Bob's Gallery
I've been asked by a number of folks to put some of my own paintings onto a gallery page.
So here's a small selection...
I've tried to include a variety of subjects and in different media and they've all been painted using the ideas and materials I've mentioned elsewhere on the site.
Here's the video version... to the tune of some relaxing
music...
I've included some thoughts below on how I produced each picture and some of the issues that arose with each one. Hopefully this will give you some ideas or solve a problem you may have had yourself. So have a look and see what you think...!
Welsh Village
(Watercolour - Size 14"x10")
This is a watercolor of a small Welsh village. A friend of the family commissioned me to paint it because the house in the scene belongs to their friend. It was a gift for their 40th wedding anniversary.
Laura & Oscar
(Acrylic on Canvas - Size 20"x16")
This is Laura, our eldest son Phil's girlfriend, on her horse Oscar. I used a reference photo of her taken in a showjumping competition a few years back and I've omitted the irrelevant parts of the background and the sides of the fence to produce a 'vignette' effect.
See how the vignette - ie lightening the corners and edges of the pictures to almost no detail - helps to focus attention much more on Laura - and of course, on Oscar...
Llangollen Canal
(Watercolor - Size 14" x 10")
Pam and I had a pleasant walk along the Llangollen Canal in North Wales even though it was pretty wet and miserable on the day.
Again I've used a reference photo and a quick scribbled sketch done at the time (under her umbrella!) and then altered the painted view to a pleasant, sunny day. Note how I've kept the reflection on the right side of the canal fairly simple and light so it doesn't overpower the rest of the picture.
Cockley Beck
(Watercolor/Gouache - Size 12" x 8")
This is a demonstration painting I did some while back of a location in the heart of the beautiful Lake District in Northern England. This time, when we visited, the day was bright and sunny so the photo and a quick sketch I'd done (literally with a ball-point pen on the back of an envelope) was adapted during the demo to create a snowy, moonlit scene.
I used blue-tinted Bockingford watercolor paper to add to the effect. Bockingford isn't a brand name but a very economical type of watercolor paper and most manufacturers produce a version of it, often in different tints and a rough and regular surface.
Incidentally, notice how the two figures in the snow heading towards the warmth of the sanctuary of the cottage add to the atmosphere of the cold, snowy, night-time scene.
Liverpool Lime Street
(Oils on Canvas - 24" x 18")
This a 60th birthday present for my cousin Tom. We both have a lifetime interest in railways and this scene is adapted from a number of photographs of a long climb out of Liverpool Lime Street Station. The tracks burrow through numerous short tunnels and bridges that create a wonderfully atmospheric location for a steam train.
The photos were by the famous UK railway photographer, The Rt. Reverend Eric Treacy and the connection is that the figure in the painting is Tom's Uncle Jim, who was a platelayer in the '50's and 60's and was there to safely escort the Reverend gentleman in the tunnels. Notice how the smoke has been shaped to create the effect of the train emerging from the murky background into the sunlight...
School Nativity Scene
(Acrylic on Cloth - Size 96" x
48")
Pam works in a local Primary school and I help out with painting scenery for their Christmas productions and the like. This is part of a backscene I painted on a bolt of (very) cheap black suit-cloth. Acrylics are incredibly versatile for use on all sorts of surfaces.
The cloth was stretched over a basic 2"x1" wooden frame and secured with a staple gun. I used various images that I'd sketched over the years as inspiration for the figures, plus a little extra research from the 'net. Notice how I've 'manufactured' light on the animals and the wooden beams by including a starlit window at the back.
Cammell Lairds Shipyard
(Acrylics on Board - Size 24" x
12")
Another acrylics painting but not my normal style. This is a scene of Cammell Lairds shipyard in Birkenhead which faces the world-famous Liverpool waterfront from the opposite bank of the River Mersey.
I painted this at an art class demo, using only small pieces of mount card (mat-board) I'd pre-cut to about 2"x1" size. I used the edge of the card for the thin lines of the cranes etc. For the sky and water I squeezed paint straight onto the board from the tube. Then I used the card to 'squeegee' the paint around till I was happy. I tore edges off the card to create added texture.
When the card became too messy, I discarded it and used another piece. I previously did this scene a while back on a piece of corrugated cardboard, so never discount anything as a potential painting tool or surface !
Blaze & Whizz
(Oils on Canvas - Size 20" x 16")
This was done as a wedding present surprise for a happy couple. I had to sneak up to the house with the friends who commissioned it while the couple were out and grab as many photos and quick sketches as I could in about 20 minutes.
Blaze is a lovely dog and he calmly sat for all the photos I wanted. On the other hand, little Whizz was only a puppy at the time and as you can imagine, she did anything but sit still. However, Blaze took a hand and barked at her and suddenly the "I'm in trouble, so I'd better look cute" pose and expression materialised, which I managed to capture on film - and hopefully on canvas. If you're doing animals, you can never have too many photos and sketches...
Wrea Green
(Watercolor - Size 16" x 12")
Wrea Green is a beautifully kept village about 30 miles north of Liverpool, complete with its village green, duckpond and nearby pub. When we arrived for a stroll, I noticed that a cricket pitch was cut and rolled, all ready for action.
When I came to do the painting I chose a view that was dominated by the church, but was supported by the surrounding buildings and the duckpond as well. What better then to include a cricket match to link all these elements together...
Little Langdale
(Watercolor Size - 14" x 10")
Another visit to the Lake District, this time Little Langdale. Here, I've changed the view slightly and what in reality are two or three buildings has been simplified into one cottage.
Two things of note here. One is the background hills where I've painted on a pale purple-blue then added a wash of yellow and let the two colors mix on the paper. It often gives a much more interesting blend than mixing colors on your palette.
Secondly, notice how the very dark bank of trees behind the cottage really helps the building to stand out as the focal point. Putting the lightest light against the darkest dark has long been a favorite device of artists to achieve this...
Bob Ross Tribute
(Bob Ross Oils on Board - Size 20" x
16")
I'm not trying to advertise a particular brand of oil paint here! It's just that the oil paints devised by the late Bob Ross are quite different from ordinary oils in that the lighter colors get progressively thinner than the darker ones.
By starting your painting with the dark colors, you can immediately add the thinner, lighter ones on top without having to wait for everything to dry. This view is of a very wintry Langdale Pikes - yet again in the Lake District, using Bob Ross oils as they were designed.
I love the way you can drag the lighter colors across the darker ones to create fantastic texture - as in the foreground tree. For the beginner, this is a real confidence-booster, because the realistic tree bark happens almost by magic - but it's you who's created it !
