees in their autumn colours in front of it.


Dies ist ein Aquarell des Stiftsturms in Zofingen. Obwohl ich Zofingen schon lange kenne, habe ich erst seit diesem Jahr die Stadt mehr erkundet. Der Stadtkern hat viele schöne Gebäude, die es lohnt, mit dem Pinsel festzuhalten. Am Stiftsturm hat mir besonders das blaugrüne Dach gefallen, was den Anlass zu diesem Bild war.

Bygone Elegance

While visiting Dedham, I noticed this beautiful old car, no idea what make it is, but I loved the rich red! Painting shiny surfaces is quite a challenge, and I haven't drawn many cars as main subjects, so it was good practice.

Bygone Elegance, watercolour, 30cm x 40cm

Putting out the flags for the Queen's 90th birthday

Two weeks ago I was back in London on yet another rainy day, but the streets were brightened up considerably by all those Union Jacks flying in honour of the Queen's upcoming birthday celebrations.

This is near the BBC (Langham Place), where my husband and me had lunch sitting in the window of a Pizza Express. We saw the newsreader Huw Edwards walk by to pick up some lunch, but I was too slow to take a picture both on his way out and on his return! He's probably quite glad about that.

Painting an Overcast Scene

The British climate certainly provides ample opportunities for painting this type of weather. In the past I might have avoided painting a scene in dull light and waited for the sun to return but I am now challenging myself by exploring this weather condition.

The danger is that the tones are all too close to each other and not providing enough variety in the painting. I tried to counteract this by playing up the colour in places to add interest.

Great Russell St., watercolour

Painting Urban Life

This is a view from Trafalgar Square towards Westminster. I really liked the contrast of the dark statue (of Charles I, incidentally) and the light coloured plinth it stands on. My main aim was to simplify all the architectural detail and record the busy street life, using heightened colour.

View towards Westminster, watercolour