Whitby Coble

Whitby Coble

(acrylic on canvas board, 12 x 12 in)

For various reasons, mostly to do with the approach I first took to the composition and sourcing of the image, I put off finishing this painting, but now it’s done and I’m happy with it. 

The slightly different approach involved using a photograph that never entirely convinced me because the coble sat low in the water and didn't break the line of the quayside. To extract the information I needed to make the picture work, I tried working from a pen drawing of the photograph, ensuring the coble's superstructure bridged the top of the quay. This is the pen drawing:

(Fountain pen in square Pink Pig sketchbook)

Tony Montague

 

Tony Montague at Durham Art Group

(Photo copyright Durham Art Group)

I learned today that my old friend, Tony Montague has died. He was a prolific and adventurous artist, freely offering advice and a helping hand. 

He and I had a joint show in Alnwick in 2012 and we went on several group painting weeks together. I last saw him in 2017 when he gave a demonstration at Gateshead Art Society.

He was a fine fellow and I'll miss him.

It Was 20 Years Ago Today ...

 

I've always been interested in writing down thoughts and happenings as a way of reinforcing unreliable memory and interrogating some of my own assumptions. Over the years, I've kept a Diary, a Studio Journal, and this Blog.

My Diary began in May 1983 and I've been good at keeping it going over the years. There are gaps, inevitably, but looking back at entries now and again can be quite surprising. For instance, I recently found an entry from the 80s that detailed a meeting with a friend in a restaurant in Newcastle. I still have no idea why we were meeting (not enough detail, Diary!) but more surprisingly was the description of the restaurant because it no longer exists and without the Diary entry, it wouldn't exist for me now at all.

The Studio Journal has an even earlier start: June 1972. It's progress, however, has been patchy and uneven. Part of the problem is that some things get written up in the Diary which deserve equal space in the Journal and there are indeed times when I make the effort to copy entries from one to the other. The actual function of the Studio Journal has varied over the years, but i still think it's a worthwhile investment of time.

Before the appearance of Facebook, I wrote far more in this Blog. My first approach to blogging was from the perspective of fanzine publishing. In fact, I firmly intended to make this Blog a replacement for the fanzines I used to distribute to science fiction fans round the world, but it quickly became obvious that the intended audience hadn't taken to the idea and I gradually found myself drawn into the Blogosphere, a quite different concept from fanzine fandom. 

Facebook and other social media have, of course, dealt a body blow to blogging. A great number of Blogs are now moribund and, indeed, I let my activities here slide quite a bit. In 2017, I posted 425 blog posts here, a high point because in subsequent years the number declined to posts in the mid 40s. 

I'm now making the effort to revive Boogie Street; perhaps not to its former glory, but at least to something that presents something new fairly regularly. Here's to the next 20 years! And enjoy the celebratory cake (if 2018 doesn't mean it's a bit stale).

Coffee Shop Laptop

Coffee Shop Laptop

(Acrylic on canvas board, 8x8 in)

One of the great advantages of a mobile phone is that, if you always carry it with you, you always have a digital camera available. No need to lug around a heavy camera on the off-chance that you might need it. As a consequence, when I stopped for coffee and a sticky bun recently, I was able to photograph a couple of people sitting in a branch of Caffè Nero in Newcastle, and to do so in a surreptitious manner. This is one of them.

It's a simple picture but the composition is one of the classics - a triangle or pyramid - and I like the colour palette I've used. So I find I’m inordinately satisfied with it.

 

Sketch Crawl : Baltic Front Room

Baltic Front Room
(markers in A5 sketchbook)

My first Sketch Crawl (AKA SketchMeet) with the Urban Sketchers Tyne Wear and Tees in something like three years. It took me a while to find the main body of Sketchers because I wasn't aware of the Front Room. When I was last at the Baltic, that space was a restaurant. I think they made the change when they decided to provide a Warm Space for those unable to afford heat for their own homes. Anyway, a good day out, great to catch up with some old friends and put faces to some of the names encountered on the Facebook Group.

As usual, I found the architecture of the Tyne Quays too much for me and after wandering round the Baltic aimlessly, eventually just sat down and drew what was in front of me. Works every time although it's often necessary to ask people not to sit down across the table from you because they'll block the view.

Heritage/Glasshouse

Heritage/Glasshouse

(Acrylic on canvas board, 10x12 in)

I think it was the contrast between the old (the monument in front of St Mary's Heritage Centre)and the new (The Glasshouse International Centre for Music) that attracted me to this composition. It took a while to get the painting to this stage, but I’m happy with it now (although the photograph is a little inaccurate in the colour of the grass in the foreground).

Bridges of Venice

Bridges of Venice

(Acrylic on canvas board, 12x12 in)

I put this composition together a few years ago, constructing it from several photographs taken slightly different viewpoints. As a consequence, I was left with one or two gaps in the image and in addition there were some figures in the foreground obstructing the view of the buildings. At the time I didn't feel able to make the necessary changes that would make the picture work, so I put it to one side.

Recently, the Programme suggestion at Gateshead Art Society was "Bridges" and the time seemed right to give this image a go. Sometimes I forget that a complex composition takes just as much work at this scale as the same subject at three times the size. The picture took a good deal longer than I thought it might and I found that some of the ideas I had to get over the missing parts and elimination of the foreground figures had to be changed several times.

In the end, I think the effort was worth it and I'm pleased with the end product. I hope you do too.

 

Laying Cable

 Laying Cable

(acrylic on canvas board, 8 x 8 in)

If you're a painter, are you ever surprised by how your paintings turn out? I know my many interests feed into my work and with this I probably detect the influence of children’s book Illustration. A good deal of this must be to do with the switch to acrylic paint which lends itself to bright clear passages of colour.

WIP - Heritage / Glasshouse

 

WIP - Heritage / Glasshouse
(Acrylic on canvas board, 10x12 in)

A new one started yesterday. I expect the sky will become less apocalyptic as it progresses. The mausoleum is in the grounds of the Gateshead Heritage Centre (AKA St Mary's Church) and sits boldly in front of the modernist Sage Music Centre , recently renamed The Glasshouse. If there are moiré patterns on the image, I apologise - it's an effect of the canvas but will be gone in the finished painting.

Kwik Fit

Kwik Fit

(acrylic on canvas board, 12 x 10 in)

So many little changes before I was satisfied, but now I think I am. I wonder if you can tell I’ve become interested in David Inshaw and Tristram Hillier? I love the clarity of their work and acrylic definitely lends itself to that approach.

WIP - Kwik Fit

 

WIP

(Acrylic on canvas board, 10x12 in)

Another venture into local urban scenes. I spotted the potential of this garage on a trip to the podiatrist - it's just across the road from his premises. Early days, but I think it'll work.

Top Tape

 

Top Tape

(acrylic on canvas board, 8 x 10 in.)

My first painting of 2024, a modest subject: a derelict shop I came across last year in Cambridge.