156. The Bridge at Felmersham
Mixed Media on Canvas
Size 100cm x 100cm
£350
Exhibited at "Drawing", The Eagle Gallery, Bedford. 6th - 29th February 2024
Exhibited at The Workhouse "Landscape and Layers" (10th April - 18th May 2024)
A themed show at the Eagle Gallery is always a good kick start into something new and out of one’s ‘comfort zone’. “Drawing” was one such themed show. I generally associate drawing with monochrome mark making, and that’s exactly what I’ve done here. Inspired by Sue Room’s large charcoal works, I thought ‘yes’ that’s something I could achieve in a limited time frame. Tipped off that it would need lots of fixative I set out with an old photo in mind. I had previously worked up a composition which was actually the view from under one of the bridge arches, but I felt it needed more interest than just a landscape. So, I re-evaluated my photos from the same day at this location. I then moved some distant trees to the edge of the frame for compositional reasons and I was ready to begin.
I wanted to contrast the solid ever-present nature of the stone bridge with the transient lively sky. Think I’ve pulled that off. If I had to do this again, I think I would like to add a figure fishing off the bridge. – Frankly in reality they would be run-over fairly rapidly, but I think it might add interest. Besides sketching can be a route for story telling which this element would help to add.
So, to explain ‘mixed media’; I used charcoal, chalk, pencil, black ink pen (defining individual stones in the bridge), black paint, canvas coloured paint and an awful lot of fixative/ hair spray. I even scraped some of the bridge area with a scalpel as it had become too dark and overworked. That’s the problem with doing a piece outside your regular methods – errors will occur. Think I’ve just about got away with it.
Size 100cm x 100cm
£350
Exhibited at "Drawing", The Eagle Gallery, Bedford. 6th - 29th February 2024
Exhibited at The Workhouse "Landscape and Layers" (10th April - 18th May 2024)
A themed show at the Eagle Gallery is always a good kick start into something new and out of one’s ‘comfort zone’. “Drawing” was one such themed show. I generally associate drawing with monochrome mark making, and that’s exactly what I’ve done here. Inspired by Sue Room’s large charcoal works, I thought ‘yes’ that’s something I could achieve in a limited time frame. Tipped off that it would need lots of fixative I set out with an old photo in mind. I had previously worked up a composition which was actually the view from under one of the bridge arches, but I felt it needed more interest than just a landscape. So, I re-evaluated my photos from the same day at this location. I then moved some distant trees to the edge of the frame for compositional reasons and I was ready to begin.
I wanted to contrast the solid ever-present nature of the stone bridge with the transient lively sky. Think I’ve pulled that off. If I had to do this again, I think I would like to add a figure fishing off the bridge. – Frankly in reality they would be run-over fairly rapidly, but I think it might add interest. Besides sketching can be a route for story telling which this element would help to add.
So, to explain ‘mixed media’; I used charcoal, chalk, pencil, black ink pen (defining individual stones in the bridge), black paint, canvas coloured paint and an awful lot of fixative/ hair spray. I even scraped some of the bridge area with a scalpel as it had become too dark and overworked. That’s the problem with doing a piece outside your regular methods – errors will occur. Think I’ve just about got away with it.