An artist friend once told me that for every painting there is a buyer. If that's true then I must be a very rich man indeed...once I find the buyers that is! But this is a case in point. A lady first saw it in the Glenn Marshall Gallery in Old Town, Bridlington but by the time she returned to buy it I had moved. First I had a couple of months in Bempton but I eventually moved back to Old Town, this time in the Priory Gallery. I had been there several months when a lady walked in. "That's my painting!" she yelled excitedly. She had stumbled across it (and me) completely by chance. She informed me that she had not forgotten the painting had had spent weeks trying to track it down but thought she had lost it. So a good result for everybody and soon the painting was on its way to a nice new home to be cherished and looked after. As for the painting itself it is a scene from one of my most inspirational places - Skipwith Common. This is the largest expanse of heathland bog left in the North of England which makes it very special. The aim of the painting was to capture a shaft of light illuminating the trees which were under water which meant great reflections too. I used masking fluid to allow me to keep control of the painting. I masked the light on the trees and I was especially pleased with the delicate ferns and grasses in the foreground. With these details safely protected I could work very loosely with the remainder. I threw paint onto a wet surface for the background and then slowly worked my way forward through the trees. I painted the reflections with the same colour that I used for the trees but laid a wash of clean water over the pool to soften the colour of the reflected trees and make the reflections more realistic. Then I removed the mask and carefully painted the resulting white surfaces until I achieved the effect I was after. So although the painting looks very complicated once I broke it down it worked quite easily. But that is the joy of watercolour. You have to plan how you are going to proceed first before you pick up a brush but once you start - it flows easily. Happy painting. Glenn
RSS Feed
