Here's another commissioned piece that has been sold: 'Mist at the Temple', 18 x 11" (47 x 29 cm) approx. I'd like to say a special 'thank you' to the customer who commissioned this work - partly because it is not his first purchase from this gallery, but also because I really enjoyed the change! It's a misty and romantic image of a Japanese temple, with the mountains only visible in parts through the misty clouds, and the whole scene softened by the last traces of morning mist. I had great fun with the reflections in the calm lake, and took the opportunity to include water lillies. These are currently in flower in my local loch and I have wanted to include them in a painting for a little while!
3 Comments
Sometimes a customer likes a painting's style and wants their own favourite view treated that way. This is 'The Horse Bridge, Brugges', a painting of a famous bridge in Belgium, sold by private commission. My customer had got engaged to his wife on this bridge and supplied me with photographs (sadly he didn't fly me out there to paint from life!). The bridge is actually wider and more 'stretched' than this, but it was clear from layout sketches that compressing it would make a more pleasing picture in portrait orientation. He had seen my 'Evening on St Charles' Bridge' and liked the style and colour scheme, and therefore asked my to give a similar interpretation. This was quite a challenge because, whilst the St Charles' Bridge painting has a minimum of detail, detail was required here. Actually, I think the mixture of romantic, esoteric colouring and a more formal representation of the scene has worked OK. What do you think?
One of the hazards of being a driving instructor, which I was for a while, is having students forget about lessons! This happened often, and on this day my whole afternoon suddenly became a blank sheet! I took the opportunity to go sketching in Aberdeen's most famous street - Union Street. This sketch has waited for about 4 years to be turned into a full painting, but here it is finally: 'Late Afternoon, Union Street', watercolour, 15 x 10". It's a pretty classic view of this pretty but busy street and the only thing changed from reality is the location of the streetlight at right: I was actually leaning on it to do the sketch but felt it would be a useful addition to add 'weight' to the right hand side of the painting without darkening it. The style of the painting is fairly loose, but with enough detail to be faithful to the subject. The shoppers, and the foreground, are largely undetailed to avoid cluttering the painting but I wanted to convey the hustle and bustle of a busy street! I also wanted to include an accurate description of the Aberdeen Town House and County Hall, at right, partly because they are a fairly iconic part of the view, and partly because I just think they are very attractive, despite going seemingly unnoticed by passers-by.
 Sticking with the architectural theme, this is 'Elgin High Street', a portrait of my local town centre. It is painted in a deliberately loose, undetailed style, because I wanted the buildings to form a backdrop to the hustle and bustle of the people scurrying around the town. The trees, normally one of my favourite subjects, show even less detail because I didn't want them to attract attention! I hope you enjoy the finished result!
A bit of a change for me this time, after painting lots of natural scenes. I wanted to paint my local town centre but didn't want to do just the 'classic' view down the high street. St Giles occupies a commanding position in the middle of High Street in Elgin and, as I walked past it looking up at the impressive frontage, I was intrigued by the perspective effects. This painting is the result! I've painted it in portrait format because I wanted it to be about the entrance to the church, with minimal distraction from the rest of the buildings all around. I had a lot of fun doing this, both working on the perspective, the distribution of tone and giving the people characters. If you are interested in how I create my paintings, I run another blog at www.robwighamwatercolours.blogspot.co.uk where I discuss this side of my work. Cheers for now!
This is 'Randolph's Leap', 10 1/2 x 8 1/4". You will already be aware that I love painting in the great outdoors, and this was great fun! The River Findhorn narrows here to just a few metres wide before entering a beautiful gorge. The water level was pretty low in the middle of Summer when I did the painting, from the far rocky shore. For the story of how the place got its name, go to the page here. It's an area of lots and lots of trees, scrub bushes and rocks - quite a challenge. I have simpified the scene hugely to produce this painting, and I think it looks all the better for it. It is a really atmospheric scene, and a shame its name comes from such a violent and warlike event. Four men thought they'd jumped to freedom across these rocks in medieval Scotland. They were wrong. After their jump, pursued by their enemies, they hid in a cave but were found and, predictably, put to the sword. Is the figure on the rocks real, or is it a ghost?
 This is a bit of a misleading post title for those in the Nimrod community who would love to see her return! One of the highlights of the area around RAF Kinloss used to be the regular sight of this beautiful and majestic aircraft plying her trade around the circuit. This particular view is from the top of Califer Hill to the south of the airfield, which provides stunning views of the Moray Firth in its own right. This is pure nostalgia for me and, I suspect others. The aircraft is just about to overfly the lovely Findhorn Bay and turn hard towards us. I miss this beautiful aircraft, and have enjoyed the opportunity to include her in one of my works. The painting is in my Findhorn Collection
|
AuthorA professional artist living and working in the beautiful north of Scotland. My work is realistic and quite traditional, though strongly interpretational in nature. My inspiration is the beauty of Nature, and the wonderful colours and moods she shows everywhere. Archives
April 2022
Categories |
RSS Feed