So we move from the country back into the town, time to get urban. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I really wish I’d hit this section of the course at a more clement time of year. The idea of sitting out in the elements really wasn't all that appealing, but I really wanted to avoid using photos. So as I’ve done many times before I picked a window and worked with what I’ve got. Specifically the front window on the ground floor of our house. We live in a terrace street, typical of the area of the town. Ostensibly, brick built with facades of large rough-cut stone. This give the houses an interesting texture and variety in colour you wouldn’t get from a standard brick fronted house.
Before I start talking about the work I’ve produced I need make a statement, it’s pertinent I promise. I don’t like sitting on the furniture. Let me explain, despite having a very comfortable leather armchair and an equally comfortable sofa in the living room, I choose to sit on the floor. I prop myself up with a couple of nice cushions and I’m away. Stretched out in this prone position I can often be found staring out of the window. It this view that I chose to drawing, my view from the floor.
I begin my exploration with a couple of pencil sketches. Firstly, I did a detailed study, working out the relative positions of the roof and chimney. I tried to focus on all the little details, making sure every brick and slate was in place. Although I really didn’t think the final piece would be that exacting, I knew that taking the time to really focus on the subject would aid my future endeavours.
Next I picked up some coloured pencils and repeated the exercise. This time I ignored the details and focused solely on the tones. Not necessarily the precise colours in front of me but the tonal variation, where the shadow shape lie, are the any blown out high lights.
Now that I had a good idea of the subject, I needed to think about composition. Let’s be honest a roof and a chimney aren’t the most exciting of things. I would need to add something to imbue the work with some meaning. My first thought was to add in the structure of the window, the addition of the Georgian bars would break the image up and add interest. I made a couple of thumbnail sketches to plan their placement. OK, so far so good, but could I push it further? Up until this point, I had been arranging the subject straight up and down. However, thinking it through this isn’t how I normal see this view. I’m normally propped on my cushion looking out of the window. So that’s what I’d do, I would shift everything 10 or so degrees off plum to match my normal viewing angle.
Using painter tape, I laid out my window motif, lightly sketching in the roof and chimney. I then masked the dividing line between the building and the sky. Using watercolour I set about painting in the sky, using the view from my office window and reference. Once this was dry I set about working my way down the image. Once it was complete, I removed the window masking to reveal what was to become the final image. But at that point I wasn’t convinced it was go to stay that way. I’d always intended to add some shape and tonality to the Georgian bars. But after walking away and letting the image sit for a while, I felt adding to it would inevitably distract from the main subject.
As an inexperienced watercolourist, I know this isn’t the best painting ever. But what I am happy about is how I managed to produce an work, based on an interesting idea, born out of a limitation. The process of going gradually from one little idea to the next was immeasurably good fun.
Happy scribbling
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