Southchurch Hall

Southchurch Hall - Watercolour 4" x 6 "

As it is such a lovely sunny day today I accompanied my wife on her daily walk over to Southchurch Hall Gardens which is just over the road from where we live.  Red has been walking there most days since the summer to gradually building up her stamina since her heart attack in August and I'm pleased to say she is gradually making a bit of progress.   I've broken my leg at the moment and I  can't walk far on crutches or carry much either so for this one I chose to work in water colours postcard size.    Water colours are not my strong point but I feel like I should persist with them! I did enjoy the experience though and used a small vintage reeves box which one of my students gave me recently, a small postcard block which came  free with discover art magazine and a couple of brush pens.

Recent sketches....

Here's a couple of sketches I've done in over the last week or so.

 

 

Mug and a couple of tubes of paint. A5 Sketchbook

 

I've been working on a very detailed commission for the last couple of weeks comprising of a  painting and four little ink and wash drawings.  This drawing was a bit of relaxation time from my efforts. The  little still life which arranged its self in the corner of my sofa which has become my make shift studio since I broke my leg three weeks ago.  I rather liked the way the label was peeling of the Jacksons white oil paint tube and overlapping the Windsor and Newton Alizarin.

 

Waiting Room - Fracture Clinic Southend Hospital. A4 Sketchbook

 

The NHS 111 service advised me to go to the doctors after I'd had cramp in my calf muscle for 4 days in the leg that I've broken so this little sketch which I'm assuming was Father and two sons was done about 8am in the morning waiting to see the out of hours doctors. 

 

At the Nosh Café - New Southend Library.

 

After popping to Frame it to drop of  a painting to be framed we decided to try the new Café in the new library for a coffee.  This woman was sitting opposite me absorbed in her phone.  So I set to sketching her as soon as I sat down.  She had a lovely bright green suit on and I immediately liked all those repeated rhythms within the composition. the echoed curves through the back of the chair, the circular window design and then just as a bonus as soon as she had left a van pulled up with a curved  shape it's side as well!

Facebook

Here's a link to my facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Paul-Alcock-Artist/191282957618429

I've started to use facebook a lot more over the last year or so and I've been posting most of my latest sketches, and paintings as they've been created here.

August Update.

Narrow boats Pageant day Oil on Canvas 8" x 20"

Time for an update and a bit off taking stock as it's been a long wile since I've touched my blog!    We've had a huge family upheaval recently as my wife had a heart attack just over a week ago which has shaken up my priority about whats important in life so painting and my career as an artist is going to be  taking a bit of a back seat for a wile as caring for and spending more time with my family has become a priority.   I thought then that it might also be a good time to spend a bit of time reflecting on the work I've been doing over the last few months and to take stock and update  my blog and web site.  

This  painting of narrow boats coming through Tower Bridge was started last year.   I put a few finishing touches to it on Friday afternoon and it's been selected to go into an exhibition of  works by Artists of the River Pageant as part of this years Thames Festival.   I painted it from photos I took before the start of the Pageant last year and its about the moment when I got to London and the river  last year and this was one of the first scenes I saw and for me this was the moment when all the planning and imagining became a reality.   I found it quite a moving scene seeing these little tiny narrow boats emerging out of the drizzle and mist through Tower Bridge making their way up the Thames to the start of the event.

April update.....

Well, so much for trying to add something to the blog each month!  I managed to keep it up for a few months but got a bit behind lately.   Here's a bit of an update.

Waterloo Bridge

Oil on board 8" x 8" 2012

This is one from  last year which I sold in the early part of the year.  It was only a few weeks after I'd sold it that I realized I'd forgotten to take a picture of it so managed to get its new owners to bring it in so I could take a photo of it.   I was pleased with this one and it was really nice to see it again but glad its found a new home!   It was painted from photos I took on Waterloo bridge a wile back.

Boats at Richmond

Oil on board 12" x 10" 

I painted these two back in March on a trip to Richmond with members of the Plein Air Society.   We had a lovely bright and cold day and it was a great opportunity to meet other artists interested in working out doors.   

Boats and boat house.

Oil on board 8" x 10"

Snow time!

 

My first experience of going out and painting snow! I've fancied getting out and painting the snow for a wile now.   On Saturday we had the lightest of dusting's with a forecast of more to come so I decided to make a start and chose Southchurch hall which is very close to my home and there fore I figured the warmth.  

 

 

This was how the painting looked at the end of the first session on Saturday.  

 

By Sunday mid morning the scene had transformed to this so I ended up re-painting the roof and grass areas and adding the figures that were playing in that area.

 

 

Oil on board 8" x 12"

 Probably more of a souvenir piece in the end as the roof and grass looked a bit like the icing on a Christmas cake with so much thick paint on it covering the wet paint underneath which was difficult to cover.

 

I was much happier though with my second attempt at painting snow which I painted on Monday. I started of by cycling along the sea front and taking photos then finally stopped by some of the palm trees in Westcliff.   They take quite a battering really and I love seeing them in different times of the day and different seasons as I travel up and down the seafront on the way to my various teaching jobs.

 

This is how the completed painting looked.

 

Oil on board 10" x 12"

 

At one point I a chap asked if it was OK to take a photo of me painting.  Two days later I got a text from my student, Jan saying that she'd just see a picture of me painting in the evening echo!

(photo by Simon Murdock)

 

December update

This is going to be a bit of a catch up post as its been a wile since I updated my blog.    One of the things I had on my list back in January of what I wanted to do in 2013 was to keep this blog updated at least once a month.   Well that got forgotten about till April but since then I've managed to keep posting at least once a month so I'll do the same next year.

Here's what I've been up to since the end of the summer when it all got very hectic when the Rochford Art trail started and I had a lots more new art courses to teach starting. 

The half moon - pencil A4

This is one of the last pieces  I did on location and I compleated it over a couple of  lunchtime 15 minute sessions towards the end of the summer in Rayleigh.   There's been a couple of quick sketches since but illness and wet weather has put pay to my Rayleigh drunches (drawing lunches) lately.

 

"Postcards of the masters."

Pavement drawing workshop 1.5 x 2 meters pastel on paper.   

 

This started out as a paper on pavement drawing workshop for the Rochford art trail intended to be created with the help of the local childrens.   A very cold and rainy day put pay to it being created outdoors though as the pastel soon turned into watercolour and the paper started to disintigrate. I had to seek refuge in the Women's institute hall for a bit of shelter and where I got a bit of help from the locals!  

Sunflowers

 

Oil on canvas 16" x 16"

 

This was one that was started in one of my classes as a demo piece from a photo of sunflowers I'd taken a couple of years ago.   I was pleased to get it finished in time for the Rochford art trail. 

 

Back to life!

Pastel on paper

After the summers break our monthly friday evening life drawing sessions once again started at the Leigh community center thanks to Susan.  These three sketches were produced in pastel in October.



I was really pleased to have been shortlisted for the Artist and Illustrator Magazines artist of the year competition and a picture of my painting got into the magazine with the article about the competition.    This is the first time I've had any of my work reproduced in the art press.

Two more life studies from our Friday evening life drawing sessions.  This time I got back into using my oils during the sessions which I've been using during life drawing sessions for well over a year now.     I very rarely get the paintings finished as the 30 minute poses are a bit too quick for that but I love just working quickly from life all the same.

Shoebury mudflats

Oil on board

 

On 24th November I did a painting demonstration for Southend Art Club.   I've done several of these over the years for various local art groups but this was the biggest I've done to date with a packed lecture theatre at Southend Library  approx 70 members of the club were present.   I was reasonably pleased with my efforts and the way in which the demo went.   I painted this in about and hour and  3/4's.   I used a couple of photos I'd taken and pasted together for the reference materials.   I then produced a charcoal sketch beforehand so that I could visualise for my self the whole thing coming together as the tones in the different photos were a bit varied.  

 

Life study

Oil on board 12" x 16"

This was the painting that I donated to the Leigh Art Trail Auction to help us all raise funds for next years publicity for the Art trail.  It's one from earlier in the year completed from life and memory.  I believe it sold on the night.

 



 



 

Thames River Pageant

100cm x 30cm Oil on canvas.

And finally for December here's the second version of my pageant painting.   I  completed this just over a week ago and it's now with its new owner in a shiny new gold frame.   It's based on the  original painting I did on the day and the photo's I took from millennium bridge.     I was fortunate to be one of 20 artists chosen by the BBC to paint during there live broadcasts of the pageant back in June.   I wasn't featured on any of the coverage but it was a fantastic experience all the same.