Vintage steam engine

Nene Valley Railways, steam engine

This is outside the engine sheds of  Nene Valley Railways. Engines are quite complicated to draw, which I solve by simplifying the shapes, as I am not interested in technical detail. 

Looking at the subject through half closed eyes is a good way to cut out detail when judging overall shapes and tone. 

I suppose this painting is about shadow and light and how to make greys colourful. Most of them I mixed from varying proportions of alizarin crimson (Winsor & Newton), raw sienna (Jacksons) and turquoise blue (Turner).

Still life with fan

watercolour 30cm x 40cm

when it's getting too hot to paint outside, then a still life set up indoors is just ideal. One doesn't have to spend long on choosing the items for it, whatever appeals should make a pleasing arrangement.

I chose the tea towel to complement the jug and used a limited palette to make sure the colours work together.

Some of the items you choose may have a personal significance. In my case, the jug on the left used to belong to my husband's grandmother and it's nice to record heirlooms in this way.

Market Square, Peterborough

We visited Peterborough in March, on the day of the Royal Wedding. There was a large Morris Dance event on at the same time, and I wanted to capture some of it as incidental detail in this painting.

Two cats by the window

Two cats, watercolour

I looked after these two cats for my son while they moved house and really enjoyed having them. They are two siblings, Athena (on the left) and Hercules.

They are still quite young and playful and enjoyed sitting on the window sill, catching insect (real and imaginary) and watching whatever was going on outside.

I painted this on khadi paper, mixing the black tones from ultramarine blue mixed with raw sienna and permanent crimson alizarin. The red tones on Athena were mostly pure burnt sienna.

Nene Valley Railways

On the day of the Royal Wedding, we went on a rail trip to the Nene Valley to celebrate my husband's birthday. Although we had expected a steam engine, our train was pulled by a vintage Diesel engine, which apparently is used once a month.

We had an hour's break in Peterborough, which had a Morris Dance event on. It was very enjoyable to see so many different styles of Morris Dancers. In the park in front of the Cathedral, a big screen was installed to broadcast the Royal Wedding and lots of people had set up for a picnic, some little girls dressed up as bridesmaids to celebrate the occasion.

I liked this little scene of the three people chatting, waiting for the departure of the train. The bright sunshine made for strong contrasts in tone.

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.

Château de Valère

Schloss Sion

This is one of four castles (a fortified church, really) we find in the Valais (Switzerland). I haven't seen this one personally but painted it from a photo taken by my husband, who went through the Rhone valley on a day trip.

In this painting, the sun is behind the castle, which makes parts of the roofs brighten up to near white.